A Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts, Processes, and Collateral Information (part 12)

Eau de Charbon, Dr Chattam’s (A. Ahnelt, Charlottenburg, the African traveller). A prophylactic and specific against syphilis. 150 grammes of a slightly red fluid, consisting of a watery solution of carbolic acid coloured with aniline and perfumed with 1 drop peppermint oil and 8 drops chloroform dissolved in 20 grammes spirit. (Hager.)

Eau de Cythère. A hair dye. A solution of 4 parts chloride of lead and 8 parts crystallised hyposulphite of soda in 88 parts distilled water. (Hager.)

Eau de Docteur Sachs. For promoting the growth of the hair, preventing its turning grey, for protecting the scalp from all injurious influences, and for preserving it in a state of purity and health. A solution of castor oil in spirit containing picrotoxin. (Dr C. Schacht.)

Eau de Fée—Fairy Water. A natural hair wash (Lattke, Chemiker, Kiel). Recommended as a preparation consisting solely of harmless vegetables. It consists mainly of a strong solution of nitrate of lead. (Himly.)

Eau des Fées—Fairy Water. A hair wash. A solution of 1⁄4 parts lead sulphite in about 3 parts sodium hyposulphite, 7⁄4 parts glycerin, and 88 parts water. According to the directions for use, more than three bottles of 120 grammes of the Fairy Water should not be used before the hair has been treated with Eau de Poppée, and, to raise it to the highest possible degree of beauty, with Huile régénératrice d’Hygie. (Hager.)

Eau de Hebe. For freckles. To be applied with a small sponge in the evening and washed off in the morning. Lemons, cut small, digested in a closed flask with distilled vinegar, lavender vinegar, oil of lemon, and rosemary, and filtered.

Eau de Java Anticholerique is a solution of camphor and carbolic acid in spirit. (Casselmann.)

Eau de la Floride. A colourless fluid with a greenish-yellow deposit consisting of sugar of lead, 50 parts; flowers of sulphur, 20 parts; distilled water, 1000 parts. (F. Eymael.)

Eau de Lechelle may be replaced by a filtered mixture of 200 parts aqua aromatica, 300 parts aqua dest., 10 parts acid. carbol., 10 parts ol. thymi, 20 parts acid. tannic.

Eau de lys de Lohse (Lohse formerly—before the French war—Lohsé, Berlin). A cosmetic consisting of 2 grammes zinc oxide, 2 grammes prepared talc, 4 grammes glycerin, and 200 grammes rose water. (Schädler.)

Eau de Mont Blanc. A hair dye. A solution of nitrate of silver.

Eau de Naples. Neapolitan washing solution. A mixture of 12 parts borax, 100 parts distilled water, 50 parts rose water, 1 part camphor, 4 parts tinct. benzoin. (W. Hildwein.)

Eau de Quinine—Glycerin Hair Wash, with Extract of Peruvian Bark (A. Heinrich, Leipzig). For removing scurf and strengthening the hair. 2 grammes balsam of Peru, 6 grammes castor oil, 60 grammes rum, 35 grammes water, 5 grammes tincture of red cinchona. (Hager.)

Eau de Vienne. A hair dye from Paris. Two fluids, one of which is a solution of nitrate of silver in ammoniacal water, and the other a solution of pyrogallic acid.

Eau Dentifrice de Mallard. Star anise, common anise, cinnamon, cloves, of each, 8 parts; guaicum wood, 10 parts; brown cinchona, 6 parts; rose leaves, 5 parts; nutmegs, 2 parts, are placed in a displacement apparatus and percolated with 3 parts cochineal; 12-15 parts water, 1000 parts sp. vini; sp. gr. ·860. The tincture is displaced with water and 1000 parts are mixed with 7 parts of a mixture of peppermint oil, spirit of scurvy grass, and tinct. of benzoin, allowed to stand and filtered.

Eau Dentifrice des Cordillères. An Indian recipe. 360 parts strong spirits, 330 parts water, 2⁄2 parts extract of red or yellow cinchona, 1 part oil of cinnamon, 2 parts oil of cloves, 3 parts oil of anise, 5 parts oil of peppermint. (Hager.)

Eau Ecarlate—Scarlet Water. (Bürdel). For renovating red linen and woollen fabrics. Oxalium, 25 parts; soda, 16 parts; potash, 5 parts; water, coloured with cochineal and slightly perfumed, 1000 parts. (Sauerwein.)

Eau Lajeune. A hair dye. An elegant pasteboard box, in which are three bottles of fluid and two bone-handled tooth-brushes. No. 1 contains a clear fluid consisting of pyrogallic acid 1·5 gramme, ·3 gramme colouring matter of alkanet, 17·5 grammes spirit of wine, 27 grammes water. No. 2 is filled with a thick brown fluid, which from decomposition has produced a deposit sometimes brown, sometimes grey. This partly-decomposed fluid was originally a mixture of silver nitrate, 3·5 grammes; ammonia, 4·5 grammes; gum arabic or some similar mucilage, 2·5 grammes; distilled water, 23 grammes. No. 3, labelled “Fixateur,” contains 7·5 grammes fluid, consisting of ·5 gramme sodium sulphide, 7 grammes distilled water. The directions for use, translated into various languages, say—Dissolve 10 grammes subcarbonate of soda in half a litre of warm or cold rain water, and with this wash the grease from the hair. Afterwards rinse it in clear water, and dry it thoroughly with a cloth. Pour one part of fluid No. 1 into a saucer, and with brush No. 1 apply it to the roots of the hair. Allow it two or three minutes to dry, then rub the hair with an old linen cloth to remove the superfluous moisture. Next repeat the operation, using fluid and brush No. 2, and without waiting wash the hair with warm or cold soapy water. This hair dye is quite harmless, and leaves no marks on the skin behind it. To use it for the Beard.—The process is the same as that for the hair, except that instead of the soda solution, ordinary soap is to be used to cleanse the beard from grease. It often happens that when the user of the dye has not taken ordinary care in cleansing the hair, the latter becomes of a false and unnatural tint. In this case the Fixateur should be used. A small sponge should be moistened with this and passed over the hair, which will make the colour natural and glossy. The Fixateur as well as the sponge must only be used in this way. It may be employed two days after the first operation without it being necessary to dye the hair anew. (Hager.)

Eau Medicinales are either simply watery solutions (HYDROLÉS, HYDROLATURES, SOLUTIONS PAR L′EAU), or distilled water (EAUX DISTILLÉES); or they are vinous or alcoholic tinctures or solutions of essential oils, aromatics, or more active drugs. See Cordials, Hair Dyes, Perfumery, Spirits, Tinctures, Waters, &c.

Eau Tonique de Chalmin is a perfumed solution of tannin.

Eau Tonique Parachûte des Cheveux. To prevent the falling off of the hair. Macerate some pieces of violet root for some days in 120 grammes rose water, filter, and add to the fluid 2 decigrammes sulphate of iron, 3 drops vinegar, 1·3 gramme each of tincture of benzoin and balsam of Peru, 7·5 grammes Provence oil, and 10 drops oil of bergamot. (Dr Casselmann.)

Eau Virginale (Chable). Lead acetate, zinc sulphate, of each 1 part; distilled water, 28 parts; eau de Cologne, 12 parts. Dissolve and mix; allow to stand for a month and filter. A spoonful mixed with a glass of water to be used as a vaginal injection. (Reveil.)

Eaux, in perfumery, are solutions of the fragrant essential oils in spirit, as eau de Cologne, eau de bouquet, &c.; or they are distilled waters, largely charged with the odorous principles of plants, as eau de rose, eau de fleurs d’oranges, &c.

Eaux, of the liqueuriste, are aromatised spirits or cordials.

EB′LANINE. The yellowish-red, crystallisable, solid substance, which is left behind in the retort, when wood spirit is rectified from quicklime. It is insoluble in water, and sublimes without fusion at 273° Fahr.

EBONITE. The only difference between this and vulcanite, consists in the colouring materials used. See Caoutchouc.

EB′ONY. The wood of the Diospyrus Melanoxylon, an East Indian tree, of the natural order Ebenaceæ. Two other species of the same genus, namely, Diospyrus Ebenus and D. Ebenaster, yields respectively Mauritius ebony and the BASTARD EBONY of Ceylon. Pale-coloured woods are stained in imitation of ebony (FACTITIOUS EBONY), by washing them with or steeping them in a strong decoction of logwood or of galls, and, when dry, washing them over with a solution of sulphate or acetate of iron. They are then rinsed in clean water, and the process is repeated, if required. The wood is lastly polished or varnished.

EBRI′ETY. See Intoxication.

EBULLI′′TION. The state of boiling, or the agitation of a liquid arising from its rapid conversion into vapour by heat. Ebullition occurs in different liquids at very different temperatures, such temperatures being called their ‘boiling-points.’ Under the same circumstances the boiling-points are constant, and by observing them the chemist is often able to distinguish liquids which much resemble each other. The boiling-point of the same liquid may, however, vary considerably under different circumstances. The causes which induce variation are increased or diminished atmospheric pressure, the greater or less depth of the liquid, and the character of the containing vessel. Thus boiling water is colder by some degrees when the barometer is low, in bad weather, or at the top of a hill, than when the barometer is higher, in fine weather, or at the bottom of a valley or mine. There is a very simple and beautiful experiment, illustrative of the effect of diminished pressure in lowering the boiling-point of a liquid. A little water is made to boil for a few minutes in a flask or retort placed over a lamp, until the air has been expelled, and the steam issues freely from the neck. A tightly fitting cork is then inserted, and the lamp at the same moment withdrawn. When the ebullition ceases, it may be renewed at pleasure for a considerable time by the affusion of cold water, which, by condensing the vapour within, occasions a partial vacuum. Liquids in general boil from 60° to 140° lower than their ordinary boiling-points when heated in vacuo.

The following table furnishes very exact information respecting the effect of increasing pressure upon the boiling-point of water:—

Boiling water contained in a deep vessel is hotter than that in a shallow one, on account of the greater resistance in the one case than the other to the escape of the steam. It is also found that fluids boil at a lower temperature and more quietly in vessels with rough and spicular surfaces, than in those with smooth or polished ones. The boiling-point of water, as marked on the scale of the thermometer, is 212° Fahr., but in glass vessels, under common circumstances, it varies from 212·254° to 215·6°; whilst in perfectly pure and smooth glass vessels water may be heated to 221° Fahr. without boiling. That the elevation of the boiling-point in this case is due to the nature of the surface, may be at once demonstrated by throwing into water, about to boil in a glass matrass, a little iron filings or coarsely powdered glass, when ebullition will commence with almost explosive violence, at the same time that the temperature of the fluid will sink about 2° Fahr.

Table I.—Boiling-points of Water at different
Pressures. By Mr C. Greville Williams.

Boiling-point
° Fahr. Barometer
Inches. Boiling-point
° Fahr. Barometer
Inches.

184 16·676 200 23·454

185 17·047 201 23·937

186 17·421 202 24·441

187 17·803 203 25·014

188 18·196 204 25·468

189 18·593 205 25·992

190 18·992 206 26·529

191 19·407 207 27·068

192 19·822 208 27·614

193 20·254 209 28·183

194 20·687 210 28·744

195 21·124 211 29·331

196 21·576 212 29·922

197 22·030 213 30·516

198 22·498 214 31·120

199 22·965 215 31·730

The boiling-point of water contained in ordinary vessels may be raised considerably above 212° Fahr., by the addition of saline matter, as will be seen in the following table, extracted from Mr C. G. Williams’s excellent ‘Handbook of Chemical Manipulation,’—

Table II.—Boiling-points of Saturated Solutions
of various Salts at the ordinary Atmospheric
Pressure. By C. G. Williams.

Name of Salt. Boiling-point.

Chloride of calcium 355° Fahr.

Acetate of soda 256 ”

Nitrate of soda 246 ”

Sal-ammoniac 236 ”

Common salt 224 ”

Cream of tartar 214 ”

The above solutions are suitable for chemical baths. With the exception of the first, they furnish in their boiling-points temperatures, as nearly as can be obtained, 10° above each other. They were chosen by Mr Williams because, in ‘fractionating’ volatile substances, it is usual to separate the distilled products by differences of temperature equal to 10° Fahr. In long operations it is found inconvenient to employ a saturated saline solution for a bath (by which the highest temperature would be obtained), as the constant evaporation of the water induces the crystallisation of the salt. It is hence usual to keep it considerably below that point.

The following table, compiled chiefly from the pages of Dr Miller’s ‘Elements of Chemistry,’ gives the boiling-points of several interesting substances.

Table III.—Boiling-points of various Liquids
at the ordinary Atmospheric Pressure.

Name of
Substance. Boiling-point.

Liquid carbonic acid -108° Fahr.

Liquid sulphurous acid + 17·6 ”

Chloric ether 51·9 ”

Aldehyd 69·4 ”

Ether 94·8 ”

Bisulphide of carbon 118·5 ”

Bromide 145·4 ”

Wood spirit 149·9 ”

Alcohol (sp. gr. ·815) 173·1 ”

Benzol 176·8 ”

Dutch liquid 184·7 ”

Acetic acid 243·1 ”

Sulphur (melted) 609· ”

Mercury 662· ”

EBUL′LIOSCOPE. Syn. Ebullition alcoholometer, Thermo-alcoholometer. “This instrument is essentially a thermometer, and its application to alcoholometry is based upon the fact that the boiling-point of a spiritous liquid is scarcely altered by the presence, within certain limits, of the substances which may be dissolved in it, and which, by increasing its specific gravity, render the ordinary alcoholometers or hydrometers useless for the purpose of indicating its alcoholic richness. The ebullioscope was invented by the Abbé Brossard-Vidal, of Toulon, and in its original form consisted of a spirit-lamp surmounted by a small boiler, into which a large cylindrical glass bulb was plunged, having an upright stem of such calibre that the quicksilver contained in them, by its expansion and ascent when heated, raised before it a little glass float in the stem, which was connected by a thread with a similar glass bead, hanging in the air. This thread passed round a pulley, which, turning with the motion of the beads, caused an index to move along a graduated circular scale, which represented on its face the per-centage of absolute alcohol in spirituous liquors of different boiling-points. This form of the apparatus being found inconvenient and liable to get disarranged, various improvements were made in it by MM. Conaty, Lerebour, and others. The modification of the instrument now in use, and known as Field’s Patent Alcoholometer, was made by the late Dr Ure, and can scarcely be improved on. It consists of a thermometer having a very minute bore and a large bulb, similar to that employed to determine the height of mountains from the boiling-point of water, but instead of thermometric degrees being marked upon the scale the per-centage under proof is placed on the left-hand side of the stem, and the per-centage content of proof spirit on the right-hand side. These commence at 178·5° Fahr., the temperature at which ‘proof spirit’ boils, and which here forms the bottom of the scale. The succeeding number are based upon the boiling-points of mixtures of alcohol and water. The little boiler being charged, and about a teaspoonful of salt (35 gr.) being added, to prevent loss of alcohol by evaporation, the thermometer is set in its place, and the spirit-lamp lighted. When the mercury begins to rise out of the bulb of the thermometer, the ‘damper-plate’ is pushed in a little way, to moderate the heat. The eye is now kept steadily on the instrument, and as soon as the liquor boils freely, and the mercury becomes stationary in the stem, the indication is carefully noted, and the damper-plate pushed home to extinguish the flame.

“The ebullioscope is adjusted to the mean boiling-point of water under an atmospheric pressure of 29·5 inches. When the pressure is either higher or lower, both water and alcohol boil at a somewhat different temperature, to meet which a barometrical equation is attached to the thermometer by means of a small subsidiary scale. It is therefore necessary, prior to commencing the operation of testing any liquor, to charge the little boiler with pure water only, and to fix the thermometer in its place. When the water boils freely, the mercury becomes stationary in the stem, exactly opposite the true barometrical indication at the time. Should this be against the line 29·5, no correction will be required; but should it stand at any other line, above or below, then the various boiling-points will bear reference to that boiling-point only. In the latter case, the boiling-point of the water on the barometrical indicator must be set against the boiling-point of the liquid on the scale, when opposite the line—29·5 will be found the true strength. Thus:—the barometer being at 30 inches, and the indication or boiling-point being 72 u. p., 30 on the indicator must be placed against 72 u. p. on the thermometer, when against the line of 29·5 will be seen 69·6 u. p., the real strength of the sample tested.

“When a spirit is stronger than the ‘excise proof,’ its boiling-point varies too little with its alterations of strength to render the ebullioscope of much practical value. To make it applicable to the stronger spirits, it is therefore necessary to dilute them with exactly their own bulk of pure water before testing them, and then to double the resulting indication, as suggested by Dr Ure. Our own plan is always to do this when the spirit is stronger than 20 u. p.

“By means of the ebullioscope the alcoholic content of beer, wines, and spirits, of every variety and class, may be readily determined with sufficient accuracy for all practical purposes; and by methods which we shall hereafter point out, the amount of saccharine extractive, or sugar, in cordialised spirit, malt liquors and wines, may also be ascertained.

“The ebullioscope (Field’s Alcoholometer) employed by us in numerous and extensive investigations connected with public hygiène, was made by Mr Long, of Little Tower Street, and is an instrument which should be in the hands of every wine and spirit merchant and licensed victualler, as well as every private gentleman who feels interested in the quality of the liquors in his cellar. The instrument is accompanied by a useful little pamphlet of directions and tables, which has been very accurately got up, as we understand, by the late Dr Ure, expressly for Mr Long.” (A. J. Cooley.)

ECHINOCOCCUS HOMINIS. This creature, which is the larva of the Tinæa Echinococcus, is a very common parasite infesting man, and has been found in the human lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, spleen, ovaries, breasts, membrane of the throat, and the bones. The disease to which it gives rise is of a very long and painful nature, frequently terminating fatally, and one in which no remedies have hitherto been found of any avail. The part of the human economy most frequently attacked by the ravages of the Echinococcus is the liver, in the substance of which it gives rise to the formation of a hydatid tumour. This tumour is composed of a thick-walled cyst or bag, within which is another of a much more delicate texture. “This latter membrane is the mother-sac of the Echinococcus embryo” (Huxley), and corresponds with the germinal membrane of Professor Goodsir. It is studded with innumerable transparent cells, varying as extremes of measurement from ⁄10000th to ⁄3000th of an inch. It is the seat of development of innumerable Echinococci, and to this membrane, in a fresh hydatid tumour, they are found connected by a delicate membrane, either singly, or more commonly in clusters, the number of individuals on the cluster varying from 10 to 100 or more, as shown in the annexed woodcut.”

The size of the embryo varies from ⁄18th to ⁄20th of a line to ⁄10th to ⁄18th, according as it is elongated or contracted. Fig. 2 represents two Echinococci. In the one the head is drawn within the vehicle, and in the other it is extruded.

Fig. 3 represents a transverse view of an echinococcus; S S are suctorial discs; the hooklets may be seen encircling a membranous disk.

In Fig. 4 we have a representation of the circlet of these hooklets, B, which are thirty-four in number; C gives various views of separate hooklets; b is the base; c the central extremity; e the hooklets viewed upon their concave or inferior border. The dotted lines connecting f, g, k, represent the outer surface of the neck, and runs through the fixed point of the three hooks which move upon the central fixed process, as on the pivot.

The inhabitants of Iceland are said to suffer severely from the effects of the Echinococcus Humanus; it has been computed that a sixth of the population of the island are attacked by it.

ECLECTIC REMEDIES. These are medicines chiefly employed by a sect of American practitioners, self-styled “Eclectics.” The medicinal properties appended to each of these preparations are those ascribed to them by the Eclectics themselves.

Apocynin. From the roots of Apocynum and Rosœmifolium. Given in jaundice, hepatic torpor, and constipation.—Dose, ⁄2 to 2 gr.

Asclepedin. From Asclepias tuberosa. Expectorant, diaphoretic, and tonic.—Dose, 1 to 5 grains three times a day.

Baptistin. From Wild Indigo. Given in liver affections.—Dose, ⁄4 to ⁄2 grain.

Barosmin. From Buchu. Diuretic, alterative, antispasmodic.—Dose, 2 to 4 grains.

Caulophyllin. From Caulophyllum thalictroides. Tonic and alterative, acts on the uterus.—Dose, ⁄4 to 1 grain three times a day; as a parturient, 2 to 4 grains.

Cerasein. From the Cerasus virginiana. Given as a substitute for quinine when this latter is inadmissible.—Dose, 5 to 10 gr.

Cimicifugin. Syn. Macrotin. From Black Snakeroot. Tonic, alterative, nervine, antiperiodic, and in chorea.—Dose, 1 to 6 gr.

Cornine. From Cornus Florida (Dogwood). Antiperiodic.—Dose, 10 grains.

Eupatorine. From Eupatoreum purpureum. Diuretic.—Dose, 3 to 5 grains.

Euphorbin. From Euphorbia corollata. Emetic, cathartic, expectorant, and vermifuge.—Dose, 1 grain or less.

Gelsemin. From Gelsemium sempervirens. Given in pneumonia, hysteria, and dysmenorrhœa.—Dose, ⁄4 to 2 grains. This must not be confounded with the powerful alkaloid, Gelsimia.

Geranin, or Geraniin. From Geranium maculatum. Astringent.—Dose, 1 to 5 gr.

Hamamelin. From Hamamelis Virginica (Witch hazel). Astringent.—Dose, 5 grains.

Hydrastin. From Hydrastis Canadensis. Tonic.—Dose, 3 to 5 grains. This must not be confounded with the alkaloid Hydrasta.

Iridin. From the Blue flag. Alterative, sialagogue, anthelmintic.—Dose, ⁄2 to 5 gr.

Inglandin. From Butter-nut. Given in chronic hepatic disorders and constipation.—Dose, 2 to 4 gr.

Leptandrin. From Leptandra Virginica. Given in liver affections, chronic dysentery, diarrhœa, and typhus.—Dose, 2 to 4 gr.

Lycopin. From Lycopus Virginicus. Given in hæmorrhage, diabetes, and dysentery.—Dose, 2 to 3 grains.

Myricin. From Myrica cerifera. Stimulant, astringent, and antispasmodic.—Dose, 2 to 10 grains.

Populin. From Populus tremuloides. Tonic and febrifuge.—Dose, 4 to 8 grains.

Prunin. From Wild Cherry Bark. Stimulant, tonic, and expectorant.—Dose, 1 to 2 gr.

Rumin. From Rumex crispus. Action like rhubarb.—Dose, 3 grains.

Sanguinarin. From Sanguinaria Canadensis. Hepatic and alterative.—Dose, ⁄2 to 2 grains.

Stillingin. From Stylingia sylvatica. Given in bronchitis and laryngitis. Used externally as a stimulant. Internally, 1 drop with mucilage.

EDELENZIANWURZELSAFT—Noble Gentian-root Juice—Enzian Extract—Extract of Gentian. A water-clear, colourless Schnapps, which contains much fusel oil and has had some of the spirit removed, distilled from gentian plant. (Hager.)

EDIBLE EARTHS. There seems little reason to doubt that the inhabitants of many countries, especially during famine and in times of scarcity, use certain kinds of earth as food. In Spain, a particular kind of earth known as bucaro is eaten; the Russian peasant partakes of his rock-flour; the Thuringian of his rock-butter; the Swede, of his bergmehl or mountain meal; the native of Java of an earth known as teneampa; the Hindoo, of the so-called Patna earth; and the Persian of a species of soil known as Gheli Giveh.

Mr Molvar has analysed an earth, eaten by the poorer classes of the Neograd district in Hungary, and finds it has the following composition:—

Carbonic acid 40·357

Lime 51·488

Magnesia 0·110

Volatile matter 5·545

Ferrous oxide 0·158

Alumina 2·272

As the volatile matter seemed to be the probable means of nourishment, it was subjected to a special examination, and was found to contain, besides empyreumatic substances, 0·067 water, and 0·010 nitrogen.

Dr Schmidt, a German chemist, gives the following as the composition of 100 parts of the air-dried powder from the coast of the White Sea:—

Water given off at 100° C 0·260

Given off at a low red heat 0·835

Alumina 40·797

Ferric oxide 0·310

Magnesia 0·618

Lime traces

Soda 1·829

Potassa 9·845

Silicic acid, trace of fluorine,
and loss 45·506

This earth is eaten by the Laplanders, who mix it with the flour of which they make their bread.

The Persian edible earth called Gheli Giveh contains:—

Magnesic carbonate 66·963

Calcic carbonate 23·634

Sodium chloride 3·542

Sodic sulphate 0·293

Sodic carbonate 0·598

Magnesic hydrate 1·311

Ferric oxide 0·092

Alumina 0·227

Silicic acid 0·765

Water combined at 120° 1·153

Hydroscopic moisture 1·422

The ‘Chemical News’ (xxxvi, 202) contains the analysis by Mr Paterson Muir of a clay from Mackenzie County, South Island, New Zealand, which is largely eaten by sheep. It consists of:—

Silica 61·25

Alumina 17·97

Ferric oxide 5·72

Lime 1·91

Magnesia 0·87

Sodium chloride 3·69

Potassium chloride trace

Water 7·31

Organic matter 1·77

100·49

See Animalculæ.

EDULCORA′TION. The affusion of water on any substance for the purpose of removing the portion soluble in that fluid. Edulcoration is usually performed by agitating or triturating the article with water, and removing the latter, after subsidence, by decantation or filtration. It is the method commonly adopted to purify precipitates and other powders which are insoluble in water. The washing-bottle is a most useful instrument for the edulcoration of precipitates. In its simplest form, it is a bottle fitted with two bent glass tubes, one drawn to a fine point and reaching to the bottom of the bottle, the other only entering the cork a few inches. By blowing down the latter tube, the water is forced out of the former in a fine stream. See Wash-bottle.

EEL. Syn. Anguilla, L. A family of fishes belonging to the ‘apodal’ section of the malacopterygii. At least three species of eels are found in this country—the ‘sharp-nosed,’ the ‘broad-nosed,’ and the ‘snig.’ The first, which is common in streams and lakes, attains the greatest size—sometimes 25 lbs. or even 30 lbs. The ‘snig’ is considered superior to other kinds for the table. As articles of food, eels are said to be laxative and far from wholesome. The fat (EEL FAT; ADEPS ANGUILLÆ, OLEUM A.) is among the simples of the Ph. L. 1618, and was formerly considered ‘good against stripes,’ and is even now used by the vulgar as a friction for stiff joints. For the table, eels are generally dressed by stewing, frying, baking, or potting, which is done in the usual way, the fish being cut into pieces 2 or 3 inches long, and melted butter, onions, sweet herbs, and anchovy sauce, added at will. The CONGER EEL is a distinct and gigantic species of the same family. Its flesh is coarse and oily, but is much esteemed by the inhabitants of the southern coast of Devon, on which it abounds.

Letheby states the following to be the composition of the Eel:

Nitrogenous matter 9·9

Fat 13·8

Saline matter 1·3

Water 75·

100·0

Payen’s analysis differs from the above, in giving a larger proportion of nitrogenous matter, and a still greater quantity of fat.

The native inhabitants of New Zealand and kindred races suffer largely from scrofula, the prevalence of which disease amongst them has been attributed to their partaking so largely of eel as a common article of diet.

EFFERVES′CENCE. The rapid escape of gas in small bubbles from a liquid. See Draught, Powder, &c.

EFFLORES′CENCE. The spontaneous conversion of a crystalline solid into a dry pulverulent form. Crystals which in a dry atmosphere lose their water of crystallisation, and become crusted over with a mealy powder, are said to be EFFLORESCENT.

EGG. Syn. Ovum, L. A body produced in the females of birds and certain other animals, containing an ′embryo’ of the same species, or body, from which a similar animal may ultimately be produced. The eggs of the common domestic fowl are nutritious and easily digestible; and when lightly cooked by boiling and eaten with a little salt, are admirably adapted as an aliment for the sick and delicate. When boiled hard or fried, they are rendered less digestible, and possess no advantage in this respect over butcher’s meat. A new-laid egg, beaten up in a cup of tea, coffee, or chocolate is an excellent ingredient in the breakfast of a person with a poor appetite, and is very supporting. A glass of wine, beer, or porter, similarly treated, along with a biscuit, has been recommended as a light and nutritious luncheon or supper, well suited to the debilitated and dyspeptic. Raw eggs may be advantageously substituted for cod-liver oil in all the cases in which this last is ordered, occurring in persons with delicate or irritable stomachs. The addition of fresh salad oil vastly increases their medicinal virtues. A fresh egg is said to contain about the same amount of nourishment as 1⁄2 oz. of fresh meat and 1 oz. of wheaten bread, but in a more digestible form.

Composition of the
contents of the egg.

Water 74·02

Albumen 14·08

Oil and fat 10·25

Mineral matter 1·65

100·00

Composition of the white
of egg. (Thompson.)

Nitrogenous matter 20·40

Fatty matter

Saline matter 1·60

Water 78·00

100·00

Composition of the yolk.
(Thompson.)

Nitrogenous matter 16·00

Fatty matter 30·70

Saline matter 1·30

Water 52·00

100·00

Egg, White of (ALBUMEN OVI), is officinal in the B. P. Yelk of egg (vitellus ovi) is an ingredient in the BRANDY MIXTURE (MISTURA SPIRITUS VINI GALLICI) of the London College. It is also a popular application to chaps, cracked nipples, abrasions, &c., and is largely used to render oleaginous substances miscible with water, in the preparation of emulsions.

The average weight of the new-laid egg of a hen is about 2⁄2 oz., and its sp. gr. is 1·080 to 1·090; the white generally weighs about 1⁄2 oz.; the yolk, a little under ⁄4 oz.; and the shell and skin, ⁄4 oz. Dr Prout found that an egg, on being kept for 2 years in a dry situation, lost 544⁄10 gr., from the evaporation of a portion of its water through the shell. By boiling in water an egg loses from 2% to 3% of its weight.

Choice. The larger end of a new-laid egg feels cold when placed against the tongue. New-laid eggs appear semi-transparent when placed between the eye and a strong light, and have a small and perceptible division of the skin from the shell, which is filled with air. This mode of examination among the trade is called ‘candling.’ When they shake they are stale. The eggs of turkeys and pea-hens are much esteemed for some purposes; those of ducks and geese are coarse and inferior.

Sound eggs will sink if put into a solution, consisting of 1 oz. of salt in 10 oz. of water; in the same solution indifferent ones will float, whilst bad or worthless ones will swim even in pure water.

Pres. Eggs may be preserved for any length of time by excluding them from the air. One of the cleanest and easiest methods of doing this is to pack them with the small end downwards, in clean dry salt, in barrels or tubs, and to place them in a cool and dry situation. We have eaten eggs thus preserved that were more than a twelvemonth old, and that had been for some months on shipboard in a tropical climate, and which yet retained all the peculiar sweetness of new-laid eggs. With a like intention, eggs are placed in vessels containing milk of lime or strong brine, or are rubbed over with butter, lard, or gum water, all of which act by excluding the air. Eggs for keeping should never be laid on their sides, and when kept in the air should be occasionally turned to prevent the yolk attaching itself to the side instead of floating in the albumen. Some persons place the eggs in a netting or on a sieve or colander, and immerse them for an instant in a caldron of boiling water before packing them away. The practice of packing eggs in damp straw, or anything else that can convey a flavour should be carefully avoided. The shells of eggs are porous, and readily admit the passage of gaseous substances, especially of fetid odours. It is from inattention to this point that a large number of the eggs imported from the coast of France have a less delicate flavour than those of our poultry yards. Damp chopped straw, as well as most other organic substances exposed to warmth and moisture, readily ferment or putrefy; and during fermentation a considerable increase of temperature takes place, as any one may readily perceive by examining the common hotbeds in our gardens, which are merely masses of organic matter in a state of decomposition. Eggs, as long as they retain the embryo of the future chick in a vital state, possess in themselves a certain degree of warmth, which tends materially to promote the decomposition of the substances they are packed in, particularly in the presence of moisture.

A correspondent of the ‘Chemical News’ says: “Eggs may be kept fresh for a whole year by subjecting them to the following process. The fresh eggs are carefully placed in a mixture of five kilogrammes of alum, dissolved in five litres of water, heated to from 45° to 50° C., and left in that liquid for from thirty to forty minutes; the eggs are next drained, and in the meantime the solution of alum is heated to boiling-point. The eggs are again immersed in the liquid and kept therein from ten to fifteen seconds; after having been drained and cooled, they are packed in either dry bran, sawdust, cork-dust, sifted ashes, or in cotton-wool.”

M. Durand, of Blois, proposes to preserve eggs by coating them with silicate of soda.

To Preserve Eggs fresh for many weeks.—As the eggs are taken from the nest, brush each one separately with a thin solution of gum Arabic, being careful to leave no portion of the shell uncovered by it. The half of each egg must first be done, and left to become dry before the remainder is touched, that the gum may not be rubbed off any part by its coming in contact while wet with the hand as it is held to be varnished, or with the table when it is laid down to harden.—Eliza Acton.

Eggs to boil in the Shell.—Eggs brought from a cold place and suddenly plunged into boiling water are very frequently liable to crack, and thus to allow of the partial escape of their contents. In winter it will be found a good plan to hold them for an instant over the steam of the saucepan before they are placed in it, which they should be, very gently. By boiling for three minutes, the whites will become in a partially solid state. Exactly five minutes will harden the whites and leave the yolks liquid. Eight or ten minutes will render them hard. Eggs should always be boiled in water sufficient to entirely cover them. They should be boiled 15 minutes for salad-dressings.

Eggs, to Poach.—Take for this purpose a wide and delicately clean pan about half filled with the clearest spring water; throw in a small saltspoonful of salt, and place it over a fire quite free from smoke. Break some new-laid eggs into separate cups, and do this with care, that the yolks may not be injured. When the water boils, draw back the pan, glide the eggs gently into it, and let them stand till the whites appear almost set, which will be in about a minute; then without shaking them move the pan over the fire, and just simmer them from two minutes and a half to three minutes. Lift them out separately with a slice, trim quickly off the ragged edges, and serve them upon dressed spinach or upon minced veal, turkey, or chicken; or dish them for an invalid upon delicately toasted bread, sliced thick and free from crust; it is an improvement to have the bread buttered, but it is less wholesome.

Comparative time of poaching eggs: swan’s eggs, 5 to 6 minutes (in basin, 10 minutes); turkey’s eggs, 4 minutes; hen’s eggs, 3 to 3⁄2 minutes; Guinea fowl’s, 2 to 3 minutes; bantam’s, 2 minutes.

Obs. All eggs may be poached without boiling if kept just at simmering point, but one boil quite at last will assist to detach them from the stewpan, from which they should always be very carefully lifted on what is called a fish or egg slice. There are pans made on purpose for poaching and frying them in good form; but they do not, we believe, answer particularly well. If broken into cups slightly rubbed with butter and simmered in them, their roundness of shape will be well preserved.—Eliza Acton.

Egg, Elas′tic. Take a good and sound egg, place it in strong vinegar, and allow it to remain for 12 hours; it will then become quite soft and elastic. In this state it can be squeezed into a tolerably wide-mouthed bottle; when in, it must be covered with water having a little soda dissolved in it. In a few hours the egg will be restored to nearly its original solidity; after which the liquid may be poured off and the bottle dried, the whole being kept as a curiosity to puzzle one’s friends for an explanation how the egg got there. (‘Parlour Pastime.’)

Egg Flip. Prep. 1. Beer, 1 pint; eggs, 3 in no.; sugar, 2 oz.; nutmeg and ginger, q. s. to flavour; the eggs are broken into one half of the beer, the sugar added, and the whole beaten well together; the mixture is then placed in a clean warmer, and heated over the fire to nearly the boiling-point, and stirred one way all the time, care being taken not to let it either boil or curdle; the other portion of the beer and the spices are then added, and the whole mixed well together.

2. As above, but adding a glass of spirit. Some persons also add a little lemon peel.

Eggs, Packing, for Shipboard. The following plan is now adopted by many firms shipping eggs:—“In the bottom of the box may be placed bran, cut hay, and sawdust. Tear up old newspapers to about 8 or 10 inches square. The paper should be about medium—that is, not too stiff nor too soft. Place one of these pieces of paper on the hand, and on this an egg, on one end; close the lower hand so as to bring the paper up all round the egg; with the other hand crumple the loose corners and edges of the paper down over the other end of the egg; lay another piece of paper on the hand, on which place the same egg, but the other end up; bring up the new paper and crumple down as before. This gives a good cushion to both ends, and a fair one over the centre. Repeat this till you have six thicknesses of paper, reversing the egg each time, and always keeping it on the end. This gives you a ball about 3 to 3⁄2 in. thick by 3⁄2 to 4 in. long. Care should be taken not to press the paper too closely to the egg while covering. Place on one end in the box or basket; place alongside and press them together close enough to prevent their becoming loose in the box, fillings at the ends and on top with crumpled paper.”—J. P.

Egg, Glaire of. Prep. Separate the whites from the yolks, and whisk them to a froth, let them stand 24 hours, and strain them through muslin. Used as a glaze or varnish by bookbinders and others.

Egg, Liquid. Prep. (Jayne.) From lime, 1 bushel (slaked with water); common salt, 2 or 3 lbs.; cream of tartar, ⁄2 lb.; water, q. s. to form a mixture strong enough to float an egg. Used to preserve eggs, which it is stated it will do for two years, by simply keeping them in it. Simple milk of lime answers quite as well.

Egg Wine. As egg flip, but using equal parts of white wine and water, instead of beer.

ELA′IDINE. A fatty compound of elaïdic acid and glycerin, formed by the action of nitrous acid or nitrate of mercury on olive oil. It is neutral; melts at 90° Fahr.; and is very soluble in ether, scarcely so in alcohol. It is one of the components of CITRINE OINTMENT. By saponification it is resolved into its two constituents.

ELA′IN. See Olein.

ELAIOM′ETER. Syn. Oleom′eter. An instrument for ascertaining the specific gravity of oils. See Hydrometer and Oil.

ELAL′DEHYD. A peculiar crystalline substance which forms in ALDEHYD when kept for some weeks at a temperature of 32° Fahr. It melts into a colourless liquid at about 38°, in which state it is miscible with water, alcohol, and ether. It is isomeric with aldehyd, but its vapour has about three times the density of that substance, whilst it neither combines with ammonia nor comports itself with potassa and solution of silver like aldehyd.

ELAOP′TENE. See Oil (Volatile).

ELAT′ERIN. Syn. Momordicine. The active principle of ELATERIUM. It was discovered by Dr Clutterbuck in 1819, but first obtained in a state of purity in 1830 by the late Mr Hennel.

Elaterin. Syn. Elaterium. (Dr Morries.) Obtained by evaporating tincture of elaterium (made with rectified spirit) to the consistence of thin oil, and throwing it in boiling distilled water. When cold, the crystalline precipitate is collected, and dried with a gentle heat.—Dose, to commence with 1-16th of a grain.

Prep. 1. (Dr Morries.) Elaterium is digested in hot alcohol, the resulting tincture filtered, evaporated to the consistence of thin oil, and then thrown into boiling distilled water. When the whole is cold, the precipitate is collected and purified by redissolving it in alcohol and precipitation by water, as before.

2. (Hennel.) The alcoholic extract of elaterium is digested in ether, and the residuum dissolved in hot alcohol; crystals form as the solution cools.

3. An alcoholic tincture is evaporated to the consistence of a syrup, and thrown into a mixture of equal parts of liquor of potassa and water at a boiling temperature. Almost pure elaterin separates as the liquid cools.

Obs. Elaterin forms delicate, white, silky crystals, having a bitter taste; it is fusible at about 365° Fahr.; tastes bitter; odourless; neutral; insoluble in water; and dissolves readily in hot alcohol. Its medicinal action is similar to that of elaterium, differing only in its greater activity.—Dose, ⁄16 gr. to ⁄20 gr.

ELATER′IUM. Syn. Squirting cucumber. In pharmacy, ‘the fresh unripe fruit’ of the wild cucumber, ‘Ecbalium officinarum—Richard,’ Ph. L. (Momordica Elaterium, Linn.). According to present usage, the word is more generally applied to the feculence deposited from the juice of the wild cucumber. It is thus applied in Ph. B. E. & D. See below.)

Elaterium. B. P. Syn. Extract of elaterium, E. of squirting cucumber; Extractum elaterii (Ph. L.), Elaterium (Ph. E. & D.,) L. The feculence of the juice of the above fruit.

Prep. 1. (Ph. L.) Slice wild cucumber before it is quite ripe in the long direction, and strain the juice, very gently expressed, through a fine hair sieve; then set it aside for some hours, until the thicker part has subsided. The thinner supernatant fluid being rejected, dry the thicker portion with a gentle heat. The processes of the other colleges are essentially the same.

2. (Dr Clutterbuck.) The cucumbers (fully ripe) are cut longitudinally, and sprinkling with cold water, and the juice allowed to strain through a fine sieve into an earthenware vessel. The seeds and surrounding pulp are next placed on the sieve, with the split fruit, and washed repeatedly with cold water. The washings being received in the same vessel with the juice, the whole is allowed to repose for a few hours, when the clear portion is decanted and the sediment spread thinly on fine linen, and dried by exposure to the air and a gentle heat avoiding the sunshine or a bright light. Quality very fine. Forty fruits, by this process, yield only 6 gr. of elaterium.

3. (Apothecaries’ Hall.) The fruit, slit into halves, is placed in hempen or horsehair bags, and submitted to slight pressure in a tincture press. The juice, as it runs off, passes through a fine hair sieve into a cylindrical glass jug or jar, where it is allowed to remain for two hours, when the clear supernatant liquor is poured off, and the thick portion containing the sediment is poured on a paper filter, supported on linen, and allowed to drain, after which it is dried by a gentle heat in a stove. The product has a green colour, and constitutes the finest elaterium of commerce. A darker and inferior article is obtained from the liquor, poured from the first sediment by placing it in shallow pans, and allowing it again to deposit.

Prop., &c. Elaterium is sold in thin cakes, and when pure has a pale-gray or greenish-gray colour, floats on water, is easily pulverised by pressure, and forms with rectified spirits a rich, green-coloured tincture. Elaterium obtained as a second deposit (ELATERIUM NIGRUM), is dark and inferior. Alcohol dissolves from 50% to 60% of good elaterium. “When exhausted by rectified spirit, the solution, concentrated, and poured into hot dilute solution of potassa, deposits, on cooling, minute silky, colourless crystals (of ELATERIN), weighing from ⁄7th to ⁄4th of the elaterium operated on.” (Ph. E.)

Obs. To procure a fine sample of elaterium it is necessary to remove it as soon as it is deposited, as a heavy mucilage falls down soon afterwards, which materially injures its quality and appearance. English elaterium is the best. The foreign is uniformly adulterated with chalk or starch, and coloured with sap green.

Dose, ⁄16 gr. to ⁄2 gr., formed into a pill with extract of gentian and liquorice powder; as a hydragogue and cathartic in dropsies, twice a day, repeated every other day for a week or ten days. Its use must be avoided when there is much debility or any inflammatory symptoms. Larger doses than ⁄2 gr. of pure elaterium are poisonous. The antidotes are emetics, followed by demulcents, opium, and stimulants.

EL′DER. Syn. Sambucus (Ph. L. & E.), L. A large shrub or small tree belonging to the natural order Caprifoliacæ. It is indigenous in Europe, and has long been valued for its medicinal properties. “The recent flowers of the Sambucus nigra” (Ph. L.) or common elder are regarded as diaphoretic and pectoral, and a distilled water (ELDER-FLOWER WATER; AQUA SAMBUCI) is made of them. The inner bark of the same tree is purgative and emetic, and is used in dropsy; the leaves are purgative; the juice of the fresh berries is made into wine (ELDER WINE), and is largely used to make FACTITIOUS PORT WINE, and to adulterate the real wine. See Waters (Distilled).

ELECAMPANE′. Syn. Inula (Ph. L.), L. “The root of Inula Helenium” (Ph. L.). A plant of the nat. order Compositæ. Tonic, diaphoretic, and expectorant.—Dose, 20 gr. to 1 dr., or more, either in the form of powder or decoction; in catarrh, dyspepsia, &c. It is now seldom used.

ELECTRANODYN. For the cure of neuralgia, headache, migrain, faceache, and apoplectic attacks. As a necklace for children for toothache, as a preventive of quinsy, &c. A tissue paper converted into a nitrogenous material (pyroxylin or düppelpapier) by immersion in a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acid, and containing besides an insignificant proportion of wax and resin. (Hager.)

ELEC′TRIC. Syn. Electrical. Exhibiting the effects of ELECTRICITY when ‘excited’ by friction; pertaining to, derived from, or produced by electricity.

Electric. Syn. Insulator, Non-conductor. A substance which may under ordinary circumstances be readily made to evince electrical properties by friction. Electrics do not transmit, or conduct, electricity; whilst, on the other hand, ANELECTRICS are good transmitters or conductors of electrical action. The most perfect electrics are shell-lac, sulphur, amber, jet, resinous bodies, gums, gun-cotton, glass, silk, diamond, agate, and tourmaline; dry fur, hair, wood, feathers, and paper; turpentine and various oils; dry atmospheric air and other gases, steam of high elasticity, and ice at 0° Fahr. The most perfect anelectrics or conductors are the metals, charcoal, and saline fluids.

Electric Eel. The Gynotus electricus, a fish having the power or giving violent electric ‘shocks’; which power it exerts for killing or stunning its prey. It is an inhabitant of the fresh-water lakes and rivers of the warmer regions of America, Africa, and Asia.

Electrical Machine. An instrument for the excitation and collection of electricity. The term is only applied to contrivances in which friction is the immediate cause of the electrical disturbance; those which act through chemical force, magnetism, or heat, being known by various distinctive names, as ‘voltaic battery,’ ‘electro-magnetic machine,’ ‘induction-coil,’ ‘thermo-electric pile,’ &c.

The electrical machines in common use are composed of a hollow glass cylinder, or circular plate of glass, turning on an axis, and rubbing against two or more leather rubbers covered with silk, the electricity being collected by sharp points fixed in a metal rod standing on a glass pillar. A description of these instruments, however, would be out of place in the present work, which does not aim at giving information that may be easily obtained from other sources.

Cylinder machines are seldom made of greater size than 13 inches by 9, and are about as powerful as an 18-inch plate machine. The latter are commonly made up to 3 and 4 feet diameter, and will, with a suitable condenser, give 15 inch sparks in air.

ELECTRI′′CITY (-trĭs′-ĭt-e). The name given primarily to one of the great forces of nature, and secondarily to that department of physical science which embraces all that is known respecting this particular force. Many theories respecting the nature of electricity have been advanced for the purpose of explaining electrical phenomena. The theory of Dr Franklin supposed the existence of a single homogeneous, imponderable fluid, of extreme tenuity and elasticity, in a state of equable distribution throughout the material world. This fluid is assumed to be repulsive of its own particles, but attractive of all other matter. When distributed in bodies, in quantities proportionate to their capacities or attraction for it, such bodies are said to be in their ‘natural state.’ When we increase or diminish the natural quantity of electricity in any substance, excitation is the result, and the substance, if ‘overcharged,’ is said to be electrified ‘positively,’ or if ‘undercharged,’ ‘negatively.’ These theories, and all others based upon the assumption that electricity is a form of matter, have been found to be inadequate for the elucidation of electrical phenomena.

At the present day, however, two kinds of electric forces are recognised, and distinguished as negative and positive, but they are both assumed to be analogous in principle, and very generally assumed to be simply due to different analogous motions of matter. For a full exposition, however, the reader must refer to some of the especial works on the subject.

ELECTRICITY, Iron reduced by. Gelatin capsules of the size of a 2-grain pill, filled with powdered blacksmith scales (black oxide of iron). (Hager.)

ELECTRO-CHEM′ISTRY. That branch of chemistry which treats of the agency of electricity in effecting chemical changes.

ELECTRO-ETCH′ING. See Etching.

ELECTROL′YSIS. (-trŏl′-e-sĭs). Electro-chemical decomposition. The voltaic current has the power of loosening and separating the constituents of certain compound bodies when these are interposed in the circuit. The substances which are thus susceptible of decomposition are termed electrolytes. They are all binary compounds, containing single equivalents of their components, which are held together by very powerful affinities. The amount of electrical power required to effect decomposition varies greatly with different electrolytes: solution of iodide of potassium, melted chloride of lead, hydrochloric acid, water mixed with a little sulphuric acid, and pure water, demand very different degrees of decomposing force, the resistance increasing from the first-mentioned substance to the last, which latter it has been denied can be decomposed. One of the indispensable conditions of electrolysis is fluidity. When a liquid is electrolysed its components are discharged solely at the limiting surfaces, where, according to the usual figurative mode of speech, the current enters and leaves the liquid, all the intermediate portions appearing quiescent. The terms ‘anode’ and ‘cathode’ have been proposed respectively for the surfaces which are supposed to receive and let out the current of positive electricity. The anode is therefore directly against or opposite the positive pole of the battery, or, according to the improved nomenclature, the positive electrode; and the cathode against the negative pole, or electrode. The bodies which are set free by the action of the current are termed ions; those which go to the anode and appear at the positive electrode being distinguished by the term anions, and those which go to the cathode and appear at the negative electrode by the term cathions. This nomenclature has, however, been but partially adopted, and is making but slow way, if any, many preferring the old terms of electro-positive for anions, and electro-negative for cathions.

The relative decomposing effects produced by the same current in different electrolytes are exactly expressed by the chemical equivalents of the electrolytes. Thus, if a current be made to traverse acidulated water, iodide of potassium, and chloride of lead, these three electrolytes will suffer decomposition at the same time, but by no means to the same extent; for the current which decomposes but 9 parts of water will separate into their elements 166 parts of iodide of potassium and 139 parts of chloride of lead. The electrolysis of metallic salts is now carried out on a large scale in the beautiful arts, which we notice under the general head of Electrotype.

ELECTROMOTIVE ESSENCE (Romershausen). An embrocation for restoring the suspended functions of the skin by stimulating the flow of vital electricity and the functions of the nerves. A solution of oils of turpentine and rosemary in the ninth dilution of alcohol previously coloured red with some vegetable dye. (Reithner.)

ELECTRO-PLA′′TING and GILDING. See Electrotype.

ELECTROPH′ORUS. A simple instrument for exciting electricity, generally used in the chemical laboratory for charging small Leyden jars when gases have to be exploded by the electric spark. To construct it, a plate of tinned iron is made into a circle of about 12 inches diameter; a raised border is then turned up for about half an inch, and the extreme edge is turned outwards over a wire to avoid a sharp border. A mixture of equal parts by weight of shell-lac, Venice turpentine, and resin, is made by gently heating them together with stirring until well fused and thoroughly incorporated. This composition is poured into the plate, to quite fill it, and kept melted until all bubbles have disappeared. Another portion of the instrument, serving the same purpose as the conductor of an electric machine, is a circle of wood, rather smaller than the resinous plate, rounded at the edge, and neatly covered with tin-foil. An insulating handle, formed of a piece of stout glass rod, is cemented into the centre of this wooden disc. Before using the instrument it must be carefully dried and slightly warmed. The resinous surface is excited by beating it obliquely with a folded piece of warm flannel. When this has been done for about a minute, the warm dry cover of the instrument is to be placed upon the resinous plate, and touched with the finger. If the cover is then raised a few inches, and the knuckle approached, a powerful spark of positive electricity will pass; and if the cover be again replaced, touched, and raised, a second spark will pass. This may be repeated many times without again exciting the resinous plate. By receiving the sparks with the knobs of a Leyden jar, a charge strong enough to give a powerful shock, or explode a gaseous mixture, may be rapidly obtained. Other forms have been given to the instrument, but the essential part of every one is a plate of some resinous substance.

ELECTROTYPE. Syn. Electro-met′allurgy, Galvan′o-plas′tic. The art of working in metals by the aid of electricity. Strictly speaking, the term electrotype is only applicable to one branch of ‘electro-metallurgy’—that which relates to the production of copies of engraved plates, medals, coins, and other works—but it is now commonly employed in the sense indicated by our definition. According to this extended signification of the term, the art of electrotype includes ELECTRO-PLATING, and ELECTRO-GILDING.

General Principles.—If a current from a voltaic battery be passed, by means of platinum electrodes, through water to which some sulphuric acid has been added, electrolysis, takes place, hydrogen appearing at the cathode, and oxygen at the anode. If into the acid liquid some crystals of sulphate of copper be now thrown, electrolysis will still go on, but only one of the elements of the water, namely oxygen, will be evolved; for the hydrogen, on being released, will take the place of the copper in the solution, and the copper thus liberated will be deposited on the platinum plate or wire which constitutes the negative electrode. This experiment may be continued until all the copper is extracted from the solution. Let this experiment be repeated with a copper plate for the positive electrode, and it will be found that neither of the gases will be evolved. The hydrogen, as before, will take the place of the copper in the solution; the oxygen, instead of escaping at the anode, will combine with the copper of the electrode and the sulphuric acid to form sulphate of copper. The chemical forces called into action by the current are so beautifully balanced, that in the last experiment the quantity of copper supplied by the positive electrode exactly equals the quantity withdrawn from the solution and deposited upon the negative electrode. The whole art of electrotype consists in applying the metals thus released from their solutions to artistic or useful purposes. To obtain compact and brilliant deposits, many precautions have to be observed. The solutions must be kept saturated, or nearly so; the mould to be copied, or object to be coated, must not be too small, or out of proportion to the size of the zinc plate of the battery; in fine, the power employed must be carefully regulated according to the work to be done. In all arrangements the moulds or objects which receive the deposits act as negative electrodes, and are consequently in connection with the zinc of the battery or generating cell.

Electrotype Processes. Although reguline deposits of many metals can be obtained through the agency of voltaic electricity, we shall only treat of those of copper, silver, gold, and platinum. When copper is deposited, the object is generally to produce a substantial copy of a medal, an engraved plate, or other work of art; but when solutions containing the precious metals are electrolysed, the deposits are nearly always used for covering the surface of inferior metals. We shall notice the operations connected with the deposition of copper, and those relating to electro-plating under separate heads.

1. Deposition of copper:

The moulds or models intended to receive the deposited metals may be formed of various materials. For medals and similar small works, moulds of fusible metal, white wax, stearine, stearic acid, and gutta percha, are commonly used. The first are formed by dropping or pressing the medals to be copied upon the melted metal, taking care that the former are quite cold, and that the surface of the metal is bright or free from oxide. To make a mould in gutta percha, the material must be softened in warm water, and then pressed upon the medal by means of a strong screw press. With the other materials the manipulation is very easy. A ribbon of cardboard or thick paper is placed round the medal, so as to form a rim; the material, which has been melted in an earthen vessel, is then poured on, and allowed to remain until quite cold and hard, when it is cautiously removed. For large works, moulds of plaster of Paris are usually employed; these require to be saturated with wax or tallow, by standing them in a shallow vessel containing these substances in a melted state. For copying seals and small coins, impressions in ordinary sealing-wax may be used as electrotype moulds. Non-metallic moulds must be coated with some substance which has the property of conducting electricity before they can be used as negative electrodes. The substance commonly employed is plumbago or black-lead. It must be in the condition of an impalpable powder. It is rubbed briskly over the surface of the mould (wax, stearine, plaster, &c.) by means of a strong fine camel-hair brush, till the whole presents the well-known black-lead polish. The adhesion of the plumbago may be often promoted by breathing slightly on the mould. To cause it to adhere to sealing wax impressions, the wax may be slightly moistened with spirits of wine, or exposed to the vapour of ether. Delicate moulds and objects, which cannot well be black-leaded, may be covered with a conducting film of silver, by first dipping them in bisulphuret of carbon holding about ⁄20th part of phosphorus in solution, and then, after a few seconds, immersing them in a weak solution of nitrate of silver, and allowing them to dry in the light. Metallic moulds require no preparation.

The voltaic apparatus used may now be described. The single-cell arrangement, used for small works, is formed on the principle of Daniell’s Constant Battery. It consists of a vessel of glass, earthenware, or wood, containing a smaller cell of thin biscuit ware, or other porous material; a rod or plate of amalgamated zinc, placed within the porous cell, and a wire connecting the zinc with the mould to be copied; the latter being placed in the outer vessel. The annexed figure represents a convenient form of the single-cell:—

The battery arrangement has many advantages over that described above, and should always be employed when large objects are to be electrotyped, or when a number of small moulds are to be operated upon. In this arrangement the copper solution is electrolysed in a separate vessel, termed the decomposition cell, and the current generated by one or more cells of a Daniell’s or Smee’s battery. This arrangement is shown in the following engraving:—

a. An oval vessel of salt-glazed earthenware or wood nearly filled with a saturated solution of sulphate of copper.

b. A porous diaphragm, containing the cylinder or plate of zinc (c), and filled with dilute sulphuric acid.

d. A small bar of brass or copper fastened to the vessel by the binding screws (e, e), and supporting the plate of zinc (c), by the hook of copper wire (f), and the mould (g), by the hook (h).

i. A small shelf or partition to support crystals of sulphate of copper, to keep up the strength of the solution.

a. A constant battery cell.

b. Decomposition cell, a cubical vessel made of wood or earthenware, and filled with a mixture of 1 part of dilute sulphuric acid (1 acid + 9 water), and 2 parts of saturated solution of sulphate of copper by measure.

c, c, c. Moulds suspended to the brass rod (f), and connected with the zinc or positive element of the battery (a), by means of the screw (g.)

d, d. Pieces of sheet copper suspended on the brass rod (h), and connected with the zinc end of the battery, by means of the screw (i), employed to keep up the strength of the cupreous solution in the decomposition cell.

To connect the moulds with the zinc or positive element, stout copper wires or strips of thin sheet copper are employed. In the case of a non-metallic mould, the wire must lead directly to the plumbagoed surface, or, what amounts to the same thing, the plumbago must be extended to the point of attachment. The connecting wires, and the backs and edges of metallic moulds, must be covered with sealing-wax varnish, or other non-conducting substance, to prevent them receiving the deposit. Before a mould is placed in the copper solution it is advisable that everything should be arranged, so that the immersion may occasion immediate voltaic action. If the connection between the zinc and the mould is not effected until after the immersion, the solution may act chemically on the surface of the mould, and cause the deposit to appear dark and dirty. When a mould has remained in the solution long enough to receive a complete coating of copper, it may be lifted out with impunity for examination. If everything is going on well, the deposited metal will present a brilliant, light, copper-coloured surface. When sufficiently thick, the deposit is removed with care, washed and placed to dry. Electrotype medals may be polished with wash-leather and the plate brush, or bronzed. Various natural objects such as insects, fruits, &c.; small works of art, such as busts and statuettes; chemical vessels, particularly glass flasks and retorts; and numerous classes of articles, may be rendered less fragile by coating them with copper by the electrotype process.

II. Deposition of the precious metals—

The solutions generally employed as electrolytes from which silver and gold are respectively separated, are those of the argento-cyanide and the auro-cyanide of potassium. These compounds are what chemists call double salts; for instance, cyanide of potassium is simply a compound of potassium and cyanogen; but argento-cyanide of potassium is cyanide of silver united with cyanide of potassium. When a solution of this double salt is electrolysed silver appears at one electrode and cyanogen at the other, while a proportionate amount of the simple cyanide of potassium is formed in the solution. But if the positive electrode is of silver, the cyanogen combines with it, and forms cyanide of silver, which unites with the liberated cyanide of potassium, and so keeps up the strength of the solution.

As in the deposition of copper, the apparatus used for plating or gilding may be the single cell or the decomposition cell and battery. The necessity of economising solutions of silver and gold has, however, led to certain modifications in the apparatus. The single-cell arrangement consists, as before (see above), of an outer vessel of glass or earthenware, containing a cell of porous biscuit ware; but the object to be silvered or gilded is placed, with the cyanide solution in the latter, while the zinc is placed in the outer vessel, with the dilute sulphuric acid. The zinc is usually employed in the form of a cylinder, completely surrounding the porous cell. In the battery arrangement the decomposition cell may be of porcelain or glass; the silver or gold employed to keep up the strength of the solution may be in plates, wires, or ingots. For plating small objects, a single cell of a Daniell’s battery will afford ample decomposing power; gilding may be better accomplished by using three such cells. The battery arrangement is much more convenient, effective, and economical than the single-cell arrangement.

On a large scale, electro-plating is carried out in oblong vats, occasionally holding from 200 to 250 gallons of solution. Silver plates connected with a powerful voltaic or magneto-electric battery, are placed at intervals in the vats; they form the positive electrodes, and correspond in extent of surface with the articles to be coated, and face them on both sides. The articles (tea-pots, cruet-frames, forks, spoons, &c.) act as the negative electrodes, and are suspended by copper wires from brass rods laid lengthways over the vats, and connected with the battery. The articles plated are usually formed of nickel silver or German silver, which is chosen on account of its silvery whiteness, a quality of great importance when portions of the coating of noble metal have been worn away by use.

To prepare the articles for plating, they are first boiled in a solution of potassa, to free them from grease; they are then quickly dipped in red nitrous acid, to remove any oxide that may have formed on the surface, and after this well washed in water, to remove every trace of acid. They are then suspended from copper wires, and dipped into a solution of mercury in cyanide of potassium, or some other mercurial solution, and afterwards washed in water, as before. The amalgamation of the surface effected by the last operation promotes the adhesion of the film of silver. The articles having been weighed, are now immersed in the silvering solution, and left until a sufficient amount of silver has been deposited on them. Their condition at any time may be ascertained by weighing a test-object removed from the solution. In some electro-plating establishments the silvering solution is kept constantly stirred by simple mechanical arrangements; in others, continual motion is given to the suspended articles. On being removed from the vats the plated articles are well brushed with brushes of fine brass wire attached to a lathe, and cleaned with fine Calais sand; they are afterwards polished on revolving brushes with rottenstone, then by hand with soft leather and rouge, and, lastly, with the naked female hand. A lasting polish is given to some articles by burnishing with a burnisher formed of highly polished hardened steel, bloodstone, agate, or flint. The process of electro-gilding on the large scale is nearly the same as that of electro-plating or silvering, but, of course, plates of gold are suspended in the solution instead of silver plates.

Various solutions for silvering, plating, and platinising, have been recommended. We give below those generally employed.

1. Solvent solution. Cyanide of potassium, 2 oz; distilled water or rain water, 1 pint; dissolve. Other proportions may be employed. Used as a general solvent for salts of silver, gold, and platinum.

2. Silver solution. Oxide of silver? (not dried), 1 oz.; the solvent solution (No. 1), 1 pint. Used for the single-cell apparatus, its strength being maintained as the deposition proceeds by a fresh supply of oxide from time to time.

Cyanide of silver dissolved in solvent solution (No. 1). This is the solution generally employed for plating with a separate decomposition cell.

3. Gold solution. Add to a pint of No. 1 oxide of gold, ⁄4 oz. Used in the same manner as the second silver solution.

Cyanide of gold dissolved in solution of cyanide of potassium (No. 1). Used as last.

4. Platinum solution. The double chloride of platinum and potassium, dissolved in solution of caustic potassa. Other solutions have been proposed, but this appears to be decomposed with the greatest ease.

The above sketch of the electrotype art is necessarily very imperfect. For minute details respecting manipulation, the reader is referred to the excellent treatises on the subject that have been written; more particularly to Ernest Spon’s valuable work, entitled ‘Workshop Receipts.’

ELEC′TUARY. Syn. Electuarum, L. Electuaries (ELECTUARIA) are formed of light powders, generally vegetable, mixed up with honey, syrup, or sugar, to the consistence of a stiff paste. In the present Pharmacopœia they are included under the title Confection, but this arrangement is manifestly improper, as the words are not synonymous. In Conserves and Confections the addition of the saccharine matter is in much larger proportion, and is designed to preserve the vegetable matter; in Electuaries, the syrup is designed merely to communicate the required form. (Dr Murray.)

The preparation of electuaries is similar to that of confections and conserves, and the same precautions must be observed to reduce the dry ingredients to very fine powder before adding them to the syrup or other substances used to give them form. Care must also be taken to diffuse the ingredients equally through every portion of the mass, by patient and laborious stirring. The neglect of this point has often led to disagreeable consequences, from some portion of the electuary being nearly inert, while another portion has possessed increased activity. See Confection, Conserve, Linctus, &c.

Electuary of Ac′etate of Potassa. See Conserve.

Electuary of Al′um. Syn. Electuarium aluminis, L. Prep. 1. (Phœbus.) Alum, 1 dr.; extract of logwood, 4 dr.; balsam of Peru, 6 drops; water of sage, q. s. Astringent and antiseptic; in diarrhœa, sponginess of the gums, &c.

2. (St. Marie.) Alum, 1 dr.; catechu and extract of bark, of each 2 dr.; conserve of roses, 6 dr.; simple syrup, q. s.—Dose. A teaspoonful, every 4 hours; in chronic diarrhœa, leucorrhœa, hæmorrhages, &c. See Confection.

Electuary, An′odyne. Syn. Electuarium anodynum, L. Prep. See Confection of Opium.

Electuary, Anti′monial. Syn. Electuarium antimonii, Fr. Prep. Electuary of senna, 1 oz.; guaiacum resin, æthiops mineral, prepared sulphuret of antimony, each ⁄2 oz.; syrup, q. s.—Dose, 1 dr. to 2 dr. twice a day.

Electuary, Anti-rheumatic. Syn. Electuarium antirheumaticum; Chelsea pensioner. Prep. Guaiacum resin, 1 dr.; rhubarb, 2 dr.; bitartrate of potash, 1 oz.; sulphur, 2 oz.; one nutmeg; mix the powders with 1 lb. of honey. Take two spoonfuls night and morning.

Electuary, Ar′abic. Syn. Electuarium sarzæ compositum, E. Arabicum, L.; Electuaire Arabique, Fr. Prep. From sarsaparilla, 5 oz.; senna and China root, of each, 3 oz.; dried walnut peel, 1 oz. (all in fine powder); honey, q. s.—Dose, 1 to 4 dr. See Traitement Arabique.

Electuary, Aromat′ic. Syn. Electuarium Aromaticum (Ph. E.). This preparation differs from the aromatic confection of the other British colleges, in not containing chalk. It is aromatic and stomachic, but not antacid or absorbent. Confection.

Electuary, Bath. Syn. Electuarium anti-cachecticum, E. Martiale, E. ferri compositum, L. Prep. From blacksmiths’ clinkers, reduced to an impalpable powder, and made into an electuary with honey or treacle, q. s.; afterwards adding powdered ginger and carbonate of magnesia, of each, 1 oz., to every lb. of the mixture.—Dose. A teaspoonful night and morning every day, for 3 or 4 days, and again, after an equal interval, as long as thought necessary; as a chalybeate tonic, and in worms.

Electuary of Bitar′trate of Potas′sa. Syn. Electuarium potassæ tartratis, L. Prep. (Monro.) Cream of Tartar, 1 oz,; powdered ginger and conserve of roses, of each 1 dr.; syrup of orange peel, q. s.—Dose, 1 to 3 dr.; as a hydragogue purge. It is also a useful laxative in common cases. See Confection of Cream of Tartar.

Electuary, Black. Syn. Trousseau’s electuary, Trousseau’s black tonic; Electuarium nigrum, E. ferri tannatis, L. Prep. From sesquichloride of iron, 4 dr.; tannin, 1 dr.; confection of roses, 2 oz.; syrup of orange peel, 1 oz. Tonic and astringent.—Dose, 5 to 30 gr.

Electuary of Black Pep′per. See Confection of Pepper.

Electuary of Burnt Sponge. Syn. Electuarium spongiæ ustæ, L. Prep. (Hulse.) Burnt sponge, 10 gr.; rhubarb, 4 gr.; conserve of roses, q. s. For a dose, to be taken night and morning; in scrofula, glandular swellings, &c. See Confection of Sponge.

Electuary of Cas′sia. Syn. Electuarium cassiæ (Ph. D. 1826.), E. c. Fistulæ (Ph. E.), L. Prep. (Ph. D. 1826.) Fresh cassia pulp and syrup of orange, of each, ⁄2 lb.; manna, 2 oz.; tamarind pulp, 1 oz.; mix, and evaporate to a proper consistence.—Dose, 2 dr. to 1 oz.; as a gentle laxative for children, or as a vehicle for other cathartics. That of the shops is commonly made with equal parts of tamarind and cassia pulps, mixed with ⁄8th of manna, and flavoured with a few drops of tincture of orange peel, without any evaporation. See Confection.

Electuary of Cat′echu. Syn. Electuarium catechu, Confectio c., C. japonica, L. Prep. (Ph. E.) Powdered catechu and kino, of each, 4 oz.; cinnamon and nutmegs, of each, 1 oz.; opium (dissolved in a little sherry), 1⁄2 dr.; syrup of red roses (evaporated to the consistence of honey), 1⁄2 pint. See Confection, and below.

Electuary of Cat′echu (Compound). Syn. Electuarium catechu compositum (Ph. D.). See Confections. Both the above are astringent, aromatic, and anodyne.—Dose, 15 gr. to 1 dr., or more; in diarrhœa, dysentery, &c.

Electuary, Cathar′tic. Syn. Electuarium catharticum, L. Prep. 1. Confection of senna, 1⁄2 oz.; flowers of sulphur, ⁄2 oz.; syrup of roses or of orange peel, q. s.—Dose. A teaspoonful, 3 or 4 times a day, in piles; or, 2 to 3 teaspoonfuls, as a gentle laxative for females, and in skin diseases, gonorrhœa, &c. A mild and excellent medicine. It may be safely given in larger doses.

2. (Brera.) Aloes, 8 gr.; cream of tartar, 2 dr.; honey, q. s. For a dose. In amenorrhœa, attributed to abdominal engorgement.

Electuary, Cephal′ic. Syn. Electuarium cephalicum, E. valerianæ compositum, L. Prep. (Hosp. F.) Valerian root and mistletoe of the oak, of each 1 oz.; honey, 1⁄2 oz.; tincture of henbane, q. s. to make an electuary. In nervous and rheumatic headache, &c.; assisted by an aperient.

Electuary of Char′coal. Syn. Electuarium carbonis, E. carbonii, Confectio c., L. Prep. 1. (Hosp. F.) Confection of senna, 2 oz.; fresh burnt charcoal, ⁄2 oz.; carbonate of soda, ⁄4 oz.; syrup of orange peel, q. s.

2. (Radius.) Electuary of senna, 2 oz.; powdered charcoal and carbonate of soda, of each, 1 dr. Both the above are given in obstinate constipation.—Dose, 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls twice a day. See Electuary for the Teeth.

Electuary for Chol′era. Syn. Electuarium anti-cholericum, L. The preparations that come under this name are numerous, including aromatic confection, and several like absorbent or astringent preparations. This name has been given to the American remedy for cholera, noticed at page

Electuary of Cincho′na Bark. Syn. Electuary of bark; Electuarium cinchonæ, L. Prep. 1. From yellow bark and simple syrup, of each 1 oz.; conserve of red roses and confection of orange peel, of each ⁄2 oz. Tonic and febrifuge.—Dose, 1 to 4 dr.; in debility, agues, &c.

2. (Radius.) Peruvian bark, 1 oz.; syrup of orange peel, q. s. As the last.—Dose, a teaspoonful or more, 3 or 4 times daily. (See below.)

Electuary of Cinchona (Compound). Syn. Electuarium cinchonæ compositum, L. Prep. 1. (Acidulated,—Copland.) Yellow bark, 1 oz.; confection of roses, ⁄2 oz.; diluted sulphuric acid, 1 dr.; syrup of ginger, 1⁄2 oz.

2. (Astringent,—Saunders.) Powdered Peruvian bark, orange peel, and conserves of roses and hips, of each 6 dr.; crabs’ eyes (or prepared chalk), 2 dr.; syrup of catechu, q. s.—Dose. A teaspoonful, 2 or 3 times daily; in chronic diarrhœa, &c.

3. (With Catechu,—Pierquin.) Peruvian bark, 1 oz.; catechu and balsam of tolu, of each 1 dr.; syrup of comfrey (Symphytum officinale,—Linn.), q. s.—Dose. As the last; in spitting of blood, hæmorrhages, &c.

4. (With Cloves,—Dewees.) Peruvian bark, 2 oz.; cloves, 1 dr. (better, 4 dr.); simple syrup, q. s. A piece the size of a walnut, every hour or two, during the intermission of an ague.

5. (With Iron,—Cadet.) Peruvian bark, 6 dr.; oxide of iron and confection of opium, of each 2 dr.; syrup of cinnamon, q. s.—Dose. A teaspoonful, or more, twice a day; in dropsy of the belly, after the evacuation of the fluid, and as a tonic in debility, accompanied by nervous excitement, &c., in the absence of fever.

6. (Quarin’s.) Red bark, 1 oz.; ammoniated iron, 1 dr.; made into an electuary with equal parts of oxymel of squills and syrup of the ‘five roots’ (diuretic). Tonic, febrifuge, and pectoral.

7. (With Sal-Ammoniac,—P. Cod.) Gray bark, 2⁄4 oz.; hydrochlorate of ammonia, 1 dr.; honey and syrup of wormwood, of each 2 oz. In intermittents occurring in scrofulous subjects.

8. (With Soda,—P. Cod.) Powdered cinchona, 1 oz.; carbonate of soda, 2 dr.; thin mucilage, q. s. to mix. Tonic, febrifuge, and stomachic.—Dose, 2 dr., 2 or 3 times a day; in agues, complicated with acidity and dyspepsia.

9. (With Sulphur,—Cadet.) Peruvian bark, 1 dr.; sulphur, crabs’ eyes (chalk), and spermaceti, of each 2 dr.; extract of opium, 4 dr.; conserve of roses, 4 dr.; syrup of milfoil, q. s. Highly praised in debility from phthisis.—Dose. A teaspoonful, 2 or 3 times a day, assisted with the liberal use of raw or lightly boiled eggs and cod-liver oil.

10. (With Tin,—Cadet.) Peruvian bark 1 oz.; tin filings and valerian root, of each ⁄2 oz.; syrup of saffron, q. s. In epilepsy, worms, &c.—Dose. A teaspoonful, morning and evening. See Confection of Bark.

Electuary of Copai′ba. Syn. Electuarium copaibæ, L. Prep. 1. Copaiba and powdered cubebs, equal parts; conserves of roses and orange peel, of each (in equal quantities), q. s.

2. (Caspar.) Blanched almonds, 6 dr.; powdered marsh-mallow root, 1 dr.; catechu, ⁄2 dr.; balsam of copaiba, 3 dr.

3. (Ricord.) Confection of almonds, 1 oz.; copaiba, ⁄2 oz.; hard extract of rhatany, 3 dr.; syrup of orange peel, q. s. All the above are excellent in gonorrhœa, gleets, &c. The last two agree better with the stomach than most other like preparations.—Dose, 1 teaspoonful, or more (rapidly increased to 2 or 3 dr.), 3 or 4 times daily. See Confection.

Electuary of Cow′hage. Syn. Electuarium dolichos, E. mucunæ, L. Prep. 1. Dip the pods of dolichos in treacle, allow them to drain a moment, and then scrape off the hairs for use.

2. (Chamberlain.) As the last, nearly.

3. (Correa.) Cowhage (the hairs or setæ), 40 gr.; syrup, ⁄2 oz.

4. (Ellis.) Cowhage (hairs), 1 dr.; honey, q. s.

5. (Guy’s Hosp.) Cowhage (hairs), any quantity, made into an electuary with treacle, q. s. In worms.—Dose. For a child, a teaspoonful; for an adult, a table-spoonful; in the morning, fasting, and at night, for 3 or 4 days; followed by a dose of castor oil, to which a teaspoonful of turpentine may be advantageously added. See Cowhage.

Electuary of Cu′bebs. Syn. Electuarium cubebæ, L. Prep. 1. See Electuary of Copaiba.

2. (Beral.) Cubebs and copaiba, of each 2 oz.; powdered alum, 1 oz.; extract of opium, 5 or 6 gr.; mix.

3. (Bouchardat.) Cubebs, ⁄2 oz.; copaiba, 1 oz.; sweet spirit of nitre, ⁄2 fl. dr.; oil of peppermint, 8 or 10 drops; powdered sugar, q. s.

4. (Radius.) Cubebs, ⁄2 oz.; honey, 1 oz. In gonorrhœa, mucous discharges from the vagina, bladder, &c.—Dose, 1 teaspoonful, afterwards increased to 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls, twice or thrice daily. See Confection of Copaiba, Electuary of C., &c.

Electuary, Demul′cent. Syn. Electuarium demulcens, L. Prep. From spermaceti, syrup of poppies, and syrup of tolu, of each 2 dr.; powdered gum tragacanth, 1 dr.; confection of roses, 6 dr.; nitre, ⁄2 dr.—Dose. A piece the size of a small filbert, frequently; as a pectoral and demulcent in coughs, hoarseness, &c.

Electuary, Deob′struent. Syn. Electuarium deobstruens, L. Prep. (Copland.) Confection of senna, 1⁄2 oz.; cream of tartar, 1 oz.; sulphur and syrup of ginger, of each 6 dr.; borax, 3 dr.; syrup of poppies, 2 dr.—Dose. A teaspoonful, or more, nightly; in the obstinate constipation of females, painful and suppressed menstruation, &c.

Electuary for Dys′entery. Syn. Electuarium anti-dysentericum (Ph. E. 1744), L. Electuary of catechu, mixed with half its weight of Locatel’s balsam.

Electuary, Emmen′agogue. Syn. Electuarium emmenagogicum, L. Prep. From myrrh, 1 dr.; ammoniated iron, 1 scrup.; syrup of ginger, q. s. to mix.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 1 dr., night and morning; in deficient or suppressed menstruation.

Electuary for Epilep′sy. Syn. Electuarium anti-epilepticum, L. Prep. 1. See Electuary of Cinchona (Comp.), No. 10.

2. (Dr Mead.) Powdered cinchona, 1 oz.; valerian and tin (both in powder), of each, ⁄2 oz.; syrup, q. s. to mix.—Dose. A teaspoonful, night and morning.

Electuary, Feb′rifuge. See Electuary of Cinchona, &c.

Electuary, Compound Guaiacum. Syn. Electuarium guaiaci compositum. (Mid. H.) Prep. Guaiacum resin, 2 dr.; rhubarb, 1 dr.; sulphur, 2 dr.; nitre, 2 dr.; syrup of poppies, q. s.; mix.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 1 dr.

Electuary of In′digo. Syn. Electuarium indigi, E. pigmenti indici, L. Prep. (Phœbus.) Powdered indigo, 4 dr.; aromatic powder, ⁄2 dr.; syrup, 1 fl. oz. or q. s. In spasmodic diseases, especially in epilepsy, chorea, and hysteria, and the convulsions of children. It has also been used with advantage in that species of impotence in which strychnia is useful. The above quantity is to be all taken, in divided doses, during the day. To be of permanent advantage, it should be continued for several weeks.

Electuary of Ipecacuan′ha. See Confection.

Electuary of Jal′ap. See Confection.

Electuary of Kermes. Marmelade de zanetti; Electuarium kermetis, E. k. mineralis, L. Prep. From manna, 4 oz.; pulp of cassia and oil of almonds, of each 2 oz.; butter of cacao, ⁄2 oz.: Kermes mineral, 10 gr.; syrup of marsh-mallow, 3 fl. oz.; syrup of orange flower, q. s. A diaphoretic laxative.—Dose, 1 to 4 teaspoonfuls, or more.

Electuary of Lau′rel Ber′ries. See Confection of Rue.

Electuary, Len′itive. See Confection of Senna.

Electuary, Mahomed’s. Prep. 1. From grocer’s currants, 2 oz.; powdered senna, ⁄2 oz.; powdered ginger, 1 dr.; finely powdered capsicum and cloves, of each 20 gr.; croton oil, 3 drops; conserve of roses and syrup of saffron, of each in equal parts, q. s. to mix.

2. (Bateman.) Currants, 1 oz.; senna, ⁄2 oz.; ginger, ⁄2 dr.; syrup of roses, q. s.; croton oil, 1 drop.—Dose, 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls, early in the morning; in dyspepsia and habitual constipation. The first formulary produces a most useful medicine, particularly for free-livers.

Electuary of Male Fern. Syn. Electuarium felicis maris, L. Prep. 1. Powder of male fern, 3 dr.; conserve of roses, 1 oz.

2. (Radius.) Ethereal extract of male fern, ⁄2 dr.; honey of roses, 1 oz. The half of either to be taken at night, and the remainder the next morning. In worms.

Electuary, Mustard. Syn. Electuarium sinapis. (Guy’s H.) Prep. Mustard seed, lightly bruised, 1 oz.; sulphur, 2 dr.; syrup of orange peel, 1 fl. oz.—Dose, 1 dr., 3 or 4 times a day.

Electuary of Ni′tre. Syn. Electuarium potassæ nitratis, L. Prep. (Hosp. F.) Nitre, 3 dr.; confection of roses, 2 oz.—Dose. A piece of the size of a filbert, where the use of nitre is indicated. See Confection.

Electuary, Olibanum. Syn. Electuarium olibani. [Fr.] Prep. Olibanum, ⁄2 oz.; balsam of copaiva, ⁄2 oz.; conserve of hips, 1 oz.; syrup, q. s.—Dose, 2 dr. twice a day.

Electuary of O′pium. See Confection of Opium.

Electuary, Pec′toral. Syn. Electuarium pectorale, L. Prep. 1. (Ph. E. 1744.) From conserve of roses, 2 oz.; compound powder of tragacanth, 4 dr.; flowers of benzoin, 1 dr.; syrup of tolu, q. s.—Dose. A little, ad libitum.

2. Oxymel of squills, syrup of marsh-mallows, mucilage of gum Arabic, and syrup of tolu, of each ⁄2 oz.; powdered lump sugar, 2 oz. As the last.

Electuary of Pep′per. See Confection, and above.

Electuary for Piles. Syn. Electuarium hæmorrhoidale, L. Prep. 1. See Confection and Electuary of Pepper.

2. (Dr Copland.) Cream of tartar, 1 oz.; precipitated sulphur (pure), 3 dr.; confection of senna, 2 oz.; syrup of orange peel or ginger, q. s. to mix.

3. (Dr Graves.) Confection of senna and sulphur, of each 1 oz.; balsam of copaiba and cream of tartar, of each ⁄2 oz.; jalap and ginger, of each 1 dr.; syrup of orange peel, q. s.

4. (Hosp. F.) Confection of senna, 2 oz.; black pepper and precipitated sulphur, of each ⁄2 oz.; oil of cubebs, 1 dr.; syrup, q. s. The last three are useful laxatives in piles, and by their preventing the accumulation and hardening of the fæces, often remove the affection.—Dose. A teaspoonful, three or four times a day. From the difficulty experienced in procuring pure precipitated sulphur, washed sublimed sulphur may be advantageously substituted.

Electuary of Pomegran′ate Syn. Electuarium granati, L. Prep. 1. From the root-bark, 1 dr.; assafœtida, ⁄2 dr.; croton oil, 6 drops; conserve of roses, 1 oz.—Dose. A teaspoonful, night and morning.

2. (Radius.) Extract of the root-bark, 6 dr.; lemon juice, 2 fl. dr.; linden water, 3 fl. dr.; gum tragacanth, q. s. to make an electuary. One half to be taken at once; the remainder in an hour. Both are given in tape-worm.

Electuary of Prunes. Syn. Electuarium Prunonum. (Zwelfer.) Prep. Pulp of prunes boiled to a due consistence, 2 lbs.; pure sugar, 1 lb.

Electuary of Resin. See Confection of Resin.

Electuary of Rhubarb. Syn. Electuarium rhei, L. Prep. (Saunders.) Powdered rhubarb, 1⁄2 dr.; sulphate of potassa, 1 dr.; cream of tartar, 4 dr.; pulp of tamarinds, 2 oz.—Dose. A teaspoonful, as a mild stomachic laxative.

Electuary, Compound Saffron. Syn. Electuarium Croci Compositum. Confection d’Hyacinthe, [F.] Prep. Prepared Armenian bole, 8 oz.; levigated crab’s eyes, 8 oz.; cinnamon, 3 oz.; yellow sandal, red sandal, myrrh, of each 1 oz.; dittany of Crete, 1 oz.; all in fine powder. On the other hand, dissolve 1⁄2 lb. of honey in 3 lbs. of syrup of pinks, over a gentle fire, and strain, and when nearly cold stir into it 1 oz. of saffron in powder. Let stand twelve hours, and then stir in carefully the powders first mentioned.

Electuary of Scam′mony. See Confection.

Electuary for Scur′vy. See Conserve (Antiscorbutic).

Electuary of Sen′na. See Confection of Senna.

Electuary of Squills. Syn. Electuarium scillæ, L. Prep. 1. Oxymel of squills, 2 fl. oz.; cream of tartar and powdered sugar, of each 1⁄2 oz.—Dose, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls, as a laxative and expectorant; in old coughs, &c.

2. (Radius.) Squills, nitre, gum ammoniacum, and tartrate (bitartrate) of potassa, of each 2 dr.; sal-ammoniac, 20 gr.; syrup of cinnamon, q. s.—Dose, 2 dr.; three times a day; in dropsies. See Conserve of Squills.

Electuary of Steel. Syn. Electuarium ferri, E. chalybeatum, L. Prep. 1. (Dr Collier.) Potassio-tartrate of iron, ⁄2 oz.; confection of roses, 1 oz.; syrup q. s. to mix.

2. (Collier.) Precipitated sesquioxide of iron, 1 oz.; honey, 2 oz.; ginger syrup, ⁄2 fl. oz. Both the above are tonic and emmenagogue.—Dose. One teaspoonful, thrice a day. See Confection.

Electuary, Stim′ulant. Syn. Electuarium stimulans, L. Prep. From gum ammoniacum (strained), 1 oz.; vinegar of squills, ⁄2 oz.; mixed with a gentle heat, and spread on leather. Applied to the chest or pit of the stomach, as a mild counter-irritant and antispasmodic; and as a discutient to tumid glands and indolent tumours. It is wrongly called an electuary.

Electuary, Stomach′ic. Syn. Dinner electuary; Electuarium stomachicum, Confectio stomachica, L. Prep. 1. Rhubarb, ginger, and extract of chamomile, of each 1 dr.; confection of orange peel, 4 dr.; syrup q. s.

2. Rhubarb and gentian, of each, 1⁄2 dr.; extract of hops and powdered capsicum, of each ⁄2 dr.; oil of chamomile, 12 drops; confection of hips and syrup of orange peel, of each ⁄2 oz.

3. Green peppermint, lump sugar, and confection of orange peel, equal parts.—Dose. A teaspoonful, an hour before a meal. They are all excellent stomachics, and are useful to improve the appetite, and in dyspepsia.

Electuary of Sul′phur. See Confection of sulphur, and below.

Electuary of Sulphur (Compound). Syn. Electuarium sulphuris compositum, L. Prep. 1. Sulphur, ⁄4 oz.; cream of tartar, 1 oz.; confections of senna and black pepper, of each 2 oz.; syrup of ginger, 1 fl. oz. An excellent medicine in piles.—Dose. A teaspoonful, twice a day.

2. (With Borax.) Flowers of sulphur, 1 oz.; cream of tartar, 1⁄2 oz.; borax, ⁄2 oz.; confection of senna, 2⁄2 oz.; syrup of orange peel q. s. to mix.—Dose. 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls, in diseases of the uterine organs and lower bowels. See Confection.

Electuary for the Teeth. Syn. Electuarium dentifricum, L. See Tooth Paste, Dentifrice, &c.

Electuary of Tin. See Confection of tin, and below.

Electuary of Tin (Compound). Syn. Electuarium stanni compositum, L. Prep. 1. Powdered tin, 1 oz.; confection of oil of turpentine, 2 oz.

2. (Dr Cheston.) Tin filings, 4 dr.; carbonate of iron (sesquioxide), 1 dr.; conserve of wormwood, 3 dr.

3. (Foy.) Powder of tin, 1 oz.; extract of wormwood and powdered jalap, of each, 1 dr.; compound syrup of chicory, q. s. In worms.-Dose. A tablespoonful, or more, for 2 or 3 successive mornings, fasting; followed by a purge.

Electuary of Tur′pentine. Syn. Electuarium terebinthinæ, L. Prep. 1. (St. B. Hosp.) Common turpentine, 1 oz.; honey, 2 oz.—Dose, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; in complaints of the urinary organs, worms, &c.

2. (Radius.) Turpentine, soap, and rhubarb, of each, 1 dr.; syrup of wormwood, q. s.—Dose. Three teaspoonfuls a day; in dropsy, worms, &c.

3. (E. Olei Terebinthinæ,—Copland.) As confection of turpentine,—Ph. D. See Confection.

Electuary, Ver′mifuge. Syn. Electuarium anthelminticum, E. vermifugum, L. Prep. 1. (Bresmer.) Worm-seed and tansy-seed, of each 4 dr.; powdered valerian root, 2 dr.; jalap and sulphate of potassa, of each 1⁄2 to ⁄2 dr.; oxymel of quills, q. s. to mix.—Dose. A teaspoonful, or more; repeated night and morning, followed by a brisk purge.

2. (Rosenstein.) Worm-seed, 10 gr.; sulphate of iron, 4 gr.; jalap and honey, of each 20 gr. For two doses, as the last. 2 or 3 dr. of confection of senna are often substituted for the jalap and honey.

3. (Foy.) Aloes, ⁄2 oz.; common salt, 3 dr.; flour, 2 oz.; honey q. s. to form a stiff paste. Used as a suppository in ascarides.

4. Flowers of sulphur, 4 oz.; powdered jalap, 1 oz,; powdered bark, 1 oz.; syrup of buckthorn q. s.—Dose. Two or three teaspoonfuls, every morning early. See Confection and Electuary of Tin, Turpentine, Worm-seed, &c.

Electuary for Worms. See Electuary Vermifuge (above).

EL′EMENTS. Syn. Elementary bodies, Simple b.; Elementa, L. In chemistry, those substances or bodies which have hitherto resisted every attempt which has been made to decompose them, or to resolve them into simpler forms of matter. Earth, air, fire, and water, were regarded by the ancients as simple bodies, of which all others are composed, and they still constitute the ‘four elements’ of the vulgar. The imaginary principles or elements of the alchemists were termed salt, sulphur, and mercury. About sixty-four different kinds of matter are at present recognised as elementary bodies. They are substances having the most diverse characters. The great majority exist in the solid state; bromide and mercury are liquid; while oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and chlorine, are gaseous. About four fifths of the elements are metallic, as instanced by gold, silver, copper, iron, &c.; the remainder are non-metallic, as instanced by carbon, sulphur, phosphorus, &c. A list of the known elements is given under the head of Atomic Weights (which see).

EL′EMI. Syn. Gum elemi; Elemi (B. P.). “A terebinthinate concretion, from an uncertain plant.” (Ph. L.) Mexican elemi is known to be the produce of a species of the genus Elaphrium. Manilla elemi is probably the product of Canarium commune.

Prop., &c. The elemi of commerce is of a pale-yellow colour, brittle without, but soft and tough within; it has a warm bitter taste, and a fragrant aromatic smell, partaking of fennel and juniper. It is only partially transparent even in thin plates, is very fusible, and has a density a little greater than that of water. It contains 12⁄2 per cent. of volatile oil (oil of elemi). It is used to give toughness to lacquers and varnishes, and in medicine in the preparation of ELEMI OINTMENT.

Pur. The elemi of the shops is often adulterated, but more frequently a factitious kind is sold for the genuine gum. This fraud may be detected by exposing the suspected article to heat, along with a little water, when the factitious fragrance of the spurious article evaporates, and the coarse terebinthinate smell of the resin used to adulterate it, or which is sold for it, becomes readily distinguishable.

Elemi, Facti′′tious. Prep. 1. Yellow resin, 8 lbs.; melt, add Canada balsam, 2 lbs; withdraw the vessel from the heat, and further add of oil of juniper, 2 dr.; oil of sweet fennel, 1 dr.; oil of nutmeg, ⁄2 dr.

2. Yellow resin, 7 lb.; Canada balsam, 1 lb.; juniper oil bottoms, 4 dr.; oil of mace, 3 dr.; mix as before.

EL′EMIN. The crystalline resin of gum elemi.

ELIX′IR. In pharmacy, a name formerly applied to various compound tinctures, and to preparations supposed to contain the quintessence of other substances. (It is still applied to several popular remedies.) The elixirs of the alchemists were solutions employed in their fruitless attempts to transmute the baser metals into gold.

Elixir, Ac′id. Syn. Elixir acidum, L. Prep. 1. (Dippell’s) Sulphuric acid, 1 part, dropped gradually into rectified spirit of wine, 5 parts; placed in a large flask, and afterwards coloured by digestion on animal kermes and saffron, of each 1 part.

2. (Haller’s,—Ph. Sax. 1837.) From sulphuric acid and rectified spirit, of each 1 part; as before.

3. (Vogler’s.) From sulphuric acid and nitrous ether, equal parts, as above. Astringent and antiseptic.—Dose. A few drops, in water.

Elixir of Al′oes. Syn. Compound tincture of aloes; Elixir aloës, L. See Tincture.

Elixir of Aloes (Compound). Syn. Elixir of aloës compositum, L. Prep. (Dr Copland.) Acetate of potassa, inspissated ox-gall, socrotine aloes, and myrrh, of each 2 dr.; hay saffron, 1 dr.; brandy (or proof spirit), 2⁄2 fl. oz.; digest a week, and strain. Stomachic and laxative.—Dose. A teaspoonful, or more; in dyspepsia, constipation, &c.

Elixir, Anti-asthmat′ic. Syn. Elixir anti-asthmaticum, L. Prep. 1. Oil of aniseed, camphor, and balsam of tolu, of each 1 oz.; cochineal, 1 dr.; proof spirit, 1 gal.; digest a week, and filter.

2. As the last, adding powdered opium, 1⁄4 oz.—Dose. A teaspoonful to allay irritation, assisted by an occasional dose of aperient medicine; in asthma, chronic coughs, &c.

3. (Boerhaave’s.) Aniseed, asarabacca, elecampane, liquorice root, orris root, and sweet flag (calamus), of each equal parts; made into a tincture, with brandy.—Dose, 20 to 40 drops.

Elixir Antigoutteux de Villette is a tincture of 100 parts brown cinchona bark, 50 parts poppy petals, 25 parts sassafras, 50 parts guaiacum in 4,000 parts rum, mixed with 2,500 parts syrup of sarsaparilla. (Hager.)

Elixir, Anti-scrof′ulous. Syn. Elixir anti-scrofulosum, L. Prep. 1. (P. Cod.) The ammoniated tincture of gentian. See Tincture.

2. (Desforges.) Guaiacum, 5 oz.; cinchona bark and pellitory of each 3 oz.; cloves, 5 dr.; orange peel and benzoin, of each 2 dr.; hay saffron, ⁄2 dr.; rectified spirit and brandy, of each ⁄2 pint; digest a week, and filter. Used as an application to scorbutic gums.

Elixir, Bitter. Syn. Elixir amarum (Ph. Germ.) Prep. Extract of buckbean, extract of orange peel, of each 2 parts; peppermint water, alcohol (68 per cent.), of each 16 parts; spirit of ether (made of 3 parts of alcohol and 1 part of ether), 1 part. Dissolve and mix.

Elixir, Boerhaave’s Asthmat′ic. See Elixir Antiasthmatic (above).

Elixir, Boerhaave’s Vis′ceral. Syn. Elixir Boerhaavii, E. B. viscerale, L. Prep. (Ph. Han.) Aloes, myrrh, and saffron, of each 1 oz.; tartrate of potassa, 2 oz.; alcohol (strongest rectified spirit), 14 oz.; water, 1 oz.; macerate 3 days, and filter. This preparation “has been highly praised in visceral obstruction.” (Dr Griffith.)—Dose, 1 to 3 teaspoonfuls.

Elixir of Celery (Dr Wilkinson’s.) For increasing, preserving, and producing virility. Juniper berries, angelica root, lovage root, of each 1 part; spirit, 12 parts; orange-flower water, rose water, of each 4 parts; spring water, sufficient. Distil 20 parts, and mix the distillate with 12 parts clarified honey. (Hager.)

Elixir, Claude’s. Syn. Elixir Clauderi, L. 1. (Pideret.) Salt of tartar, sal-ammoniac, strained aloes, and myrrh, of each 1 oz.; elder-flower water, 1⁄4 pint, digest, with agitation, for 24 hours, and filter.

2. (Parrish.) Carbonate of potassa, 1 oz.; aloes, guaiacum, myrrh, saffron, and rhubarb (contused), of each 2 dr.; water, 18 fl. oz. Macerate a few days, and decant.—Dose, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; in amenorrhœa, constipation, scurvy, visceral obstructions, &c.

Elixir, Cough. Syn. Elixir anti-catarrhale, L. Prep. 1. See Anti-asthmatic Elixir.

2. (Hufeland.) Extracts of blessed thistle and dulcamara, of each 1 dr.; cherry-laurel water, 1 fl. dr.; fennel-water, 1 fl. oz.—Dose, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls, 3 or 4 times a day. It is a most useful remedy in coughs occurring in nervous, hysterical, or irritable patients. See Elixir of Ipecacuanha, Elixir Lettsom’s, &c. (below).

Elixir, Daffy’s. Syn. Elixir salutis, E. sennæ compositum, Tinctura sennæ composita, L. This is an aromatised and sweetened tincture of senna, to which other cathartics are generally added. Nearly every drug-house has its own formula for this article. The following are those employed in the London trade:—

Prep. 1. East India senna, 1⁄2 lb.; jalap, 5 oz.; coriander seed and aniseed, of each ⁄2 lb.; rhubarb, ⁄4 lb.; red sanders wood, 2 oz.; salt of tartar, 2 oz.; treacle, 7 lbs.; rectified spirit of wine, 2⁄2 galls.; water, 3⁄4 galls. All the solids are well bruised, and macerated in the mixed fluids for 14 days, when the whole is pressed, and strained through a flannel bag. It is too glutinous to run through filtering paper.

2. Senna, rhubarb, and aniseed, of each 2 lbs.; jalap and caraways, of each 1 lb.; red sanders wood, ⁄2 lb.; brown sugar, 7 lbs.; proof spirit, 10 galls.; as the last.

3. Senna, 56 lbs.; aniseed, 7 lbs.; rhubarb (East India), 14 lbs.; coriander seed, 6 lbs.; caraway seed and red sanders wood, of each 5 lbs.; cassia bark and jalap, of each 3 lbs.; proof spirit, 100 galls.; digest for 14 days, press, strain, and add molasses, 84 lbs.; mix well, and either clarify or strain through flannel.

4. For proof spirit in the last two formulæ, equal parts of spirit of wine and water are employed by the smaller houses.

5. (Redwood.) Senna, ⁄2 lb.; aniseed, caraways, and jalap, of each 1 oz. 2 dr.; juniper berries, 2⁄2 oz.; proof spirit, 6 pints; macerate for 14 days, then add of treacle, 10⁄2 oz.; water, 1 lb. 5 oz.; mix and strain.

6. (Dicey’s.) Senna, 1 lb.; guaiacum shavings, elecampane root (dried), aniseed, caraway seed, coriander seed, and liquorice root, of each ⁄2 lb.; stoned raisins, 2 lbs.; proof spirit or brandy, 9 quarts; macerate for 10 days.

7. (Swinton’s.) Senna, 1 lb.; jalap, 3 lbs.; coriander seed, caraway seed, liquorice root, and elecampane root, of each 4 oz.; moist sugar, 2 lbs.; rectified spirit of wine and water, of each 1 gal.; as the last.

Obs. Daffy’s elixir is a favorite purge with drunkards, and is a common and very popular remedy in flatulent colic, dyspepsia, diarrhœa, &c.—Dose, 1 to 4 table-spoonfuls, or more.

Elixir de Pepsin Digestif. (Grimault & Co.) For loss of appetite and disordered digestion. Contains pepsine, in quantities not at all proportionate to the price of the article.

Elixir Deslauriers Toni-Febrifuge au Quinquina et Caffé. A tonic febrifuge. Yellow cinchona (Köningschina), 20 grammes; brown cinchona, 8 grammes; powdered coffee beans, slightly roasted, 16 grammes; wine, 250 grammes; sugar, 15 grammes; citric acid, 2·5 grammes. Boil once after standing some time in a warm place, and filter. Add to the filtered liquid 85 grammes sugar and 15 grammes spirit.

Elixir de St. Hubert pour les Chasseurs is a solution of 2 parts carbolic acid in 50 parts spirit. (Casselmann.)

Elixir, Devil’s. Syn. Elixir capsici compositum, L. Prep. From pods of capsicum, and cloves (bruised), of each 1 oz.; ginger and saffron, of each 3 oz.; cantharides, 5 dr.; proof spirit, 7 lbs.; digest for 10 days.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 3 dr., in mixtures. It is stimulating, anti-choleraic, and aphrodisiac.

Elixir of Garlic. Syn. Elixir Allii, L. Prep. From garlic roots (bruised), 80 in no.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest, distil to dryness, and repeat the process with the same spirit from fresh roots, a second and a third time; lastly, add camphor, 2 dr. Diaphoretic and pectoral.—Dose. A teaspoonful, twice a day; in asthma, old coughs, diarrhœa from debility, &c.

Elixir, Garus’s. Syn. Elixir Gari, L.; Elixir de Garus, Fr. Prep. 1. Myrrh, 1 oz.; aloes and saffron, of each ⁄2 oz.; cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, of each 1 dr.; proof spirit, 1 quart; digest a week, add water, 5 fl. oz., and distil over 1 quart; to the distillate (alcoolat de Garus) add of syrup of maidenhair, 2 lbs.; orange-flower water, 1⁄2 fl. oz.

2. (Foy.) Compound tincture of saffron, 8 pints; syrup of maidenhair, 10 pints; mix; add caramel, q. s. to colour, dissolved in orange-flower water, ⁄2 pint.

3. (P. Cod.) Aloes and saffron, of each 1 oz.; myrrh, cinnamon, and cloves, of each ⁄2 oz.; nutmeg, ⁄2 dr.; proof spirit, 12 pints; orange-flower water, 16 fl. oz.; macerate 2 days, distil 6 pints, and add to the distillate (alcoolat de Garus), of syrup of capillaire, 7⁄2 pints; and colour with saffron q. s.

4. (Soubeiran.) Socotrine aloes and saffron, of each 1 oz.; myrrh, canella alba, citron, and nutmegs, of each ⁄2 oz.; spirit (sp. gr. ·923), 20 lbs.; orange-flower water, 16 fl. oz.; macerate as last, distil 10 lbs., and add to the distillate (alcoolat de Garus), of syrup of capillaire, 12⁄2 lbs.; orange-flower water, 8 fl. oz.; with saffron q. s. to colour.

5. (Thierry.) Aloes, myrrh, and saffron, of each 2 dr.; nutmeg, 4 dr.; canella alba and cloves, of each 1 oz.; spirit (·864), 13 lbs.; draw over 12 lbs. of ‘alcoolat,’ add to the residue of the distillation rose water, 10 lbs.; distil 6 lbs., and add as much of this aromatic water to the alcoolat as will raise its sp. gr. to ·890. Then to every 11 lbs. of the above mixed liquor add of simple syrup, 15 lbs.; tincture of vanilla and orange peel, of each 2⁄2 fl. oz.; fresh milk (skimmed), 1 lb.; and tincture of saffron q. s. to colour; digest with agitation for two days, and filter. Used as a stomachic, carminative, and stimulant, in doses of a wine-glassful. That prepared without distillation forms an excellent stomachic purge. With the exception of that from the 2nd formula, the products may be regarded as agreeable cordial liquors rather than medicines. It is much employed on the Continent.

Elixir of Gold. Syn. Elixir aurii, L.; Elixir d’or, Fr. Prep. 1. De la Motte’s Golden Drops.

2. Terchloride of gold, 20 gr.; rectified spirit, 6 fl. dr.; ether, 3 fl. dr.; dissolve.—Dose, 5 to 15 drops, taken in distilled water; in gout, scrofula, nervous diseases, cancer, indurated glands, secondary syphilis, &c. This last preparation is often confounded with the gouttes d’or du Général de la Motte; but the two are evidently distinct articles. See Drops.

Elixir, Haller’s. See Elixir acid (above).

Elixir, Hoffman’s Visceral. Syn. Elixir Hoffmanni, E. H. viscerale, L. Prep. 1. As Elixir of Orange-peel,—Ph. Bor. 1847.

2. Thin outside peel of orange (dried), myrrh, and centuary, of each 2 dr.; extracts of carduus benedictus, cascarilla, and gentian, of each 1 dr.; white wine (sherry), 1 quart. Aromatic and stomachic.—Dose. A dessert-spoonful, or more.

Elixir for Impotence in Males (Dr Ludwig Tiedemann). Prepared from directions given in the Puntsaou from genuine ginseng root. 135 grammes of a dark brown aromatic vinous liquid, prepared by digesting orange berries in wine. The embrocation is an equal quantity of a pleasantly-smelling liquid consisting of spirit with tincture of storax and a small admixture of volatile oils. (Hager.)

Elixir of Ipecac′uanha. Syn. Elixir ipecacuanhæ, L. Prep. (Cadet.) Powdered ipecacuanha and balsam of tolu, of each 4 dr.; flowers of benzoin, opium, and saffron, of each 2 dr.; oil of aniseed, 1 dr.; camphor, 40 gr.; alcohol (rectified spirit), 1⁄2 pint; digest a week and filter.—Dose, 1 to 2 dr., as a stimulant, diaphoretic, expectorant, and stomachic; in chronic coughs, asthmas, and old colds, and in certain forms of deficient appetite, dyspepsia, diarrhœa, &c.

Elixir of Jal′ap. Syn. Elixir jalapæ compositum, L. Prep. From jalap, 4 oz.; scammony, 4 dr.; gamboge, 2 dr.; proof spirit, 1 quart.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 3 dr., as a purgative; especially in worms.

Elixir Karoly pour les Fourrures. A solution of camphor and carbolic acid in strong spirit, mixed with a clear brown acrid tincture, perhaps tinct. pyrethri rosei. (Casselmann.)

Elixir, Lettsom’s. Prep. (Augustin.) Oil of aniseed, 1 dr.; camphor, 1⁄2 dr.; benzoic acid, opium, and saffron, of each 2 dr.; ipecacuanha and balsam of tolu, of each 4 dr.; rectified spirit, 2 lbs.; digest 10 days and filter.—Dose, 5 to 15 drops, for a child; ⁄2 to 1 teaspoonful, for an adult; in ordinary coughs, hooping-cough, &c.

Elixir of Life, Bitter (Jacob Wolff). For strengthening the constitution. A brandy prepared from 1 gramme aloes, 10 grammes cinnamon, 2·5 grammes sweet flag, 5 grammes angelica root, ·6 grammes cake saffron, 10 grammes caramel, 215 grammes glycerin, 180 grammes spirit, 350 grammes water. (Hager.)

Elixir, Live-long. Syn. Elixir of long life; E. longæ vitæ, L. Prep. 1. See Tincture of Rhubarb and Aloes.

2. (Elixir vitæ Matthioli.) A mixture of several aromatics and stimulants, made with rectified spirit.

Elixir of Myrrh. Syn. Elixir myrrhæ, L. See Tincture of Savine (Comp.),—Ph. L. 1788.

Elixir d’Or. See Elixir of Gold.

Elixir of Or′ange Peel. Syn. Elixir aurantiorum compositum, L. Prep. 1. (Ph. Bor. 1847.) Orange peel, 6 oz.; cinnamon, 2 oz.; carbonate of potassa, 1 oz.; Madeira wine, 4 lbs.; macerate 6 days, express the tincture, and add of extracts of buckbean, cascarilla, gentian, and wormwood, of each, 1 oz.; dissolve, and after repose for subsidence, decant and filter. An excellent aromatic bitter and stomachic.

2. (Moscati.) Orange peel, 1 oz.; cascarilla, ⁄2 oz.; waters of citron peel and wormwood, and rectified spirit, of each ⁄2 pint; digest a week. Resembles the last.—Dose (of either). A table-spoonful to a wine-glassful.

Elixir, Parego′ric. Syn. Elixir paregoricum, L. See Tincture of Camphor (Comp.).

Elixir, Paregoric (Scotch). Syn. Elixir paregoricum Scoticum, L. See Tincture of Opium (Ammoniated).

Elixir, Pec′toral. Syn. Elixir pectorale, L. (Ph. E. 1745.) Balsam of tolu, 2 oz.; gum benzoin, 1⁄2 oz.; saffron, ⁄2 oz.; rectified spirit, 32 fl. oz.; digest in a gentle heat for 4 days and filter.—Dose, ⁄2 to 1 teaspoonful. (See above.)

Elixir, Pol′ychrest. Syn. Elixir polychreston, L. Prep. (Ph. E. 1745.) Guaiacum (gum), 6 oz.; balsam of Peru, ⁄2 oz.; rectified spirit, 23 fl. oz.; digest as last, strain, and add oil of sassafras, 2 fl. dr. Pectoral and anti-rheumatic.—Dose, 10 to 60 drops, or more.

Elixir, Paracelsus’s. See Elixir Proprietatis (below).

Elixir Proprieta′tis. [L.] Syn. Paracelsus’s elixir of propriety; Elixir de propriété de Paracelse, Fr. An old preparation, nearly corresponding to the compound tincture of aloes of modern pharmacy, and which is now sold for it. Prep. 1. (Soubeiran.) Tincture of myrrh, 4 oz.; tinctures of aloes and saffron, of each 3 oz. (‘Trait. Pharm.’ 1847.)

2. (Elixir Proprietatis cum Acido.)—a. The last, slightly acidulated with oil of vitriol, and filtered.

b.—Ph. Bor. 1847.—Aloes and myrrh, of each 2 oz.; saffron, 1 oz.; spirit (sp. gr. ·900), 2 lbs.; dilute sulphuric acid (1 to 5), 2 oz.; macerate 4 days, and filter.

3. (Elixir Proprietatis Tartarizatum; E. P. Alkalizatum.) From elixir proprietatis, alkalised with salt of tartar, and filtered. The last two are old preparations, now seldom inquired for in this country, except in places remote from London.

Elixir, Radcliffe’s. Prep. 1. From socotrine aloes, 6 dr.; rhubarb, 1 dr.; cinnamon (cassia), cochineal, and zedoary root, of each ⁄2 dr.; syrup of buckthorn, 2 fl. oz.; brandy, 1⁄4 pint; digest 10 days and strain.

2. As the last, but substituting proof spirit, 1 pint, and water, ⁄4 pint, for the brandy. Aromatic, stomachic, and aperient.—Dose, 1 to 4 dr.; in similar cases to those in which ‘Daffy’s Elixir’ is taken.

Elixir of Ro′ses. Syn. Elixir Rosæ, L. Prep. 1. Eau de rose, 2 fl. oz.; spirits of horseradish and scurvy grass, of each 1 fl. oz.; otto of roses, 3 drops; camphor and cochineal (both in powder), 12 gr.; powdered sugar-candy, ⁄2 oz.; digest, with frequent agitation, for a week, and after repose decant the clear, and strain through a piece of muslin. Used as an elegant application in scurvy of the gums, and also to perfume the breath.

2. (Beasley.) Cinnamon, 3 oz.; ginger, 2 oz.; cloves, 1 dr.; essence of peppermint, 1 oz.; oil of orange peel, 1 dr.; otto of roses, 15 (? 25) drops; rectified spirit, 2⁄2 pints; digest 15 days and filter. Used as a tooth cosmetic.

Elixir Sa′crum. Tincture of aloes and rhubarb.

Elixir Salu′tis. Syn. Elixir of health. The compound tincture of senna of old pharmacy. See Elixir, Daffy’s.

Elixir of Scam′mony. Syn. Elixir scammonii, L. Prep. (Guibourt.) Scammony (pure), 2 dr.; proof spirit, 8 fl. oz.; mix in a suitable vessel, apply heat, set the spirit on fire, and add of sugar, 4 oz.; when the whole is dissolved (melted down), extinguish the flame, and further add of syrup of violets, 2 fl. oz.; mix well, and after sufficient repose decant the clear portion from the dregs. The product should be 12 oz., containing 12 gr. of scammony per oz.—Dose, 1 to 2 dessert-spoonfuls in milk or aromatised water; or made into an emulsion with aromatics; in worms, &c.

Elixir, Squire’s. Prep. 1. (Original Formula.) Aurum musivum, 3 oz.; opium, 2 oz.; camphor, 1 oz.; cochineal, ⁄2 oz.; sweet fennel, ⁄4 oz.; tincture of serpentary, 1 pint (old meas.); spirit of aniseed, 1 gal. (old meas.); sugar, 1 lb.; dissolved in water, 1 pint (old meas.); digest 10 days and filter.

2. Powdered opium, 2 oz.; ginger, red sanders wood, and camphor, of each 1 oz.; oil of aniseed, ⁄2 oz.; oil of sweet fennel, ⁄2 dr.; tincture of serpentary, 1 pint; proof spirit, 5 pints; water, 1 quart; as last. Stimulant, anodyne, diaphoretic, and pectoral.—Dose, 1 to 2 teaspoonfuls; in chest affections, nervous headaches, &c., in the absence of inflammatory symptoms.

Elixir, Stomach′ic. Compound tincture of gentian was formerly so called.

Elixir, Stoughton’s. Prep. 1. Raisins (stoned and bruised), 1 lb.; gentian root, ⁄4 lb.; dried orange peel, 6 oz.; serpentary, ⁄4 lb.; calamus aromaticus, 1⁄2 oz.; cardamoms, ⁄2 oz.; sugar colouring, ⁄4 pint; brandy or proof spirit, 2 galls.; digest a week and strain.

2. Tincture of gentian (compound), and brandy or proof spirit, of each 1 quart; tincture of serpentary and syrup of saffron, of each 1 pint; tinctures of aloes and rhubarb, of each ⁄4 pint; bitter almonds (bruised), 8 in no.; digest as before.

3. (Foy.) Aloes and cascarilla, of each 1 dr.; rhubarb, 4 dr.; gentian, germander, dried orange peel, and wormwood, of each 6 dr.; rectified spirit, 32 fl. oz.; as before. Stimulant, tonic, and stomachic.—Dose, 20 drops to a teaspoonful.

Elixir, Ton′ic. Syn. Elixir roborans. See Tincture of Crown Bark (Comp.,—Ph. Bor. 1847).

Elixir Tonique Antiglaireux de Guillé. A stomachic tonic for diarrhœa. Calumba root, 90 parts; orris root, 60 parts; gentian root, 8 parts; jalap root, 1500 parts; aloes, 13 parts; saffron, 60 parts; sulphate of quinine, 16 parts; tartar emetic, 2 parts; nitre, 16 parts; yellow sandal, 30 parts; syrup prepared from barley sugar, rectified spirit, and water, of each 11,000 parts. Macerate the drugs in spirit for 24 hours, and dissolve the salts in the water. Filter the liquids, mix and leave for 24 hours, then add the syrup, stand and filter next day. (Reveil and Hager.)

Elixir, Tooth. Syn. Elixir dentifricum, L. Prep. 1. (Lefandinière’s.) Guaiacum raspings and cloves, of each 1 oz.; pellitory of Spain and nutmeg, of each 2 dr.; oil of rosemary, 20 drops; bergamotte, 10 or 12 drops; brandy, 1 quart; macerate a fortnight, and filter.

2. Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, of each, 1 dr.; vanilla, ⁄2 dr.; camphor, 10 gr.; tincture of pellitory, 2 fl. oz.; brandy or proof spirit, ⁄2 pint; digest as before. See Antiscrofulous and Rose Elixirs (above).

Elixir Valerianatis Ammonici (Goddard). Valerianic acid, 3 grammes dissolved in 40 grammes distilled water and neutralised with ammonium carbonate. Add this to 35 grammes spirit, 50 grammes syrup, 1 drop bitter almond oil, 2 drops oil of orange peel, 30 grammes diluted bitter almond water, 12 grammes tincture of red sandal, 3 grammes tincture of orange peel, 2 grammes burnt sugar, and filter.

Elixir, Vis′ceral. Syn. Elixir viscerale, L. See Elixirs, Boerhaave’s and Hoffman’s (above).

Elixir of Vit′riol. 1. The old name for aromatic Sulphuric Acid (which see).

2. (Mynsicht’s.) See Tincture (Acid Aromatic).

3. (Scourer’s.) Dilute sulphuric acid 1 to 5). Used to scour metals.

4. (Sweet E. of V.; E. Vitrioli Dulci, L.) The old name for aromatic Spirit of Ether (which see).

5. (Virgani’s). Prep. From spirit of sulphuric ether, 2 lb.; aromatic tincture, 3 lb.

Elixir, Woroneje. Capsicum, 1 oz.; nitre, ⁄2 oz.; sal-ammoniac, 2 dr.; nitro-hydrochloric acid, 2 fl. dr.; vinegar, 1⁄2 pint; native white or rose naphtha, or petroleum, 1⁄2 fl. dr.; olive oil, 1 fl. oz.; oil of peppermint (Mitcham), 15 fl. oz.; strongest rectified spirit, 6 quarts; digest 12 days, with constant agitation, and filter.—Dose, 2 teaspoonfuls every 15 minutes; in cholera, diarrhœa, &c.

ELLAG′IC ACID. HC7H2O4.Aq. When an aqueous infusion of nut-galls is left for some time exposed to the atmosphere, the tannic acid gradually disappears, and is replaced by gallic acid, and an insoluble grey powder, to which the term ellagic acid was applied by Chevreul. It is soluble in alkalies, forming salts, and is precipitated by acids.

ELM. Syn. Ulmus, L. A genus of tree forming the type of the natural order Ulmaceæ. The interior bark of the Ulmus campestris, or common small-leaved elm (Ulmi cortex), is officinal in B. P. This substance is demulcent, diaphoretic, and diuretic, and slightly febrifuge, astringent, and tonic. It has been employed in agues, and as a substitute for sarsaparilla in cutaneous eruptions, but is now little used. The leaves of the elm-tree are reported to be vulnerary. See Decoction and Ulmin.

ELUTRIA′TION. Cleansing by washing. The term is commonly applied to the operation of washing insoluble powders with water, to separate them from foreign matter, or the coarser portion. It is usually performed by grinding or triturating the mass with a little water until reduced to a very fine powder, and this paste is suddenly diffused through a large quantity of water, contained in a deep vessel, from which, after the subsidence of the grosser portion, the liquid is poured into another vessel, and allowed to deposit the fine powder it still holds in suspension. When this has taken place, the clear supernatant liquor is decanted, and the sediment drained and dried. The coarse sediment deposited in the first vessel is now submitted to a fresh grinding and diffusion through water, and the entire operation is repeated until the whole of the pulverisable portion is washed over. The proper length of time for the liquid to remain in the first vessel depends solely on the density of the powder and the degree of fineness required in the product; heavy powders subsiding almost immediately, while light ones often take several minutes to deposit the coarser portion. Sometimes three or more vessels are employed, and the muddy liquor, after remaining a short time in the first, is poured into the next one, and this, in a short time longer, into the third, and so on, until the last vessel is filled, by which means powders of different degrees of fineness are obtained, that deposited in the last vessel being in the minutest state of division. The elutriated paste or moist powder is then drained, and dried. On the small scale the trituration is performed with a stone and muller, or in a mortar; on the large scale, in a mill, driven by either horse or steam power. Antimony chalk, bistre, and other pigments, as well as various other substances insoluble in or unacted on by water, are commonly obtained in the state of an impalpable powder by elutriation, or ‘washing over,’ as it is called by amateurs and operatives.

ELYDOR′IC PAINTING. A method of painting invented by M. Vincent, of Montpetit, in which the pigments are mixed up with an emulsion of oil and water. It is said to add the fresh appearance of water colours, and the finish of miniature painting, to the mellowness of oil colours.

EMBALM′ING. Syn. Mummification. The preservation of the dead bodies of animals. See Putrefaction.

EMBOS′SING. The formation of ornamental figures in relief on cloth, leather, paper, and wood, has now been brought to such perfection as to place this species of decoration within the reach of almost every class of society. Embossed cloth and PAPER are now employed by the bookbinder to cover even the low-priced volumes that pass through his hands; whilst the EMBOSSED LEATHER that encloses the album or ornaments our furniture frequently bears the richest patterns of the arabesque or moresque. Cloth and paper are usually embossed by machinery; leather and wood more frequently by hand labour.

EMBROCA′TION. Syn. Embrocatio, L. A fluid medicine for external and local use. Embrocations do not differ, materially, from liniments and lotions, and are applied in the same manner. (See those preparations, and below.)

Embrocation, Guestonian. Syn. Embrocatio terebinthinæ cum acido L. Prep. (Dr Paris.) Oil of turpentine and olive oil, of each 1⁄2 oz.; dilute sulphuric acid, 3 fl. dr.; agitate together until mixed. Used in rheumatism, &c.

Embrocation, Lynch’s. Olive oil (coloured with alkanet root), 5 fl. oz.; oils of amber, rosemary, and turpentine, of each 1 dr. In bruises, rheumatism, &c.

Embrocation, Roche’s. Prep. 1. (Dr Paris.) Olive oil, mixed with half its weight of the oil of cloves and amber.

2. Olive oil, 2 oz.; oil of amber, 1 oz.; oils of cloves and lemons, of each 1 dr. For hooping-cough.

Embrocation, Ward’s. See Essence.

Embrocation of Cantharides. Syn. Embrocatio Cantharides. (Dr Struve, in hooping-cough.) Prep. Tartarized antimony, 1 scruple; water, 2 oz.; tincture of cantharides, ⁄2 oz. To be rubbed over the region of the stomach, covering the part afterwards with flannel.

Embrocation of Delphinia. Syn. Embrocatio Delphiniæ. (Dr Turnbull.) Prep. Delphinia, 1 scruple to 1 dr.; rectified spirit, 2 oz.

Embrocation of Quinine. Syn. Embrocatio Quiniæ. (Dr Gustamacchia.) Prep. Sulphate of quinine, 8 to 12 gr.; rectified spirit, 1 oz.

Embrocation of Veratria. Syn. Embrocatio Veratriæ. (Dr Turnbull.) Prep. Veratria, 1 scruple to 1 dr.; rectified spirit, 2 oz.

EMBROID′ERY. Gold and silver fancy work of this description may be cleaned with a little spirit of wine, either alone or diluted with an equal weight of water. Gin is frequently used for the same purpose. The common practice of using alkaline or acid liquors is very injurious, and frequently destroys the beauty of the articles instead of cleaning them.

EM′ERALD. Syn. Smaragdus; Emeraude [Fr.] This beautiful deep-green gem ranks next to the diamond in value. The finest are brought from Peru, but fair varieties are found in Bavaria, Siberia, and India. A fine emerald weighing 4 or 5 gr. is worth as many pounds; one of 10 gr., about £2 per gr.; one of 15 gr., £3 to £4 per gr.; and so on in proportion to the increase in size. One of 24 gr., if of pure water, is worth about £100. According to the analysis of Vauquelin, the purest specimens consists of 65 parts silica, 14 alumina, 13 glucina, 2·56 lime, and 3·50 oxide of chromium, to which last the gem owes its rich green colour. See Beryl, Gems, Pastes, &c.

Emerald Green. See Green Pigments.

EMERY is an impure, amorphous, compact, and opaque variety of corundum, and consists of alumina, with a small per-centage of silica and peroxide of iron. It occurs in Spain, the isles of Greece, and other localities, and derives its name from Cape Emeri, in the island of Naxos. Its hardness is so great, that it scratches and wears down nearly all minerals except the diamond; hence the use of its powder for cutting and polishing glass and various other hard substances. For commercial purposes, the lumps of emery, as taken from the mine, are broken into pieces about the size of a hen’s egg, which are then crushed under stampers, similar to those used for pounding metallic ores. The coarse powder is then sifted through sieves covered with wire-cloth of different degrees of fineness, by which it is sorted into different sizes. In this state it forms the emery of the shops, or flour emery. For delicate purposes, it is afterwards prepared by elutriation.

Emery Cakes are formed by melting emery flour with a little beeswax, and after thorough admixture, forming it into solid lumps of suitable sizes. Used to dress the edges of buff and glaze wheels.

Emery Cloth is prepared by brushing the surface of thin cotton cloth over with liquid glue, and sifting the emery powder over the surface while still warm.

Emery Paper is made in the same way as emery cloth. Both are used either with or without oil, in the same way as glass paper.

Emery Sticks are made of pieces of wood in the same way, and are used for the same purposes, as emery paper.

Emery Stones are formed of emery, of the requisite coarseness, mixed with about half its weight of good Stourbridge loam, and water q. s. to make a stiff paste, which is forced into metallic moulds by a powerful press. The pieces, when thoroughly dry, are exposed in a muffle for a short time to a temperature just under a full white heat. In this way ‘discs’ and ‘laps’ are generally made. For ‘wheels,’ only ⁄4th of loam is used. Another method, applicable for ‘cutting stones’ generally, is to press the flour emery, previously moistened with water, into moulds, with strong pressure, as before, without any other addition, and then to fire it at nearly a full white heat.

EMETIA. Syn. Emetin, Emetina. A feebly basic or alkaloidal body, existing in and forming the active principle of ipecacuanha.

Prep. 1. (Medicinal—Emetic Extract.)—a. Ipecacuanha (in coarse powder) is digested first in ether, and then in rectified spirit for 3 or 4 days; the alcoholic tincture is next expressed and evaporated (distilled) to dryness; the residuum is dissolved in distilled water, and the solution precipitated with acetate of lead; the precipitate is then diffused through distilled water, in a tall glass vessel, and sulphuretted hydrogen is passed through it, to throw down the lead; after which the liquor is decanted, filtered, evaporated to the consistence of a thick syrup, and spread in a thin layer on warm plates of glass, and allowed to dry in a current of warm air, or by a gentle heat in a stove. The maceration in ether is frequently omitted.

b. Ipecacuanha, 1 part; rectified spirit (·835), 7 parts; make a tincture, distil off the spirit, dissolve in cold distilled water, 5 parts; filter the solution, and evaporate, &c., as before. Inferior to the last.

c. (P. Cod.) As the last, nearly.

Obs. Medicinal or impure emetia is brownish, red, deliquescent, and emetic in doses of ⁄4 to ⁄2 gr.

2. (Pure.)—a. Ipecacuanha (in coarse powder), 1 part, is digested for 24 hours in distilled water, 10 parts; together with calcined magnesia, added in slight excess; the deposit is then thrown on a filter, washed carefully with very cold water, and dried; it is next dissolved in rectified spirit and neutralised with dilute sulphuric acid; the filtered solution is decoloured with animal charcoal, again filtered, and again precipitated by digestion with magnesia; the last deposit forms a colourless solution with rectified spirit, which, by gentle evaporation, gives up its emetia as a yellowish white pulverulent mass, which may be rendered perfectly white by redissolving it in alcohol, &c., as before. The process is rendered easier by first digesting the powdered ipecacuanha in ether.

b. (P. Cod.) Alcoholic extract of ipecacuanha, 1 part; water, 10 parts; dissolve, filter; add calcined magnesia, 1 part; evaporate to dryness, wash the product on a filter with very cold water, 5 parts; dry it again, and dissolve it in boiling alcohol; evaporate the filtered tincture to dryness, redissolve the residuum in a little water, acidulate (slightly) with dilute sulphuric acid, decolour with animal charcoal, filter, precipitate with liquor of ammonia, and dry the precipitate by a gentle heat.

c. (Ph. Suec. 1845.) Powdered ipecacuanha, 1 part; water, acidulated with sulphuric acid, 6 parts; digest, filter; add lime, 1 part, and evaporate to dryness over a water bath; the residuum is then exhausted with boiling rectified spirit, and otherwise treated as in the last formula.

Prop., &c. Pure emetia is white, pulverulent, inodorous, and bitter; fusible at 122° Fahr.; very soluble in alcohol and boiling water, but only slightly so in ether, oils, and cold water. It restores the blue colour of reddened litmus, and partially neutralises the acids, forming scarcely crystallisable salts. It is reddened by nitric acid, and this red colour is deepened by ammonia. Tincture of iodine produces a reddish precipitate in an alcoholic solution of emetia. With tincture of galls this solution behaves like morphia; but, unlike the last substance, the salts of iron produce no change of colour in it. These reactions, combined with its emetic properties, are sufficient for its identification.—Dose. White and pure emetia is emetic in doses of ⁄20 to ⁄16 gr. The large doses ordered in certain pharmaceutical compilations, evidently in error of the difference between the strengths of the pure and the impure or medicinal emetia, have, in several cases which have been reported on, produced very serious consequences.

The ‘Journal de Pharmacie et de Chemie,’ for September, 1875, contains a new process for the extraction of emetia, by M. A. Glenard. This process is based upon the combined use of lime and ether. It consists in treating with ether a suitably prepared powder, or an extract of ipecacuanha and lime, or the precipitate formed upon adding an excess of lime to a solution obtained by treating ipecacuanha in the cold with water acidulated by sulphuric acid. Either of these mixtures, or the precipitate, when treated with ether, will yield all the alkaloid it contains.

The alkaloid may be obtained from the ethereal solution by distilling it to dryness, and treating the residue with acidulated water, or by at once shaking the solution with acidulated water. A more or less acid aqueous liquid is thus obtained, which upon the addition of ammonia, yields the emetine almost colourless, and much more pure than that produced by the process ordinarily employed.

Preparation of Crystallised Hydrochlorate and Pure Emetine.—When water, acidulated with hydrochloric acid, is employed to remove the emetine from the ether, an acid solution is obtained, which, when sufficiently concentrated by evaporation, forms a nearly colourless, solid, crystalline mass. This mass is formed of extremely delicate needles, formed in bundles that radiate around a central point, and form small spheres with an embossed surface, resembling mulberries in appearance. Upon pressing these crystals in a cloth the more or less coloured mother liquid runs off, and the crystals redissolved in water give a colourless solution, from which a fresh crystallisation of perfectly pure hydrochlorate of emetine can readily be obtained.

The production of this crystallised hydrochlorate of emetine is worthy of notice, since it does not accord with what has been stated by different authors, who have all considered emetine to be incapable of forming crystallisable salts. It is especially interesting in that it furnishes a convenient and certain method of obtaining perfectly pure emetine, for which it is only necessary to precipitate a solution of the hydrochlorate with an alkali. But it is important to observe that ammonia does not precipitate all the emetine of the hydrochlorate, and that the precipitate is less in proportion as the salt is more acid.

It might appear from this that emetine is soluble in hydrochlorate of ammonia. But the author finds that it is the result of a decomposing action exercised by the emetine upon the hydrochlorate of ammonia, as is shown by the following two experiments. If a little dry powdered emetine be placed in a glass containing a solution of hydrochlorate of ammonia, it may be observed to agglomerate and become transformed into a soft resinoid mass, at the same time the disengagement of ammonia may be recognised, and the resinoid mass gradually undergoes a kind of metamorphosis, and becomes white and crystalline. Again, if emetine in powder be suspended in water, and solution of hydrochlorate of ammonia be gradually added, the emetine is dissolved, and upon evaporation of the solution crystals of double hydrochlorate of emetine and ammonia is obtained.

The author believes the decomposition of hydrochlorate of ammonia by an organic alkali to have been hitherto unobserved. It does not appear, however, that emetine is alone in this action, as the author has observed that quinine, under similar conditions, behaves in the same manner.

Zinoffsky (‘Jour. de Pharm. d’Anvers,’ xxix, 490) gives the following process for the quantitative determination of emetia:—Treat fifteen grams of powdered ipecacuanha with alcohol of 85 per cent., acidified with a few drops of sulphuric acid, so as to form a volume of 150 cubic centimètres. Filter, and after expelling the alcohol from 100 cubic centimètres of the liquid by distillation, add to the residue a titrated solution of iodo-hydrargyrate of potassium until a filtered portion ceases to be affected by this reagent. The number of cubic centimètres of iodo-hydrargyrate multiplied by 0·0189 (0·0001 of the equivalent of emetine) gives the quantity of emetine contained in ten grains of the root.

A normal solution of iodo-hydrargyrate is obtained by mixing aqueous solutions of 13·546 grams of bichloride of mercury, and 49·8 of iodide of potassium, adding water to make one litre. One cubic centimètre of this solution precipitates 0·0001, or 0·00005 of an equivalent of alkaloid.

Wine of ipecacuanha can be titrated by the same process.

Composition of Emetine and its Hydrochlorate.—These substances dried at 110° C., gave upon analysis results corresponding with following centesimal composition:

Emetine. Hydrochlorate
of Emetine.

Carbon 72·25 63·00

Hydrogen 8·61 8·15

Nitrogen 5·36 4·75

Oxygen 13·78 11·64

Chlorine 12·46

From these figures the author has constructed the following formulæ:

Emetine: C30H22NO4. Hydrochlorate of Emetine: C30H22NO4HCl.

Preparation and Composition of Emetine (J. Lefort and F. Wurtz, ‘Comptes Rendus,’ lxxxiv, 1299). When ipecacuanha is dissolved in water, and a concentrated solution of potassium nitrate added, a thick mass is produced, consisting of emetine nitrate. It is washed with water, dissolved in alcohol, and the solution poured into milk of lime. The mixture is evaporated to dryness, and digested with ether, which dissolves out the emetine, leaving it as a yellowish mass on evaporation. On dissolving this mass in sulphuric acid, and pouring the solution into dilute ammonia, the alkaloid is obtained as a white precipitate, which is dissolved in alcohol, from which it separates in minute radiate groups of needles. By analysis it gave numbers leading to the formula C28H40N2O3.

Pure emetine nitrate was prepared, and was found to have the formula C28N2H40O5NOH; this in conjunction with Glenard’s results, shows that emetine does not form basic salts.

EMET′ICS. Syn. Vomits, Anacathartics; Anacathartica, Emetica, Vomitoria, L. Medicines which induce vomiting. The principal emetics are ipecacuanha and tartarised antimony, and their preparations; and the sulphates of zinc and copper. Of these the first is commonly employed either in substance or infused in wine (ipecacuanha wine), when it is merely wished to evacuate the contents of the stomach, when that organ is in a disordered state or overloaded with food; and is the one most adapted in ordinary cases for children and females. Tartar emetic (tartarated antimony) (dissolved in water) and antimonial wine, either alone or combined with ipecacuanha, are preferable at the commencement of fevers and other inflammatory disorders, in consequence of the nausea, relaxation, and depression of the muscular power and circulation which commonly follow their use. When poison has been taken, sulphate of zinc is generally preferred as an emetic, on account of the promptness and completeness of its action, and its effects ceasing as soon as it is ejected from the stomach. Sulphate of copper is employed in the same cases as sulphate of zinc, but its action is more violent and disagreeable, whilst its intense metallic taste is a great objection to its use. 25 to 30 gr. of either of the above sulphates are dissolved in 3 or 4 fl. oz. of warm water, and a fourth of the solution is given every ten minutes, until copious vomiting ensues. In the absence of other substances, when an immediate emetic is required, a teaspoonful of flour of mustard (an article always at hand), stirred up with half a pint of warm water, and drank at a draught, will generally act easily and effectively, and relieve the stomach before other remedies can be obtained and applied.

The operation of emetics is powerfully promoted by drinking copiously of diluents, especially of warm or tepid water. The latter, in fact, is itself an emetic, when taken in quantity. Its use will also prevent that dreadful straining and retching which makes emetics so much dreaded by the nervous and delicate.

The timely administration of an emetic at the commencement of fevers and other inflammatory affections will frequently cause copious diaphoresis, and produce a cure, or at least greatly mitigate the severity of the symptoms. Dropsies have also been cured by vomiting; and swelled testicle, bubo, and other glandular swellings, have occasionally been dispersed by the action of emetics. Visceral obstructions, in both sexes, have also yielded to the same treatment. Small and repeated doses of emetics are frequently administered, with advantage, to produce nausea, in many diseases of the lungs and stomach. Certain chronic and obstinate diseases, as rheumatism and asthma, are sometimes relieved by emetics, when every other line of treatment has failed.

Emetics should be avoided in plethoric habits, in hernia, pregnancy, and whenever visceral inflammation is suspected. They should also be given with great caution to young children and females, and to the nervous and delicate. In such cases, wine or powder of ipecacuanha should alone be employed.

Emetic Cups. Syn. Antimonial cups; Pocula emetica, Calices vomitorii, L. Small cups made of metallic antimony. Wine left in them for 10 or 12 hours becomes emetic.

Emetic Tartar. See Antimony, Tartarated.

EM′ETINE. See Emetia.

EMMEN′AGOGUES. Syn. Emmenagoga, L. Medicines which are considered to have the power of promoting the menstrual discharge when either retained or suspended. There are, probably, few remedies which exert this specific power on the uterus, the majority of repeated emmenagogues acting rather by their influence on the system generally, or on parts contiguous to the uterus, than in the uterus itself. Among the substances usually arranged under this class are—aloes, black hellebore, birthwort, borax, cubebs, ergot, gamboge, gin, iodide of potassium, iodine, madder, mercurials, the peppers, rue, savine, stimulants (generally), stimulating diuretics, stinking goosefoot, stinking orache, wine, &c.

Of the above, ergot and madder are the only articles which exercise a direct power on the uterus, and that rather in increasing its expulsive energy than in promoting the menstrual function, though they are advantageously employed for the latter purpose. Several of the other substances named are drastic purgatives, or possess cerebro-spinal properties, or local powers of irritation, by which they increase the pelvic circulation, or produce excitement in the neighbouring parts, in many cases of a dangerous and irreparable character. Hence many writers on pharmacology deny the existence of emmenagogues.

To ensure the successful administration of this class of medicines, the system must be previously prepared for their use by invigorating it, if there is either relaxation or debility; and an opposite course should be pursued when there is an undue degree of arterial action. In the majority of cases, the restoration of the discharge is rather attributable to a proper regulation of the system than to any specific power in the medicine administered.

EMOLL′IENTS. Syn. Emollientia, L. In pharmacy and therapeutics, demulcents of an oleaginous, saponaceous, or emulsive character, applied to surfaces (generally external), to soften and relax the fibres. See Demulcents.

EMUL′SIN. Syn. Synaptase. An azotised substance, forming a large proportion of the white pulp of both bitter and sweet almonds. It is yellowish-white, soluble in cold water, and coagulated by heat and alcohol. Its most remarkable property is its action on amygdalin by which the volatile oil of almonds and hydrocyanic acid, with other products are formed. It has never been obtained in a state of purity.

EMULSINES. See Emulsion.

EMUL′SION. Syn. Emulsio, L. A milky fluid, formed by the mechanical admixture of oil and water, by means of some other substance that possesses the power of combining with both. The emulsions of the Pharmacopœia are in the ‘British Pharmacopœia’ included in the class Misturæ (which see).

In the preparation of emulsions, the oily or resinous ingredients are usually suspended by means of mucilage of gum arabic, almonds, or yolk of egg. 1 dr. of the first, made with equal parts of gum and water; 1 oz. of the second (usually 26 in number); and one in no. of the last, will form 2 dr. of any oil into an emulsion with about 1 oz. of water, gradually added. In some cases, instead of the above substances, a little liquor of potassa is employed, by which a saponaceous emulsion is formed. In all cases the mucilage or other viscid substance should be put into the mortar before anything else. The oil or resinous matter may then be very gradually rubbed in, taking care not to add it more quickly than it can be subdued by the pestle; and if, during this part of the manipulation, the mixture should begin to assume a breaking or curdling appearance at the edges, a few drops of water must be immediately incorporated with it, before adding the remainder of the oil. From the want of this precaution, it is common for an emulsion suddenly to lose its tenacious consistence in the mortar, and it is then in vain to endeavour to restore it. After the oil is thoroughly incorporated, some care is requisite to avoid separating it again by too hasty an effusion of the water or other fluid of the mixture. If any alcoholic or acid liquid is to be added, it must be at the very end of the process. Indeed, the addition of an acid liquid, even a slightly acescent syrup, will often entirely destroy an emulsion. Mixtures of copaiba are frequently spoiled by the addition of spirit of nitric ether; a misfortune which might be avoided by first diluting it with one or two parts of water.

An excellent method of preparing emulsions of resins and gum-resins, is to put the article into a marble or wedgwood mortar, and to pour over it about 4 times its weight of rectified spirit, which is then to be ignited, and the mixture triturated until an equal consistence is obtained. The liquid is then to be added gradually, and the whole patiently triturated or shaken until cold. Yolk of egg or mucilage may be added to the fluid resin or gum-resin, if desired, as in the common method, but an excellent emulsion may be made without them.

The presence of soluble salts in an emulsion is apt to occasion the separation of the oleaginous portion. Spirit produces the same effect in those which are made with yolk or mucilage; and acids in those made with an alkali. The addition of these substances to emulsions should be therefore avoided as much as possible. Emulsions of wax, spermaceti, oil of turpentine, and balsam of copaiba, are the most readily and completely formed with yolk of egg. Volatile oils are more readily made into emulsions if mixed with an equal volume of some simple fixed oil, before proceeding to operate on them. Scammony is generally formed into an emulsion with milk; and resin of jalap, with almonds and water.

In a paper read before the American Pharmaceutical Association by Mr Gregory, the author recommends the use of powdered gum instead of mucilage in the preparation of emulsions. He thinks that three drachms of acacia in fine powder are necessary to emulsify one ounce of any of the volatile oils, and that a little less (about two drachms) will answer for the fixed oils and balsams, and that to this quantity of gum four drachms and a half of water must be added (no more and no less), and that either the water or the oil may be added first to the gum, but it is quickest to add the oil the first; and well triturate before adding the water. Less gum can be made to yield a good result by a careful operator, but, as a general practical working rule, it may be said that three drachms are necessary for one ounce of oil.

The following formulæ, for certain emulsions, are merely given here for examples. Various others will be found under Mixture, Lotion, Wash, &c.

Emulsion of Al′monds. Syn. Milk of almonds, Almond mixture; Emulsio amygdalæ, Mistura a., L. Prep. 1. Blanched almonds, 1 oz.; beat them to a smooth paste, add, gradually, water, ⁄2 pint; and when the whole is thoroughly incorporated, strain through a piece of gauze.

2. As the last, adding sugar, 1 oz.; or syrup (either simple or flavoured), 1⁄2 fl. oz. See Emulsion of Oil of Almonds (below).

Emulsion of Assafœt′ida. Syn. Emulsio Assafœtidæ, Mistura a., L. Prep. (Duclow.) Assafœtida, 1 oz.; powdered gum, 2 oz.; oil of almonds, 3⁄2 fl. oz.; water, 6 fl. oz. Antispasmodic.—Dose, 1 to 2 table-spoonfuls; in hysterical affections, &c.

Emulsion of Cam′phor. Syn. Emulsio camphoræ, E. camphorata, Mistura camphoræ (Ph. E.), L. Prep. 1. (Ph. Castr. Ruth. 1840.) Camphor, ⁄2 dr.; triturate with milk, ⁄2 fl. oz., gradually added; then further add of water, 7⁄2 fl. oz.

2. (Ph. E.) Camphor, 20 gr.; lump sugar, ⁄2 oz.; triturate together, and add of blanched almonds, ⁄2 oz.; again triturate, then gradually add of water, 1 pint. Stimulant, antispasmodic, and diaphoretic.—Dose, 1 fl. oz. to 2 fl. oz.

Emulsion of Cas′tor Oil. Syn. Emulsio olei ricini, Mistura o. r., L. Prep. 1. Castor oil, 1 oz.; thick mucilage, 1⁄2 oz.; syrup of orange peel, 1 fl. oz.; water, 6 fl. oz.

2. As the last, but using milk instead of water.—Dose. One third; as an aperient for females who object to taking the unprepared oil.

Emulsion of Copai′ba. Syn. Emulsion of capivi; Emulsio copaibæ, Mistura c., L. Prep. 1. Balsam of copaiba and syrup of orange peel, of each 2 oz.; yolks of 5 eggs; milk, 14 fl. oz.

2. (Beral.) Copaiba and mucilage, of each 2 oz.; water, 12 fl. oz.—Dose, ⁄2 oz. to 1 oz., 2 or 3 times a day; where the use of copaiba is indicated.

Emulsion of Cubebs. Syn. Emulsio cubebæ. (Dublanc.) Prep. Essence of Cubebs, 4 oz.; mucilage, 4 oz. Mix them.

Emulsion of Gum. Syn. Emulsio acaciæ, Mistura acaciæ (Ph. E.), L. Prep. From sweet almonds (blanched), 10 dr.; white sugar, 5 dr.; mucilage, 3 fl. oz.; water, 1 quart. Demulcent. In coughs, &c., ad libitum.

Emulsion of Indian Hemp. Syn. Emulsio Cannabis Indicæ. (Mr Bromfield.) Prep. Rub 1 scruple of extract of Indian hemp in warm water with 1 fl. dr. of olive oil; then add gradually, still triturating the mixture, 4 dr. of mucilage of acacia and 7⁄2 oz. of distilled water.

Emulsion of Oil of Almonds. Syn. Emulsio olei amygdalæ, L. Prep. From oil of almonds, 3 dr.; thick mucilage and simple syrup, of each, 5 dr.; rose water, 1 fl. oz.; distilled water, 3 to 4 fl. oz. An elegant and efficient substitute for almond milk. See Emulsion of Almonds (above).

Emulsion, Pancreatic. See Pancreatin.

Emulsion of Peru′vian Balsam. Syn. Emulsio balsamica, E. balsami Peruviani, L. Prep. 1. As emulsion of copaiba.

2. (Hosp. F.) Balsam of Peru, ⁄2 oz.; oil of almonds, 6 dr.; powdered gum, 1 oz.; triturate together, and add, gradually, rose water, 4 fl. oz.—Dose, 1 or 2 table-spoonfuls; in old asthmas, chronic coughs, winter coughs, &c.

Emulsion of Poppies. Syn. Emulsio papaveus. Prep. Poppy seeds, 2 drachms; water, 8 oz. Make into an emulsion and strain.

Emulsion of Raw Meat. (Yvon.) Raw meat 250 grammes; sweet almonds, 75 grammes; bitter almonds, 5 grammes; white sugar, 80 grammes. After blanching the almonds beat them up with the rest of the ingredients in a marble mortar until a rose-coloured uniform paste is obtained. This may be easily made into an emulsion with water, and will not unmix for 24 hours. It can be made still more nourishing by the addition of the yolks of two eggs, and by the substitution of milk for water. This emulsion is frequently prescribed by continental physicians.

Emulsion of Resin of Jalap. Syn. Emulsio purgans cum resinæ jalapæ. (Par. Pharm.) Prep. Resin of jalap, 8 gr.; white sugar, 1 oz.; orange-flower water, 2 dr.; water, 4 oz. Triturate the resin with a little of the sugar, add gradually half the yolk of an egg, triturate for a long time, then add gradually the rest of the sugar and the water.

Emulsion of Scam′mony. Syn. Emulsio scammonii, Mistura s. (Ph. E.), L. Prep. 1. (Ph. E.) Resin of scammony, 7 gr.; new milk, 3 fl. oz. For a dose.

2. (Planche.) Aleppo scammony, 7 gr.; sugar, 2 dr.; new milk, 3 fl. oz.; cherry-laurel water, 5 drops. For a dose. Purgative; in torpor of the intestines, dropsy, worms, &c. The formula of the Paris Codex is similar.

Emulsion of Spermace′ti. Syn. Emulsio cetacei, Mistura c., L. Prep. As emulsion of wax. Demulcent.

Emulsion of Tur′pentine. Syn. Emulsio terebinthinæ, Mistura t., L. Prep. 1. Chio turpentine, 2 dr.; white sugar, 1 oz.; yolk of 1 egg; milk of almonds, 4 fl. oz. In gleets.—Dose, 2 table-spoonfuls, 3 or 4 times a day.

2. (Clossius.) Venice turpentine, 1⁄2 dr.; yolk of 1 egg; peppermint water, 4⁄2 fl. oz. (See below.)

Emulsion of Oil of Turpentine. Syn. Emulsio olei terebinthinæ, Mistura o. t., L. Prep. (Carmichael.) Rectified oil of turpentine, 1 fl. oz.; yolk of 2 eggs; emulsion of almonds, 4 fl. oz.; syrup of orange peel, 2 fl. oz.; spirit of lavender, 4 fl. dr.; oil of cinnamon, 5 or 6 drops.—Dose, 1 fl. oz., twice or thrice a day; in nephritic pains, and that variety of ophthalmia termed iriditis. (See above.)

Emulsion of Wax. Syn. Emulsio ceræ, E. ceræ albæ, Mistura c., Lac c., L. Prep. (Guibourt.) White wax, 1 oz.; powdered gum, 1⁄2 dr.; water, 24 fl. oz.; simple syrup, 4 fl. oz.; put the syrup and gum into a warm mortar, add the wax, and triturate with a warm pestle until united; then add the water (warm) gradually, and continue the agitation till the whole is quite cold. Demulcent. Ad libitum.

ENAM′EL. A species of vitreous varnish, coloured with metallic oxides, applied in a thin stratum to brightly polished metallic surfaces (copper or gold), on which it is fused by the flame of a lamp urged by the blowpipe, or by the heat of a small furnace.

The basis of all enamels is a highly transparent and fusible gloss, called ‘frit,’ ‘flux,’ or ‘paste,’ which readily receives a colour on the addition of metallic oxides. It may be made by one or other of the following formulæ:

Prep. 1. Red lead, 16 parts; calcined borax, 3 parts; powdered flint glass, 12 parts; powdered flints, 4 parts; fuse in a Hessian crucible for 12 hours, then pour it out into water, and reduce it to a powder in a biscuit-ware mortar.

2. Tin, 3 parts; lead, 10 parts; mix, calcine in an iron pot at a dull cherry-red heat, and scrape off the oxide as it forms, observing to obtain it quite free from undecomposed metal; then reduce it to fine powder by grinding and elutriation. In this state it is known among enamellers as ‘flux’ or ‘calcine.’ 4 parts of this ‘calcine’ are next mixed with an equal weight of pure sand or powdered flints, and 1 part of sea salt, or other alkaline matter; the mixture is then partially fused in a Hessian crucible, by which it undergoes semi-vitrification.

3. (Chaptal.) Lead and tin, equal parts; calcine as above, and take off the mixed oxides or ‘calcine’ and ground flints, of each, 1 part; pure carbonate of potash, 2 parts; and proceed as before.

4. (Wynn.) Flint glass, 3 oz.; red lead, 1 oz.; as last.

5. (Wynn.) Red lead, 18 parts; borax (not calcined), 11 parts; flint glass, 16 parts; as last.

6. (Wynn.) Powdered flints, 10 parts; nitre and white arsenic, of each, 1 part; as last.

Obs. The precise qualities of the products of the above processes depend greatly upon the duration and degree of heat employed. By increasing the quantity of sand, glass, or flux, the enamel is rendered more fusible, and the opacity and whiteness is increased by the addition of oxide of tin. The use of borax should be avoided, or it should be used sparingly, as it is apt to make the enamel effloresce and lose colour.

Enamel, Black. Prep. 1. Calcined iron (protoxide), 12 parts; oxide of cobalt, 1 part; mix, add an equal weight of white flux, and fuse as before.

2. (Clouet.) Pure clay, 3 parts; protoxide of iron, 1 part. A fine black.

3. Peroxide of manganese, 3 parts; zaffre, 1 part; mix, and add it, as required, to white flux.

Enamel, Blue. Prep. 1. White ‘frit’ or ‘flux,’ coloured with oxide of cobalt.

2. Sand, red lead, and nitre, of each 10 parts; flint glass or ground flints, 20 parts; oxide of cobalt, 1 part, more or less; depending on the desired depth of colour.

Enamel, Brown. Prep. 1. Manganese, 5 parts; red lead, 16 parts; flint powder, 8 parts; as before.

2. (Wynn.) Manganese, 9 parts; red lead, 34 parts; flint powder, 16 parts.

3. Red lead and calcined iron, of each, 1 part; antimony, litharge, and sand, of each, 2 parts. To be added in any required proportion to white ‘frit,’ according to the colour desired. A little oxide of cobalt or zaffre is frequently added to alter the shade.

Enamel, Green. Prep. 1. ‘Flux’ or ‘frit,’ 2 lbs.; black oxide of copper, 1 oz.; as before.

2. As the last, but adding red oxide of iron, ⁄2 dr. Less decisive.

3. Copper dust and litharge, of each 2 oz.; nitre, 1 oz.; sand, 4 oz.; ‘flux’ or ‘frit,’ q. s.

4. From transparent ‘frit,’ any quantity; oxide of chromium, q. s. to colour. Colour superb; it will stand a great heat; in common hands, however, it frequently turns on the dead-leaf tinge.

5. Transparent ‘flux,’ 5 oz.; black oxide of copper, 20 to 40 gr.; oxide of chromium, 2 gr. Resembles the emerald.

6. From blue and yellow enamel mixed in the required proportions.

Enamel, Ol′ive. Prep. Blue enamel, 2 parts; black and yellow enamel, of each, 1 part. See Enamel Brown.

Enamel, Or′ange. Prep. 1. Red lead, 12 parts; red sulphate of iron and oxide of antimony, of each, 1 part; flint powder, 3 parts; calcine together, powder, and melt with ‘flux,’ 50 parts.

2. (Wynn.) Red lead, 12 parts; oxide of antimony, 4 parts; flint powder, 3 parts; red sulphate of iron, 1 part; calcine, then add ‘flux,’ 5 parts, to every 2 parts of this mixture.

Enamel, Pur′ple. Prep. 1. ‘Flux’ or ‘frit,’ coloured with oxide of gold, purple precipitate of cassius, or peroxide of manganese.

2. Sulphur, nitre, green vitriol, antimony, and oxide of tin, of each, 1 lb.; red lead, 60 lb.; mix, fuse, cool, powder, and add rose copper (red oxide), 19 oz.; zaffre, 1 oz.; crocus martis, 1⁄2 oz.; borax, 3 oz.; and of a compound formed of gold, silver, and mercury, 1 lb.; fuse, stirring the melted mass with a copper rod all the time, then place it in crucibles, and submit them to the action of a reverberatory furnace for 24 hours. This is said to be the purple enamel used in the mosaic pictures in St. Peter’s at Rome.

Enamel, Red. Prep. 1. ‘Paste’ or ‘flux,’ coloured with the red oxide or protoxide of copper. Should the colour pass into the green or brown, from the partial peroxidation of the copper, from the heat being raised too high, the red colour may be restored by the addition of any carbonaceous matter, as tallow, or charcoal.

2. By tinging the glass or ‘flux’ with the oxide or salts of gold, or with the purple precipitate of cassius. These substances produce shades of red, inclining to crimson or purple of the most exquisite hue. The enamel often comes from the fire quite colourless, and afterwards receives its rich hue at the lamp.

3. (Wynn.) Sulphate of iron (calcined dark), 1 part; a mixture of 6 parts of ‘flux’ (No. 5), and 1 of colcothar, 3 parts. Dark red.

4. (Wynn.) Red sulphate of iron, 2 parts; ‘flux’ (No. 1), 6 parts; white lead, 3 parts. Light red.

Enamel, Rose-col′oured. Prep. Purple enamel (or its elements), 3 parts; ‘flux,’ 90 parts; mix, and add silver leaf or oxide of silver, 1 part, or less.

Enamel, Transpa′′rent. The ‘frit’ or ‘flux’ described above.

Enamel, Vi′olet. Prop. 1. Purple enamel, 2 parts; red enamel (No. 2), 3 parts; ‘frit,’ 6 parts.

2. Saline or alkaline ‘frit’ or ‘flux,’ any quantity; peroxide of manganese, q. s. to colour. As the tint depends on the metal being at the maximum of oxidation, contact with oily or carbonaceous substances should be particularly avoided.

Enamel, White. Prep. 1. ‘Calcine’ (from 2 parts of tin and 1 part of lead), 1 part; fine crystal glass or ‘frit,’ 2 parts; manganese, a few grains; powder, mix, melt, and pour the fused mass into clean water; again powder, and fuse, and repeat the whole process 3 or 4 times, avoiding contamination with smoke, dirt, or oxide of iron. A fine dead white.

2. Washed diaphoretic antimony, 1 part; fine glass (free from lead), 3 parts; mix, and proceed as before. Very fine.

3. Lead, 30 parts; tin, 33 parts; calcine as before, then fuse 50 parts of this ‘calcine’ with an equal weight of flints, in powder, and 100 parts of salt of tartar. A fine dead white enamel.

Obs. For white enamel, the articles must be perfectly free from foreign admixture, as this would impart a colour. When well managed, either of the above forms will produce a paste that will rival the OPAL.

Enamel, Yellow. Superior yellow enamels are less easily produced than those of most other colours; they require very little flux, and that mostly of a metallic nature. The following come highly recommended by experienced artists:—

Prep. 1. From ‘frit’ or ‘flux,’ fused with oxide of lead, and a little red oxide of iron.

2. Lead, tin, ashes, litharge, antimony, and sand, of each 1 oz.; nitre, 4 oz.; mix, fuse, and powder; and add the product to ‘flux’ or ‘frit,’ q. s.

3. White oxide of antimony, alum, and sal-ammoniac, of each 1 part; pure carbonate of lead, 1 to 3 parts, or q. s. (all in powder); mix, and expose them to a heat sufficiently high to decompose the sal-ammoniac. Used as the last. Very bright coloured.

4. (Wynn.) Red lead, 8 oz.; oxide of antimony, and tin, calcined together, of each 1 oz; mix, and add of ‘flux’ (No. 5), 15 oz.; mix well and fuse.

5. Pure oxide of silver added to the metallic ‘fluxes.’ The salts of silver are also used, but are more difficult to manage. If a thin film of oxide of silver be spread over the surface of the enamel to be coloured, exposed to a moderate heat, then withdrawn, and the film of reduced silver on the surface removed, the part under will be found tinged of a fine yellow. (Clouet.)

Enamelling of Cast-Iron. Wagner in his ‘Chemical Technology’ gives the following account of this process:—The surface of the cast-iron to be enamelled is first carefully cleaned by scouring with sand and dilute sulphuric acid, next a somewhat thickish magma, made of pulverised quartz, borax, feldspar, kaolin and water is brushed over the clean metallic surface as evenly as possible, and immediately after a finely powdered mixture of feldspar, soda, borax, and oxide of tin, is dusted over, after which the enamel is burnt in by the heat of a muffle. In France an enamel is applied which consists of 130 parts of flint glass, 20⁄2 parts of carbonate of soda, and 12 parts of boric acid fused together, and afterwards ground to a fine powder.

It would appear, however, from the statements contained in a paper read by Mr Tatlock, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., that the enamel used for iron vessels is frequently of a less harmless kind than that described by Wagner. Mr Tatlock states that in some instances the milk-white porcelainous enamel, with which cast-iron cooking vessels are now so commonly prepared, has a composition such as to render it highly objectionable, on account of the facility with which it is acted upon by acid, fruits, common salt, and other ordinary dietetic substances, by which means lead, and even arsenic, are dissolved out in large quantity during cooking processes.

Mr Tatlock gives the analysis of three samples of enamel from the interior of three cast-iron pots obtained from different manufacturers. These iron vessels were all employed for cooking:—

No. 1. per cent. No. 2. per cent. No 3. per cent.

Silica 61·00 42·40 42·00

Alumina 8·00 2·88 6·06

Oxide of iron 1·10 2·04 4·04

Lime 3·02 0·16 0·78

Magnesia 0·28 0·10 0·21

Oxide of lead absent 25·89 18·48

Potash 5·61 7·99 6·46

Soda 20·67 14·67 19·25

Phosphoric acid trace trace trace

Arsenious acid 0·02 0·42 1·02

Carbonic acid 0·30 absent absent

Borax absent 3·45 1·70

100·00 100·00 100·00

Total bases 38·58 53·73 55·28

The author showed that it was not so much on account of the presence of large proportions of lead and arsenic that the enamels are so dangerous, but because they are so highly basic in character, that they are acted upon with facility by feebly acid solutions, the lead and arsenic being thereby easily dissolved out.

He demonstrated that the ratio of the bases to the silica in No. 1 was 1 to 1·58; in the No. 2, as 1 to 0·79; and in the No. 3, as 1 to 0·76. A one per cent. solution of citric acid boiled in the No. 1 did not affect it in the slightest, while in the case of the No. 3, the glassy surface of the enamel was at once roughened and destroyed, and lead dissolved out to such an extent as to give immediately a dense black precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen. He thought that no enamel was fit to be used unless it were totally unaffected by boiling with a one per cent. solution of citric acid, which was a very moderate test, and gave it as his opinion that either the use of such poisonous ingredients as lead and arsenic in large quantity should be entirely abandoned, or that the composition otherwise of the enamel should be of such a character as to ensure that none of the poisonous substances could be dissolved out, in the circumstances under which the enamelled vessels are used.

ENCAU′STIC. See Painting (Encaustic).

ENDEMIC. Indigenous. Peculiar to a district. Those are called endemic diseases, which are produced by causes more or less local. The word is often confounded with epidemic.

ENE′MA. Syn. Clyster; En′ema (pl. Enem′ata), L. A medicine, usually liquid (sometimes gaseous), thrown into the rectum or lower bowels.

Clysters usually consist of some weak glutinous or mucilaginous fluid, to which the active ingredients are added; or a decoction or infusion is made of the medicaments, which is then used, either alone, or after the addition of a little gum, starch, or sugar. The proper vehicle for astringent vegetable matter, metallic salts, and the mineral acids, is pure water. Oleaginous and resinous substances are made into emulsions before being employed for enemas. In all cases the fluid is administered warm. The quantity of fluid forming a clyster, for an adult, may vary from ⁄2 to ⁄4 pint; that for an infant within a month old, should be about 1 fl. oz.; for a child of one year, about 2⁄2 fl. oz.; from one to seven years, from 3 or 4 fl. oz.; and from seven to twelve or fourteen, 6 or 7 fl. oz.; after that age to puberty, ⁄2 pint may be employed.

The quantity or dose of the active ingredients in a clyster should be 4 or 5 times as great as that of the same medicines when taken by the mouth; as it is generally regarded that the susceptibility of the rectum is only ⁄5th that of the stomach, and that to exert a like absorbent action it occupies 5 times as long as the latter viscus. The dose, and the interval between its repetition, should, therefore, be proportionately increased. Narcotics, as opium, tobacco, &c., should, however, be given in only twice or thrice the quantity that would be exhibited in the usual manner.

Enemata are usually administered by means of a syringe, bladder, or elastic bag, furnished with a rectum tube; but many ingenious and elegant pieces of mechanism, adapted for self-administration, are made by the instrument makers. Great care should be taken to avoid injuring the coats of the rectum by the use of a rough or improperly shaped pipe, or one that is too long. The extremity of the pipe or tube should also be perfectly smooth and well rounded (rather spherical than pointed), and in using it no force should be employed. A neglect of this point often produces very serious consequences, especially in young children.

Tobacco smoke may be administered by means of a double pair of bellows, supplied with air from a small funnel under which the herb is burning,—and gaseous matter, by connecting the rectum tube with a small gasometer, exerting a trifling pressure on the confined gas.

The number of substances employed in the preparation of enemata is very great. The following are some of them, arranged according to their effects:—

1. (Anodyne and Narcotic.) Opium, henbane, &c., are employed to allay spasms of the bowels, stomach, uterus, bladder, &c.

2. (Aperient or Cathartic.) Aloes, colocynth, senna, various purging salts, gruel, decoction of marshmallows, decoction of linseed, warm water, &c., are commonly employed to promote the peristaltic action of the bowels, or to destroy worms.

3. (Demulcent and Emollient.) Decoction of starch, gum, isinglass, glue, &c., either alone or combined with opium, are used to protect the coats of the intestines, and to allay irritation; and also to restrain diarrhœa, especially when combined with astringents, as logwood, catechu, or oak bark.

4. (Nutrient.) Animal jelly, soups, broths, milks, &c., are frequently used as injections to convey nourishment to the body.

5. (Sedative.) Tobacco infusion or smoke, and tartar emetic (in solution), are employed to relax the powers of the body, to remove spasms, depress the circulation, and to produce syncope.

Enemata or clysters are now very frequently employed in our large towns, especially among the higher classes; but a great prejudice exists among many persons against their use, arising from a fastidious and mistaken delicacy. The introduction of improved apparatus of late years, by which the administration of these remedies is attended with less difficulty and exposure than formerly, has removed much of the repugnance which previously existed.

Clysters are invaluable when it is necessary to evacuate the bowels as speedily as possible, and when the stomach will not bear the administration of a purgative by the mouth, as well as in cases requiring a direct medication of the lower bowels, as in dysentery, colic, &c. As a mere laxative, an injection of tepid water, milk-and-water, or water gruel, will generally be found sufficient. By the addition of 1 or 2 table-spoonfuls of common salt, Epsom salts, salad oil, or molasses, to this laxative enema, it will form an excellent purgative one, which will, in most cases, induce a full discharge. In all cases, the patient should be directed to retain the injection for as long a time as possible, and not to attempt to empty his bowels immediately after the reception of the medicine. “In irritation of the bladder, rectum, or uterus, an anodyne injection or enema often affords much relief. In diseases of the lower bowels, clysters are also of almost indispensable utility, as also in the dislodgment of ascarides seated in the rectum; nor are they less beneficial in those cases of sudden sinking of the powers of life where deglutition is impossible, and yet a prompt stimulating impression is requisite to save the patient; under such circumstances, clysters of some of the diffusible stimuli have proved of the greatest benefit.”

The injection of large quantities of liquid matter into the bowels, as well as the constant use of clysters (even of warm water only), is deemed by the highest medical authorities to be injurious, and occasionally dangerous. The practice should not, therefore, be allowed to grow into a habit. The bowels continually accustomed to a stimulant cease to act without one. The same remarks apply to aperients taken by the mouth.

The following formulæ embrace the whole of the enemas (ENEMATA) of the ‘British Pharmacopœia,’ as well as a few others in common use:—

Enema of Albu′men. Syn. Enema albuminis, L. Prep. (Ricord) Infusion of linseed, 12 oz.; whites of 2 or 3 eggs; mix. In chronic diarrhœa, and as a nutritient clyster in debility from stomach diseases. The reason for rejecting the yolks of the eggs is not very obvious, as the preparation is much more effective with them.

Enema of Al′oes. Syn. Enema aloës (B. P.), L. Prep. From aloes, 2 scrup.; carbonate of potassa, 15 gr.; mucilage of starch, ⁄2 pint. In ascarides, atonic amenorrhœa, &c. It should not be employed when irritability of the rectum, bladder, or genitals, exists; nor in piles, or when there is a tendency to prolapsus ani or prolapsus uteri.

Enema, An′odyne. See Enema of Opium.

Enema, Antispasmod′ic. Syn. Enema antispasmodicum, L. Prep. From tincture of assafœtida, 3 fl. dr.; laudanum, 30 to 60 drops; water gruel or barley water, ⁄2 pint. In spasmodic affections of the bowels. (See below.)

Enema of Assafœt′ida. Syn. Fetid clyster, Antispasmodic c.; Enema assafœtida (B. P.), E. fœtidum (Ph. E. & D.), L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Assafœtida, 30 gr.; water, 4 oz.; rub together until mixed.

2. (Ph. E.) To cathartic enema (Ph. E.), add of tincture of assafœtida, 2 fl. dr.

3. (Ph. D.) Warm water, 12 fl. oz.; tincture of assafœtida, 2 fl. dr.

4. (St. B. Hosp.) Assafœtida, 2 dr.; yolk of an egg; barley water, 7 fl. oz. Stimulant, antispasmodic, and carminative. An excellent remedy in hysteria, flatulent colic, hooping-cough, infantile convulsions, worms in the lower bowels, &c. See Enema Hooping-cough.

Enema, Astrin′′gent. Syn. Enema astringens, L. Prep. 1. Tincture of catechu, 1 fl. oz.; barley water, 9 fl. oz.

2. Extract of rhatany, 2 dr.; syrup, or made starch, 2 oz.; water, 7 fl. oz.

3. Decoction of galls, oak-bark, pomegranate, or other like astringent substance, 3 or 4 fl. oz.; water or barley water, 6 or 7 fl. oz.

4. (Hosp. F.) Electuary of catechu, 2 dr.; water and lime water, of each 4⁄2 fl. oz. In diarrhœa, &c., arising from a relaxed condition of the coats of the lower bowels; and in fissures of the anus, &c.

Enema of Bark. Syn. Enema Cinchonæ. Decoction of bark is used.

Enema of Belladonna. Syn. Enema Belladonnæ (Ratier.) Prep. Belladonna, 10 gr.; water, 6 oz.; infuse.

Enema of Cam′phor. Syn. Enema camphoræ, L. Prep. 1. Camphor liniment, 4 fl. dr.; yolks of 2 eggs; water gruel, 7 fl. oz.

2. Camphor, 1 dr.; rectified spirit, 2 dr.; triturate till dissolved, then add, gradually, of simple syrup, 1 oz.; when thoroughly incorporated, further add of thin gruel, 7 fl. oz. Anodyne, antispasmodic, and diuretic. In difficult or obstructed micturition.

Enema of Cas′tor Oil. Syn. Enema olei ricini, L. Prep. 1. (Hosp. F.) Castor oil and mucilage, of each, 1 oz.; gruel, ⁄2 pint.

2. Castor oil, 1 oz.; liquor potassa, 2 fl. dr.; triturate, and add of honey, 1 oz.; when mixed, further add of hot gruel, ⁄2 pint; and agitate until cool enough to be administered.

Enema, Cathar′tic. Syn. Purgative clyster; Enema catharticum (B. P., Ph. E. & D.), E. laxativum, E. purgativum, L. These have been already alluded to. By increasing the quantity of the active ingredients, a mild laxative or aperient clyster is converted into an active purgative or cathartic one.

Prep. 1. (Ph. E.) Senna, ⁄2 oz.; boiling water, 16 fl. oz.; infuse an hour, then add of Epsom salts, ⁄2 oz.; sugar, 1 oz.; when dissolved, further add of olive oil, 1 oz.; and mix them by agitation.

2. (Ph. D.) Epsom salts, 1 oz.; olive oil, 1 fl. oz.; mucilage of barley. 16 fl. oz. Same as enema of sulphate of magnesia, B. P., except that in the latter mucilage of starch is substituted for mucilage of barley.

3. (Ph. D. 1826.) Manna, 1 oz.; compound decoction of chamomile, ⁄2 pint; dissolve, and add, of olive oil, 1 oz.; Epsom salts, ⁄2 oz.

4. Compound decoction of mallows, ⁄2 pint; Epsom salts, ⁄4 oz.; sweet oil, 2 fl. oz.; mix, as above.

Obs. The above are employed in all ordinary cases where the use of an immediate cathartic is indicated.

Enema of Cevidina. Syn. Enema Cevidinæ (Soubeiran.) Cevadilla, 2 dr.; water, 10 oz.; boil to 7 oz.; strain and add milk, 8 oz. To destroy ascarides.

Enema of Chlo′′ride of Lime. Syn. Enema chloridi calcis, E. antiputrescens, L. Prep. 1. Chloride of lime, 10 gr.; tepid water, 1 fl. oz.; triturate, then add of barley water, or plain tepid water, 7 fl. oz.

2. (Pereira.) Chloride of lime, 10 to 15 gr., added to a common enema. As a deodoriser, when the alvine evacuations are unusually fetid.

Enema of Chloride of Soda. Syn. Enema Sodæ Chlorinatæ. Prep. Labarraque’s solution, 24 drops; decoction of mallows, 16 oz.

Enema of Chloride of Sodium. Syn. Enema Sodii Chloridi. Prep. Common salt, 1 oz.; barley water, ⁄2 pint; olive oil, 1 oz.

Enema for Col′ic. Syn. Enema anticolicum, L. Prep. From oil of cajeput or peppermint, 15 drops; dissolved in sweet spirit of nitre, 60 drops; laudanum, 35 drops; infusion of chamomile, ⁄2 pint.

Enema of Col′ocynth. Syn. Enema colocynthidis (Ph. L.), L. Prep. 1. (Ph. L.) Extract of colocynth, ⁄2 dr.; soft soap, 1 oz.; triturate, and add of water, 1 pint.

2. (Ph. L. 1836.) As the last, but using compound extract of colocynth.

3. (Guy’s Hosp.) Colocynth pulp, 1 dr.; water, ⁄4 pint; boil so as to strain ⁄2 pint; and add of common salt, ⁄2 oz.; syrup of buckthorn, 1 fl. oz. An efficient enema in colic and obstinate constipation, in the absence of spasms and inflammatory symptoms.

Enema, Com′mon. Syn. Enema commune, L. Gruel or barley water, either with or without the addition of a little common salt or oil, are generally so called. The first are simply laxative; the latter, purgative. Decoction of mallows, linseed tea, or water gruel, are also commonly used as the vehicle.

Prep. 1. (St. Bar. Hosp.) Barley water, 1 pint; common salt, 1 oz.; dissolve.

2. (Guy’s Hosp.) Water gruel, 10 to 15 fl. oz.; common salt, 1 oz.

3. (U. C. Hosp.) Water gruel, 8 to 12 fl. oz.; salt, 1 oz.; linseed oil, 2 fl. oz.

Enema of Copai′ba. Syn. Enema copaibæ, L. Prep. 1. From balsam of copaiba, 2 dr.; liquor opii sedativus, 15 drops; yolk of egg, q. s.; barley water, 7⁄2 fl. oz.

2. (Collier.) To the last add, of extract of opium, 1 gr.; oil of turpentine, 4 fl. dr.

3. (Velpeau.) Copaiba, 2 dr.; laudanum, 20 drops; yolk of 1 egg; water gruel, 8 fl. oz. In ascarides, gonorrhœa, and some affections of the lower bowels and bladder, when the stomach rejects the balsam.

Enema of Creosote. Syn. Enema Creosoti. (Dr Wilmot.) Creasote, 1 dr.; decoction of starch, 12 oz. In epidemic dysentery.

Enema of Croton Oil. Syn. Enema Olei Crotonis. (Sundelin.) Prep. Croton oil, 2 to 4 drops; linseed oil, 2 oz.; gruel, 4 oz.

Enema of Cubebs. Syn. Enema Cubebæ. (Velpeau.) Prep. Decoction of mallow, 10 oz.; powdered cubebs, 6 dr.

Enema, Domes′tic. Syn. Enema domesticum, L. This name has been applied to an enema of warm water, either with or without the addition of a little sugar, honey, or milk. The effect is laxative.

Enema, Emoll′ient. Syn. Enema emolliens, E. demulcens, L. Prep. From decoction of linseed, barley, or starch, 1 pint; linseed or olive oil, 1 oz. Soothing and laxative; in excoriations of the lower bowels. 20 to 40 drops of laudanum may be added when there is much pain or looseness.

Enema of Ergot. Syn. Enema Ergotæ. (Boudin.) Prep. Infuse 1 dr. of ergot in 8 oz. of hot water and strain.

Enema, Feb′rifuge. Syn. Enema febrifugum, L. Prep. 1. (Collier.) Water gruel, 12 fl. oz.; sugar, 1 fl. oz. In low fevers.

2. (Brande.) Vinegar, 2 fl. oz.; infusion of chamomile, 5 or 6 fl. oz. In typhus.

Enema, Fe′tid. See Enema of Assafœtida.

Enema of Galls and Opium. Syn. Enema Gallæ et Opii. (Dr Ryan.) Prep. Decoction of galls, 8 oz.; tincture of opium, ⁄2 dr.

Enema for Hoo′ping-cough. Syn. Enema pertussiculaire, L. Prep. 1. See Enema Assafœtida.

2. (M. Reiken). Assafœtida, 8 gr.; yolk of 1 egg; water, ⁄2 pint.

Obs. This quantity is sufficient for 10 or 12 clysters for children under 1 year; 5 or 6 for those under 3 years; and 2 or 3 for those under 7. Two clysters are prescribed daily in hooping-cough. According to M. Reiken, this is more successful in removing hooping-cough than any other remedy. To ensure success, it should not be administered until the feverish symptoms have passed. M. Reiken sometimes uses an ointment of assafœtida as well as the clyster.

Enema of Ipecacuanha. Syn. Enema Ipecacuanhæ. (U. C. Hosp.) Ipecacuanha root (bruised), 1 dr.; boiling water, 8 oz. Macerate for an hour and strain.

Enema, Lax′ative. See Enemas (Cathartic, Common, &c.).

Enema of Lead. Syn. Enema plumbi, L. Prep. (Dr Newbold.) Acetate of lead, 6 gr.; tepid distilled water, 6 fl. oz. In strangulated hernia; repeated in two or three hours.

Enema of Morphia. Syn. Enema Morphiæ. (Beera.) Prep. Morphia, 1 gr.; oil of almonds, 1 oz. Triturate and add infusion or decoction of linseed, q. s.

Enema, Nitrate of Silver. Syn. Enema Argenti Nitratis. (Boudin.) Prep. Nitrate of silver, 1 to 3 gr.; distilled water, 5 oz.

Enema, Nu′trient. Syn. Feeding clyster; Enema nutriens, L. Prep. 1. Strong beef tea, 12 fl. oz.; thickened a little with arrow-root or hartshorn shavings.

2. (M. Nasse). Strong meat soup, ⁄4 pint; dilute hydrochloric acid, ⁄2 fl. dr.

3. Yolks of 2 eggs; brown sugar and salad oil, of each 1 oz.; mutton broth, 12 fl. oz. To nourish the body, when aliments cannot be taken or retained by the stomach.

Enema, Oi′′ly. See Enema (Emollient).

Enema of O′pium. Syn. Enema opiatum, E. opii (B. P. and Ph. L.), E. opii vel ANODYNUM (Ph. E.), L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Mucilage of starch, 2 fl. oz.; tincture of opium, ⁄2 dr.

2. (Ph. E.) Starch, ⁄2 dr.; water (boiling), 2 fl. oz.; mix, and when cool enough add of tincture of opium, ⁄2 to 1 fl. dr.

3. (Ph. D. 1826.) Laudanum, 1 dr.; warm water, 6 fl. oz.

Obs. The above are the orders of the colleges, but in practice the quantity of laudanum is frequently doubled; this should, however, be done with great care. Opium clysters are used in dysentery, colic, cholera, and various painful affections of the intestines, bladder, &c. The bowels should be emptied before their administration, and in inflammatory complaints they should not be used for the first 48 hours. Clysters containing opium, even in small quantities, are dangerous remedies for young children; yet there are cases in which they sometimes succeed when every other remedy has failed. This is particularly so in the low chronic diarrhœa of infancy and early childhood. A case of this kind occurred in the family of the writer. The family medical attendant, as well as the physician he consulted, abandoned the little sufferer to apparently inevitable death, as beyond the reach of further assistance. A small opium clyster was given, and the child recovered.

Enema of Ox-gall. Syn. Enema fellis, E. f. bovis, L. Prep. (Dr Allnatt.) Fresh ox-gall, 2 fl. oz.; water gruel, 8 fl. oz.

2. (Dr Clay.) Ox-gall, 2 fl. oz.; water, 4 or 5 fl. oz. To soften indurated fæces, and in costiveness arising from deficiency of bile.

Enema of Percyanide of Iron. Syn. Enema Ferri Percyanidi. Prep. Triturate 5 gr. of Prussian blue, with 2 oz. of water; to be used daily, increasing the dose if necessary. An American remedy for ascarides.

Enema of Pop′pies. Syn. Enema papaveris, L. Prep. 1. Decoction of Poppies.

2. Poppy-heads (with the seeds), 5 dr.; water, ⁄4 pint; boil to 12 fl. oz., and strain. Anodyne; as a substitute for opium clyster.

Enema, Pur′gative. See Enema Cathartic.

Enema of Quinine. Syn. Enema Quiniæ. Sulphate of quinine, 5 to 15 gr.; decoction of starch, 6 oz.

Enema of Rue. Syn. Enema Rutæ. Prep. Confection of rue, 20 to 60 gr; thin gruel, 6 oz. to 8 oz.

Enema, Sim′ple. Barley water, rice water, thin-made starch, and decoction of mallows, are frequently so called, from being used either for simple laxative enemas, or as the vehicle for more active substances.

Enema of Soap. Syn. Enema saponis, L. Prep. (St. B. Hosp.) Soft soap, 6 dr.; hot water, 1 pint; dissolve. To soften indurated fæces, &c.; and as a detergent in certain ulcerations of the rectum.

Enema of Soot. Syn. Enema Fuliginis. Wood soot, 4 oz.; water, 1⁄2 pints; boil to a pint.

Enema of Starch. Syn. Enema amyli, L. See Enema Simple (above).

Enema, Stim′ulant. Syn. Enema Stimulans, L. The ordinary cathartic clysters are often so called. The following belong to a different class:—

Prep. 1. Tincture of capsicum, 1 fl. oz.; barley water or thin arrow-root, ⁄2 pint; mix. In cholera, especially the cold stages.

2. To the last add, of ether, 2 fl. dr.; laudanum, 30 drops.

3. Decoction of poppies, ⁄2 pint; tincture of capsicum, 3 fl. dr.; oil of nutmeg, 10 drops. In diarrhœa.

Enema of Tobac′co. Syn. Enema tabaci (Ph. L. E. & D.), Infusum tabaci (Ph. D. 1826), L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Tobacco leaf, 20 gr.; boiling water, 8 oz.; infuse half an hour, and strain.

2. (Ph. E.) Tobacco, 15 to 30 gr.; boiling water, 8 fl. oz.; as last.

3. (Ph. D.) Tobacco, 1 scrup.; boiling water, 8 fl. oz.

4. (Ph. L. 1836.) Tobacco, 1 dr.; boiling water, 1 pint.

Obs. Tobacco clyster is used in strangulated hernia, obstinate constipation, retention of urine, &c. It is violently depressing and relaxing; producing fainting, and even death, when improperly or injudiciously administered. “It is not to be forgotten that 2 dr., 1 dr., and even ⁄2 dr., of tobacco, infused in water, have proved fatal.” “The cautious practitioner, therefore, will not use more than 15 or 20 gr.” (Pereira.) Three parts of Virginia tobacco are equal to seven parts of any other kind. (Davy.)

Enema of Tur′pentine. Syn. Turpentine clyster; Enema terebinthinæ (Ph. L.), E. olei t., L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Oil of turpentine, 1 oz.; mucilage of starch, 15 oz.

2. (Ph. L.) Oil of turpentine, 1 fl. oz.; yolk of 1 egg; triturate together, then add of decoction of barley, 19 fl. oz.

3. (Ph. E.) As the last, but using simple water instead of barley water.

4. (Ph. D.) Oil of turpentine, 1 fl. oz.; mucilage of barley, 16 fl. oz.

5. (Dr Neligan.) Oil of turpentine, ⁄2 fl. oz.; syrup of garlic, 1 fl. oz.; barley water, 6 or 7 fl. oz. In ascarides, and as an antispasmodic and purgative in colic, obstinate constipation, calculus, peritonitis, tympanitis (DRUM-BELLY), &c.

Enema, Ver′mifuge. Syn. Enema anthelminticum, E. vermifugum, L. Prep. 1. Castor oil, 1 oz.; mucilage, ⁄4 oz.; decoction of the root of male fern, 7 fl. oz. In worms, especially tape-worm.

2. (Collier.) Oil of turpentine, 1 fl. oz.; olive oil (warm), ⁄2 pint. In ascarides.

3. (Dr Darwall.) Tincture of sesquichloride of iron, 1 dr.; water, 7 or 8 fl. oz. In ascarides, especially when occurring in childhood; the quantity used being proportionately lessened. See Enemas of Aloes, Assafœtida, Turpentine, &c.

Enema of Vinegar. Syn. Enema acetici. (Brande.) Prep. Vinegar, 2 oz.; infusion of chamomile, 4 oz. In typhus fever.

Enema of Wine. Syn. Enema vinosum, L. Prep. From sherry wine and hot water, of each 7 fl. oz. In suspended animation. Sometimes a wine-glassful of brandy is added.

ENERGY, relative values of Food as sources of. Chemists and physiologists, although they agree that muscular power is derived from the action of the oxygen supplied during respiration upon the digested portions of the food, differ in their conclusions as to whether the nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous principles of the food, form the chief source of this power or not. The opinion of Liebig, Playfair, Ranke, and others, that the oxidation and metamorphosis of the nitrogenous tissue is the fountain of muscular force has of late years been contested, and on the opposite view adduced, viz. that it is principally to the oxidation of the carbonaceous or non-nitrogenous constituents of the food, that animal dynamic power is due.

This latter view has received support from the experiments of Frankland, Lawes, and Gilbert (from their observations on the feeding of cattle), Edward Smith, Meyer, Pettenkofer, Voit, Wislicenus, Fick, Parkes, and others.

The data upon which it is based are those derived from the observation of the amount of heat generated by the combustion of a definite quantity of food out of the body; which, it is affirmed with certain deductions, represents the quantity of heat evolved by the oxidation of the same food within the body; and as heat is the equivalent of muscular force or energy, that aliment which, in burning, gives off the most heat, must, it is supposed, necessarily be the richest in the production of animal motive power. Of course these conditions will, amongst others, be very considerably modified by the extent to which the processes of the animal economy, such as digestion, assimilation, &c., can liberate the elements of the food so as to become available as sources of this energy.

Were these processes perfect, all the carbon of the carbonaceous, as well as that of the nitrogenous constituents of the diet, after deducting the carbon which passes off as urea (one part of dry nitrogenous matter yielding about a third of its weight of urea) would be utilised and converted into heat-producing power. But even under these circumstances a considerable portion of this thermotic power would be expended in sustaining the internal movements of the body, such as respiration and the heart’s action, which it has been computed are daily maintained by a force capable of raising 600,000 pounds a foot high.

No wonder if, with such varying factors introduced into the problem, physiologists and physicists should differ so widely in their calculations; and that, whilst one inquirer believes that food practically yields only about half the force which, according to theory, it actually contains; another estimates it at only one fifth.

The following table by Dr Frankland shows the amount of force which different foods yield when burned. The results agree very closely with those theoretically given by Playfair and others.

Energy developed by one gramme, or one ounce of the following substances, when oxidised in the body.

Name of
Substance Per cent.
of Water 1 gramme will equal
kil.-metres of energy. 1 ounce will equal foot-tons of energy, or in other words, would raise the under-given number of tons, 1 foot high.

Beef (lean) 70·5 604 55·0

Veal (lean) 70·9 496 45·3

Ham (lean, boiled) 54·4 711 64·9

Bread crumb 44·0 910 83·0

Flour ... 1627 148·5

Ground rice ... 1591 145·3

Oatmeal ... 1665 152·0

Pea meal ... 1598 146·0

Potatoes 73·0 422 38·5

Carrots 86·0 220 20·0

Cabbage 88·5 178 16·2

Butter ... 3077 280·9

Egg (white of) 86·3 244 22·3

Egg (yolk) 47·0 1400 127·0

Cheshire cheese 24·0 1846 168·5

Arrowroot ... 1656 151·3

Milk 87·0 266 24·3

Sugar (lump) ... 1418 129·5

Ale (Bass’ bottled) 88·4 328 30·0

Porter (Guinness’ stout) 88·4 455 41·5

“A table of this kind,” says Dr Parkes, “is useful in showing what can be obtained from our food, but it must not be supposed that the value of food is in exact relation to the energy which it can furnish. In order that the force shall be obtained, the food must not only be digested and taken into the body properly prepared, but its energy must be developed in the place and in the manner proper for nutrition. The mere expression of potential energy cannot fix dietetic value, which may be dependent on conditions in the body unknown to us. For example, it is quite certain, from observation, that gelatin cannot take the place of albumen, though its potential energy is little inferior, and it is easily oxidised in the body. But, owing to some circumstances yet unknown, gelatin is chiefly destroyed in the blood and gland-cells, and its energy, therefore, has a different direction from that of albumen. So also of the potential energy, it is quite possible that all is not usefully employed. The tables of energy give broad indications, and can be used in a general statement of the value of a diet; but at present they do not throw light upon the intricacies of nutrition.”

ENFLURAGE. See Pommade.

ENGRA′′VING. The art of producing designs or figures on metal, wood, &c., by incision or corrosion, usually for the purpose of being subsequently printed on paper, calico, or other materials. The mechanical operations of the engraver do not come within the province of this work. Several of the materials which he employs in his trade will, however, be found noticed under their respective heads.

There is this important difference between engraving on metal plates and wood-engraving: in the former all the lines and dots that are to print black are hollowed out with a graving-tool, or ‘bitten in’ by acid; in the latter all the parts that are to appear white in the impression are cut away, and the lines which produce the imprint are left on the face of the block.

Casts of wood-blocks, or ‘stereos.’ are often used instead of the original blocks when a great number of impressions is required. To produce them stucco moulds are prepared, and from these the casts in type metal are taken. The casts are usually about ⁄8 in. thick, and have to be screwed upon wooden blocks to bring them to the height of the types which are printed with them. As soon as one cast is worn out another may be taken, and the original block is thus preserved in the state in which it left the engraver’s hands.

For the reproduction of engraved metallic plates the ELECTROTYPE PROCESS is commonly employed. Woodcuts are also copied, though less frequently, by this process. The mode by which the postage-stamp plates are multiplied is as follows:—240 ‘queen’s heads’ or stamps (a pound’s worth) are engraved on one steel plate. This plate is then hardened, and an impression of it taken on a softened steel roller. This roller, in its turn, is also hardened, and softened steel plates being passed under it, an impression precisely like that of the original plate is produced on each of them. These plates are then hardened and employed for printing the penny postage stamps for sale. They last a long time; and when they are worn out they are destroyed, and their place is supplied by fresh ones, which are produced by the cylinder before referred to, which continues ready to supply any number that may be required. Bank-note plates are reproduced in the same manner. See Electrotype, Etching, &c.

Engravings, to Clean. Place the engraving on a smooth board, and cover it thinly with finely powdered and very clean common salt. Next squeeze lemon-juice upon the salt so as to dissolve a considerable portion of it. Now elevate one end of the board so that it may form an angle of about forty-five or fifty degrees. Next pour on the engraving boiling water from a tea-kettle until all the salt and lemon-juice are washed off. The engraving will then be found to be perfectly clean and free from stains. Care must be taken to dry it on the board or on some smooth surface very gradually. It will acquire a yellow tint if dried by the sun or before a fire.

Engravings, to Mount. Strain thin calico on a frame, then carefully paste on it the engraving, so as to be free from creases; afterwards, and when dry, give the engraving two coats of thin size (made by putting a piece of glue the size of a small nut into a small cupful of hot water); finally, when this dries, varnish the engraving with a varnish known as ‘white hard.’

ENTERI′TIS. See Inflammation of the Bowels.

ENTOZO′A. Parasitic animals which infest the bodies of other animals. See Worms.

ENTRY, Powers of. The Public Health Act thus defines the power of any local authority to enter into premises whereon a nuisance is supposed to exist; and the conditions under which this power is to be exercised.

“The local authority or their officer shall be admitted to any premises for the purpose of examining as to the existence of a nuisance thereon, or of enforcing the provisions of any Act in force within the district requiring fireplaces and furnaces to consume their own smoke at any time between the hours of nine in the forenoon and six in the afternoon, or in the case of a nuisance arising in respect of any business, then at any hour when such business is in progress or is usually carried on.

“Where under the Public Health Act a nuisance has been ascertained to exist, or an order of abatement or of prohibition has been made, the local authority or their officer shall be admitted from time to time into the premises between the hours aforesaid until the nuisance is abated or the works ordered to be done are completed, as the case may be.

“Where an order of abatement or prohibition has not been complied with or has been infringed, the local authority or their officer shall be admitted from time to time at all reasonable hours or at all hours during which business is in progress or is usually carried on into the premises where the nuisance exists, in order to abate or remove the same.

“If admission to premises for any of the purposes of this section is refused, any justice on complaint thereof on oath by any officer of the local authority (made after reasonable notice in writing of the intention to make the same has been given to the person having custody of the premises) may, by order under his hand, require the person having custody of the premises to admit the local authority or their officer into the premises during the hours aforesaid; and if no person having custody of the premises can be found, the justice shall, on oath made before him of that fact, by order under his hand, authorise the local authority or their officer to enter such premises during the hours aforesaid.

“Any order made by a justice for admission of the local authority or their officer on premises shall continue in force until the nuisance has been abated, or the work for which the entry was necessary has been done.

“Any person refusing to obey a justices’ order for admission of the local authority or their officers is liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds. Power of entry at reasonable times is given to the medical officers of health and inspector of nuisances to inspect food, &c. Penalty for obstruction, five pounds and under.”

ENURE′SIS. See Urine.

EPHESTIA ELETELLA—The Chocolate Moth. The larvæ of this moth frequently cause serious damage to cocoa, flour, or biscuits when these are stored. Professor Huxley proposes to guard against the ravages of the insect by the adoption of the following precautions—

1. Have no cocoa stored in any place in which biscuits are manufactured.

2. Lead up all biscuit puncheons as soon as they are full of the freshly-baked biscuit.

3. Coat puncheons with tar after they are leaded up, or at least work lime-wash well into the joints and crevices.

4. Line the bread-rooms of the ships with tin, so that if the Ephestia has got into a puncheon it may not infest the rest of the ship.

5. If other means fail, expose the woodwork of puncheons to a heat of 200° F. for two hours, or they might be destroyed by driving into the puncheon a stream of carbonic oxide, and afterwards exposing it well to the air. Weevils in biscuit have frequently been exterminated by this method, and there appears to be no reason why this treatment should not be equally efficacious for getting rid of the larvæ of the Ephestia Eletella.

EPHIAL′TES. See Nightmare.

EPIDEM′IC. Common to many people. In pathology, an epidemic disease (EPIDEMIC; EPIDEMY) is one which seizes a number of people at the same time and in the same place, but which is not dependent on any local cause, but on some extraordinary condition of the air. When a disease is peculiar to a people or nation, and appears to depend on local causes, it is said to be ‘ENDEMIC’ or ‘ENCHORIAL,’ Thus, Asiatic cholera may be taken as an example of the first, and the agues of low countries, and the goitre of the Alps, as examples of the other.

Epidemics may be divided into indigenous and exotic. Amongst the former may be included scarlet fever, measles, hooping-cough, influenza, typhoid; whilst the latter embrace such as are imported, viz. Asiatic cholera, plague, &c.

No year passes without the prevalence of an epidemic of one kind or the other in this country.

The following enactments for the prevention of epidemic diseases are now in force:—

“Whenever any part of England appears to be threatened with, or is affected by, any formidable epidemic, endemic, or infectious disease, the Local Government Board may make, and from time to time alter and revoke, regulations for all or any of the following purposes, viz.:—

“(1) For the speedy interment of the dead; and—

“(2) For house-to-house visitation; and—

“(3) For the provision of medical aid and accommodation, for the promotion of cleansing, ventilation, and disinfection, and for guarding against the spread of the disease;—

“and may by order declare all or any of the regulations so made to be in force within the whole or any part or parts of the district of any local authority, and to apply to any vessels as well as arms or parts of the sea within the jurisdiction of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, or the Commissioners for executing the office of the Lord High Admiral for the time being, for the period in such order mentioned, and may by any subsequent order abridge or extend such period.” (P. H., s. 134.)

“All such regulations, &c., made by the Local Government Board are to be published in the ‘London Gazette,’ and such publication is to be held as conclusive evidence.” (P. H., s. 135.)

“The local authority of any district within which, or part of which, regulations so issued by the Local Government Board are declared to be in force, shall superintend and see to the execution thereof, and shall appoint and pay such medical or other officers or persons, and do and provide all such acts, matters, and things as may be necessary for mitigating any such disease, or for superintending or aiding in the execution of such regulations, or for executing the same, as the case may require. Moreover, the local authority may from time to time direct any prosecution or legal proceedings for or in respect of the wilful violation or neglect of any such regulation.” (P. H., s. 136.)

“The local authority and their officers shall have power of entry on any premises or vessel for the purpose of executing or superintending the execution of any regulations so issued by the Local Government Board as aforesaid.” (P. H., s. 137.)

“Whenever, in compliance with any regulation so issued by the Local Government Board as aforesaid, any poor-law medical officer performs any medical service on board any vessel, he shall be entitled to charge extra for such service, at the general rate of his allowance for services for the union or place for which he is appointed, and such charges shall be payable by the captain of such vessel on behalf of the owners thereof, together with any reasonable expenses for the treatment of the sick.

“Where such services are rendered by any medical practitioner who is not a poor-law medical officer, he shall be entitled to charges for any service rendered on board, with extra remuneration on account of distance, at the same rate as those which he is in the habit of receiving from private patients of the class of those attended and treated on shipboard, to be paid as aforesaid. In case of dispute in respect of such charges, such dispute may, where the charges do not exceed twenty pounds, be determined by a court of summary jurisdiction; and such court shall determine summarily the amount which is reasonable, according to the accustomed rate of charge within the place where the dispute arises for attendance on patients of the like class as those in respect of whom the charge is made.” (P. H., s. 138.)

“The Local Government Board may, if they think fit, by order authorise or require any two or more local authorities to act together for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to prevention of epidemic diseases, and may prescribe the mode of such joint action, and of defraying the costs thereof.” (P. H., s. 139.)

“Any person who—

“(1.) Wilfully violates any regulation so issued by the Local Government Board, as aforesaid; or,

“(2.) Wilfully obstructs any person acting under the authority or in the execution of any such regulation shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.” (P. H., s. 140.)

EPIGAS′TRIC. In anatomy, pertaining to the EPIGAS′TRIUM, or the part of the abdomen over the stomach.

EPILEP′SY. Syn. Falling sickness; Epilepsia, Morbus caducus, L. The popular name of this disease arises from the patient, when attacked by it, suddenly falling to the ground. The other leading symptoms consist of convulsions, stupor, and, generally, frothing at the mouth. It comes on by fits, which after a time go off, leaving a certain amount of lassitude and drowsiness behind. Sometimes certain peculiar symptoms precede the attack. Among these, a sensation of coldness or of a current of cold air from the extremities of the body towards the head (AURA EPILEPTICA), palpitation, flatulency, stupor, and an indescribable cloud or depression, are the most common. The occurrence of these symptoms are not, however, uniform, even in the same patient; but it generally happens that the party falls down suddenly, and without the slightest warning.

Epilepsy is often symptomatic of other affections, as excessive irritation of the primæ viæ from worms, indigestible or noxious food, or poison; or it depends on local injuries, particularly those of the head, accompanied with lodgments of water on the brain, tumours, pressure, &c. Violent affections of the nervous system, sudden frights or fits of passion, violent mental emotions, the sudden suppression of old evacuations, and, in childhood, difficult teething, are also common causes of sympathetic epilepsy. Occasionally it arises from mobility of the sensorium, induced by plethora, or by excessive debility. In such cases the treatment must be energetically directed to the removal of the exciting cause.

When epilepsy occurs as an idiopathic or primary affection, or when it cannot be referred to any apparent cause, more especially when the attack commences about the age of puberty, and the fits are frequent, it is generally hereditary, and there is great danger of its terminating either in apoplexy, or lunacy, or imbecility.

The treatment of idiopathic epilepsy is principally directed to the improvement of the general health, and the diminution of nervous irritability by sedatives and tonics. Among the first, camphor, ether, henbane, hemlock, musk, oil of cajeput, opium, and morphia, and, more recently, hydrocyanic acid, have been principally relied on. Among the second, bark, cascarilla, quinine, strychnia, valerian, the sulphate of iron, zinc, and copper, arsenious acid, and nitrate of silver, have each their zealous advocates. The objection against the last preparation is the danger of its disfiguring the patient, by tinging the skin of a permanent dull, leaden hue. In cases accompanied with plethora, a low diet, daily out-of-door exercise, and the frequent use of aperients, with occasional blistering, cupping, and other depletive measures, are indicated; whilst in those marked by inanition and debility, an entirely opposite course must be adopted. When the disease is complicated with syphilis, a mild course of mercury may be given; and when with scrofula, iodine, iodide of potassium, or cod-liver oil, assisted by sea-bathing, will be proper.

Among other methods of treatment may be mentioned the administration of an active emetic or purgative, twice weekly, in the morning, when the stomach is empty. The first has now few supporters; but the second is said to be often productive of great benefit.

During a fit of epilepsy the only thing that can be done for the patient is to prevent the sufferer injuring himself, and to loosen every part of his dress that presses on his head, neck, or chest. When premonitory symptoms occur, a brisk emetic, a large dose of laudanum and ether, a cold plunge or shower bath (when not contra-indicated), or anything else which gives a sudden shock to the system or raises its tone, frequently prevents the accession of the fit.

Epilepsy more commonly attacks children than adults, and boys than girls. “Its returns are frequently periodical, and its paroxysms commence more frequently in the night than in the day, being somewhat connected with sleep. It is sometimes counterfeited by street impostors in order to excite the charity of the passers-by.

For Animals. All animals are subject to attacks of epilepsy, more particularly dogs and pigs. The animal seized with the fit loses the senses of sight and hearing, and falling down exhibits the same symptoms as those which accompany the disease in human beings. Cattle, although they bellow greatly during an attack, rarely die from it; but it not infrequently suffocates dogs, and is in them a not unusual cause of sudden death. The fit, which lasts from ten to fifty minutes, when it passes off, leaves the animal dull, and is apt to return. Epileptic fits are a frequent accompaniment of distemper in dogs. They are often induced in cattle by tough and indigestible food, and in these as well as in dogs, by intestinal worms. Hot weather and excitement, especially in dogs, are a frequent cause of an epileptic fit. By energetic treatment after the first attack the further course of the malady may often be arrested. The best treatment is to give, when the fit is over, a brisk purge, with an ounce of oil of turpentine in horses or cattle, and twenty to forty drops in dogs. If the disease is caused by worms give the medicines ordered in such cases.

EPISPAS′TICS. See Blister and Vesicant.

EP′ITHEM. Syn. Epithema, L. Any external liquid medicine for local application; as an embrocation or lotion. Some writers confine the term to those preparations which are intended to be applied by means of a cloth dipped into them. See Liniment, Lotion, &c.

Epithem, Astrin′′gent. Syn. Epithema astringens, L. Prep. 1. Powdered ice, 7 dr.; powdered catechu, 1 dr.; mix.

2. (Brera.) Powdered bole and rhatany, of each 1 oz.; vinegar of roses, q. s. to form a paste. Both are applied to the nostrils and forehead to stop bleeding at the nose.

Epithem, Gly′′cerin. Syn. Epithema glycerinæ, L. Prep. (Mr Startin.) Glycerin, 1 oz.; rose water and lime water, of each 3 or 4 fl. oz.; powdered gum tragacanth, q. s. to form a thin mucilage. In scalds, burns, and excoriations.

Epithem, Vermifuge. Syn. Epithema vermifugum, L. (Hoffmann). Wormwood and centaury, beaten up with aloes and colocynth, and applied over the belly.

Epithem, Vesica′ting. Syn. Epithema vesicatorium, L. Prep. 1. (Alibert.) Rye or barley meal, made into a paste with vinegar, and 30 to 40 gr. or more of powdered Spanish flies sprinkled over the surface.

2. (Ph. L. 1746.) Spanish flies (in fine powder) and wheat flour, equal parts, made into paste with vinegar, q. s. As a blister.

Epithem, Vol′atile. Syn. Epithema volatile, E. ammoniæ, L. Prep. (Ph. L. 1764.) Common turpentine and water of ammonia, equal parts. An excellent counter-irritant; either with or without the addition of a little olive oil.

EPIZOOTIC DISEASES. These are diseases which attack different species of domestic animals in the same manner that epidemics do man. These maladies ravage large tracts of country, frequently causing great mortality amongst the various animals inhabiting the localities visited by them; different animals being assailed by different forms of epizootic disease.

For instance, there is the rinderpest, or plague peculiar to cattle, the typhoid or gastric fever which prevailed so largely amongst horses in this country in 1854, and 1861 and 1862; the smallpox of sheep; the diphtheria affecting oxen, sheep, goats, and pigs; the influenza of horses, and the charbon of pigs. Dogs, cats, tame and wild birds, fish, silkworms and bees, each suffers from a special variety of epizootic disease.

Epizootic diseases are met with in most European countries. They are very common in Russia, where they commit great devastation amongst the horned cattle, 400,000 of which are said to die annually from their ravages. Of epizootics, Mr Finlay Dun says:—“They extend at the same time over large tracts of country, attack in a similar manner great numbers of animals, tend to assume a typhoid form, and withstand badly all depletive treatment. They depend upon some general causes as yet unknown, but which it has usually been thought sufficient to term “atmospheric;” but are always most common and fatal amongst animals breathing impure air, densely crowded, badly fed, or exposed to cold winds; and are generally prevented or robbed of their virulence by guarding against such debilitating causes, and maintaining a high standard of health.”

EQUISE′TIC ACID. In chemistry, a substance identical with ACONITIC ACID (which see).

EQUIV′ALENT. (Equivalency.) In modern chemistry, the equivalent of a body is that weight of it which will exactly replace in a compound 1 atom of hydrogen or 1 atom of either of the other monivalent elements (see Table, below).

Monivalent elements are those which replace one atom of hydrogen in chemical combinations in the ratios of their atomic weights.

One atom of a divalent, trivalent, tetrivalent, pentivalent, and hexivalent element replaces respectively, or is equivalent to, two, three, four, five, or six atoms of hydrogen or of any other monivalent element. (For further information on this subject consult the works on chemistry by Fownes, Miller, Kay-Shuttleworth, &c.)

Table of the Elements, arranged according to their Equivalency.

Monivalent. Divalent. Trivalent. Tetrivalent. Pentivalent. Hexivalent.

Hydrogen Oxygen Boron Carbon Nitrogen Sulphur

Fluorine Barium Gold Silicon Phosphorus Selenium

Chlorine Strontium Tin Vanadium Tellurium

Bromine Calcium Titanium Arsenic Tungsten

Iodine Magnesium Thorium Antimony Molybdenum

Cæsium Zinc Niobium Bismuth Osmium

Rubidium Didymium Tantalum Iridium

Potassium Lanthanium Zinconium Ruthenium

Sodium Yttrium Aluminium Rhodium

Lithium Glucinum Platinum Chromium

Thallium Cadmium Palladium Manganese

Silver Mercury Lead Iron

Copper Cobalt

Nickel

Uranium

Cerium

ERB′IUM. According to Prof. Mosander, the substance usually called yttria is a mixture of the oxides of three metals—yttrium, erbium, and terbium, which differ in the character of their salts, and in some other important particulars. The first is a powerful base; the others, very weak ones. The latter are separated with extreme difficulty, and possess no practical importance.

ERDMAN’S FLOAT. This useful little instrument, invented as its name implies, by Erdman, is used to ensure accuracy in the readings of Mohr’s burette.

It is in the form of an elongated glass bulb, loaded with a globule of mercury at the bottom, the same as a hydrometer, and with a glass hook at the top, by means of which it can be placed in or removed from the liquid in the burette at pleasure. The float has a circular mark scratched by a diamond, running round the middle, which, when the instrument is placed in the fluid in the burette, should correspond with the graduation or degree on the burette at which the fluid stands. The actual height of the fluid in the burette is of no consequence, since, if the operation be commenced with the line on the float opposite the 0 gradation on the burette, the same proportional division is always maintained. It is most essential that, when the fluid is being drawn off, the float should accompany it in its descent without wavering, and that the circular mark upon it should always be parallel to the graduations of the burette. Another condition is, that when the float has been pressed down in the fluid of the closed burette it should slowly rise again. A correspondent in Liebig’s ‘Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie’ for April, 1875, states that Erdman’s floats generally become lined internally with a green or yellow layer, from the oxidation of the mercury, and are thus rendered opaque and consequently useless. He proposes to place the mercury in a distinct cell, hermetically sealed from the upper part of the float which carries the circular mark. He has had floats of this construction in use for years. See Burette.

EREMACAU′SIS. Slow burning; decay. This expression was applied by Liebig to the peculiar decomposition which moist organic matter undergoes, when freely exposed to the air, by the oxygen of which it is gradually burned or destroyed, without any sensible elevation of temperature. See Putrefaction.

ER′GOT. Syn. Ergot of rye, Spurred rye, Horned r., Cockspur r., Obstetrical r. Ergota (B. P.), L. The diseased seeds of Secale cereale (Linn.), or common rye.

Ergot of rye deteriorates greatly by age, being subject to the attacks of a description of acarus resembling the cheese mite, but much smaller, which destroys the whole of the internal portion of the grain, leaving nothing but the shell, and a considerable quantity of excrementitious matter. To prevent this the ergot should be well dried, and then placed in bottles or tin canisters, and closely preserved from the air. The addition of a few cloves, or drops of the oil of cloves, or strong acetic acid, or a little camphor, or camphorated spirit of wine, will preserve this substance for years in close vessels. M. Martin proposes to steep the dry ergot in strong mucilage, and then to dry it on a sheet of white iron. This operation he repeats once or oftener, and finally preserves the prepared and thoroughly dried ergot in a well-corked glass flask. (‘Jour. de Chimie Méd.’) The wholesale druggists generally keep it in well-covered tin canisters or tin boxes.

H. Ducros (‘Zeitschr. des Oesterr. Apoth. Ver.,’ 1876-8), on the strength of many years’ experience, recommends powdered wood-charcoal for the preservation of ergot of rye.

The ergot is placed in a wide-mouth stoppered bottle, and covered with a thick layer of the powdered charcoal. Whenever it is required for use some of the ergot is transferred to a piece of paper, and freed from the adhering charcoal by blowing and rubbing. What is not required is returned to the bottle.

N. B. Gionovié (‘Zeitschr. des Oesterr. Apoth. Ver.,’ 1876, 126) states he has used the following process with the best success. A small quantity of ether is dropped on the ergot contained in a bottle, and the latter closed with a well-fitting stopper. The addition of ether is repeated every time the bottle is opened.

Ergot of rye is much used to restrain uterine hæmorrhage, and to accelerate the contraction of the uterus in protracted labour. It is also much used as an emmenagogue.—Dose. To facilitate labour, 20 to 30 gr., either in powder or made into an infusion; repeated at intervals of 20 or 30 minutes until 3 or 4 scruples have been taken. In other cases (leucorrhœa, hæmorrhages, &c.) the dose is 5 to 12 gr., three times daily, for a period not longer than a week or ten days at a time.

M. Tancret states that he has succeeded in obtaining an alkaloid from ergot of rye, which he names ergotinine. The isolation of ergotinine is said to be attended with great difficulty, owing to its great tendency to undergo spontaneous changes, a short contact with the air being sufficient to decompose it; a circumstance which may perhaps help to explain the rapid change that the powder ergot experiences. Professor Dragendorff, however, refuses to admit that ergotinine is the active principle of ergot, or that it is a distinct chemical substance. He ascribes the therapeutic power of the drug mainly to sclerotic acid, which body, after various unsuccessful attempts, he has obtained from ergot, with certain other determinate compounds, by the following process:—“Very finely powdered ergot is exhausted with distilled water, the solution concentrated in vacuo, and the residuary liquid mixed with an equal volume of 95 per cent. alcohol. This causes the precipitation of a peculiarly shiny substance (scleromucin), together with a portion of the salts, and the greater part of the suspended fatty matter. The mixture having been allowed to stand on ice for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, it is filtered, and the filtrate mixed with a further quantity of 95 per cent. alcohol, sufficient to precipitate all the sclerotic acid in combination with the bases (chiefly as calcium sclerotate). The separation of the precipitate is promoted as before, by placing the mixture on ice for some days. This causes the deposited mass, which has a brownish colour, to adhere firmly to the walls of the vessel, so as to permit the supernatant liquid to be easily poured off. The precipitate is kneaded with alcohol of 80 per cent., and immediately thereafter dissolved in a sufficient quantity of 40 per cent. alcohol, when the remainder of the scleromucin and another large portion of the foreign salts are left behind. The filtered liquid is now mixed with absolute alcohol, whereby sclerotic acid is precipitated in conjunction with certain bases and other substances. The impure product, when carefully dried over sulphuric acid, was found on analysis to contain 8·5 per cent. of potassium, about 0·36 per cent. of calcium, 4·3 per cent. of sodium, 2·74 per cent. of phosphoric acid, or altogether 12·9 per cent. of ash.

“The greater part of these admixtures may be removed, and the sclerotic acid obtained free, by adding before the final precipitation with absolute alcohol a considerable quantity of hydrochloric acid (for every 100 c. c. of solution 5-6 gm. of the acid, sp. gr. 1·100), allowing to stand at ordinary temperature for a few hours, and then proceeding to precipitate. In this manner the amount of ash may be brought down to 3 per cent., and by repeated solution, addition of acid, and precipitation, it may further be reduced to less than 2 per cent. or 3 per cent. A more complete purification is difficult and hazardous, because every addition of hydrochloric acid causes the decomposition of a small quantity of sclerotic acid, while at the same time a portion of the latter is lost by remaining in solution.

“The resulting product, although not chemically pure, is nevertheless physiologically pure, as it always produces constant and identical results, no matter from what sample of (good) ergot it was obtained.

“Good ergot contains about 4 to 4·5 per cent. of the acid, although samples are met with which contain scarcely 1·5 to 2 per cent.”

Frogs are stated to have been thrown into a state of palsy by the hypodermic injection of 0·02 to 0·04 gram of sclerotic acid.

See Decoction, Extract, Infusion, Oil, Tincture, &c.

ER′GOTIN. Syn. Ergotina, L. Prep. 1. (Bonjean’s.) Powdered ergot is exhausted with cold water, by displacement, and the resulting solution is heated in a water bath to about 200° Fahr., and filtered; the filtered liquor is then evaporated to the consistence of a syrup, and when cold, is treated with rectified spirit, in considerable excess, to precipitate its gummy matter; after repose, the clear portion is decanted, by the heat of a water bath, to the consistence of a soft extract. Prod. 15%. According to M. Bonjean, this preparation possesses all the ‘hæmostatic’ without any of the ‘poisonous’ qualities of ergot. It has a reddish-brown colour, a bitter taste, and an odour somewhat resembling that of roasted meat. Its aqueous solution is red, limpid, and transparent.—Dose, 4 to 10 gr., either made into a pill or dissolved in water.

2. (Wigger’s.) Powdered ergot is first digested in ether, to remove the fatty matter, and then in boiling alcohol; the alcoholic tincture is evaporated, and the resulting extract treated with water; the undissolved portion, dissolved in hot alcohol and filtered, yields pure ergotine by gentle evaporation.—Prod. 1⁄4%. It has a brownish-red colour; is resinous, acrid, bitter, insoluble in water and ether, soluble in alcohol, and poisonous. It evolves a peculiar odour when warmed. Its therapeutical action has not been determined. See Extract.

ER′RHINES. Syn. Errhina, L. Substances applied to the pituitary membrane of the nose, for the purpose of producing an increased discharge of nasal mucus. When they are given to excite sneezing, they are called STERNUTATORIES or PTARMICS. Asarabacca, euphorbium, several of the labiatæ (herbæ vel flores), sal-ammoniac, powdered sugar, subsulphate of mercury, tobacco, and white hellebore, are the principal substances of this class.

Errhines act as local irritants, and are occasionally employed in chronic affections of the eyes, face, ears, and brain; as in amaurosis, ophthalmia, deafness, weak sight, headache, &c.

Errhine, Al′um. Syn. Errhinum aluminis, L. Prep. (Radius.) Alum and Armenian bole, of each, 1 dr.; kino, ⁄2 dr.; red oxide of iron, 2 dr. (all in powder); mix and triturate. In bleeding at the nose. A little is snuffed up the nostrils.

Errhine, Hæmostat′ic. Syn. Errhinum hæmostaticus, L. Prep. From powdered catechu, 1 dr.; opium, 5 gr.; sugar, 2 dr. As the last.

ERUPTIONS (of the Skin). For brevity and convenience, these cutaneous affections may be divided into 5 classes:—

Eruptions, Animal′cular. These are due to the presence of minute parasites (ACARI), which burrow and breed in the scarf-skin, and occasion much local irritation. See Itch.

Eruptions, Pap′ular. Syn. Dry pimples. In these the surface is raised into little elevations or pimples, which sometimes show themselves on the surface, and at others are only appreciable by the touch. They are usually accompanied with a greater or less degree of cutaneous irritation and troublesome itching, in attempting to relieve which they are frequently converted into disagreeable and painful sores and excoriations, which are often difficult to heal.

Treat. In simple cases, where there is not much disarrangement of the general health, these eruptions commonly yield to the occasional use of mild saline aperients, and warm or tepid bathing, or frequent ablution with warm soap and water. Sea-bathing is also a powerful remedy. Stimulants of all kinds should be avoided, and ripe fruit and vegetables should form a prominent part of the diet. Lemonade, made by squeezing a lemon into a tumbler of water, and sweetening the mixture with a little sugar, is one of the best beverages on these occasions. To relieve the itching, brisk friction with a soft flesh-brush may be had recourse to, followed by the use of a lotion formed by adding the juice of a lemon or a wine-glassful of distilled vinegar, to ⁄4 of a pint or a pint of water, either with or without the addition of a table-spoonful of glycerin. Occasional single pimples, depending on local causes, generally require no particular treatment. See Lichen, Prurigo, Red Gum, and Toothrash.

Eruptions, Pus′tular. Syn. Mattery pimples. These are distinguished by the pimples (pustules) containing an opaque yellow fluid or matter (pus, lymph). “They are generally developed on a ground of inflamed skin; and the degree of this inflammation of the skin is the basis of their division into two groups, termed technically ‘IMPETIGO’ and ‘ECTHYMA,’ The former presents the slighter degree of inflammation, and, sometimes, there is scarcely any redness of the skin; the latter is always accompanied by considerable inflammation and redness.” “The little bubbles attain their full size in the course of two or three days, and either dry up without breaking, or more frequently burst and then dry, forming a hard crust, which offers considerable variety of colour, being sometimes yellowish, sometimes brownish, and sometimes almost black.” The latter form is popularly known as ‘crusted tetter.’ In ecthyma the pustules “are generally of the size of a split pea, and surrounded at their base by a broad halo of redness. They are usually separate, not clustered like impetigo, scattered over various parts of the body, and followed either by a hard black crust or by a sore.”

Treat. The inflammation and pain may be generally alleviated by the application of a lotion formed of rectified spirit of wine, 1 part; and water, 5 or 6 parts; to which a table-spoonful of distilled vinegar is often added. The crusts or scabs, when they become hard or troublesome, may be removed by a warm fomentation or an emollient poultice; a little simple cerate being afterwards applied to allay irritation. When the constitution is full and inflammatory (as it usually is in impetigo), a depletive treatment may be adopted, when it is low and debilitated (as it usually is in ecthyma), tonics and a more liberal diet, with the free use of lemon juice diluted with water, as a beverage, should be had recourse to. Sea-bathing is also highly useful. See Tetters.

Eruptions, Sca′ly. Syn. Dry tetter. This is a form of inflammatory condition of the true skin (DERMA), which commonly makes its appearance as a small dull red, salmon-red, or liver-coloured spot, slightly raised above the level of the surrounding skin, constituting a broad, flat, pimple-like prominence, about the size of a split pea. Upon the surface of this prominence the scarf-skin becomes slightly roughened, and after a little while a very distinct but circular scale is produced, which increases in thickness by the addition of fresh layers, and after assuming various colours in different varieties of the disease, ultimately separates and falls off, either leaving a permanently bare surface, or being followed by crops of other like scales, which also fall off, and are replaced in rapid succession. This class of eruptions is more obstinate than any of the other varieties, and often defies medical skill. Each particular form generally requires special treatment. In all, however, endeavours should be made to restore the general health of the body in the manner which existing circumstances may indicate. The red meats, ripe fruit, and antiscorbutic vegetables should form a large portion of the diet; and sea-bathing, or shower, sulphuretted, or ioduretted baths, should be taken daily, if possible. Dry friction with a flesh-brush, and daily exercise to perspiration, are also highly recommended. See Leprosy, Psoriasis, Tetters, &c.

Eruptions, Vesic′ular. Syn. Watery pimples. These consist of little vesicles or bladders, filled with a small quantity of a transparent and colourless liquid. They result from a similar action to that which produces ordinary blisters. Inflammation is excited in the sensitive skin by an inward or outward cause, and the inflamed vessels pour out the watery part of the blood, and so raise the scarf-skin from off the sensitive layer, in the form of a small dome, which in some situations is conical, in others a segment of a sphere. They present great variety in point of number and size; some are so minute as to be scarcely discernible without close inspection, whilst others increase to the magnitude of a hen’s egg. They are numerous in the inverse ratio of their size; the smaller ones being very abundant, and the larger ones scanty and few.

Treat. This consists chiefly in the due attention to the general principles of health—cleanliness, exercise, food, and raiment, as already pointed out, assisted by such special remedies as the particular case or circumstances may demand. Antiphlogistics or tonics must be had recourse to, according to the condition of the system, and local irritation allayed by the usual means. Simple cases frequently yield to a dose or two of some saline aperient and a change of diet. See Acne, Erysipelas, Pemphigus, Rupia, Tetters, and Skin.

ERVALEN′TA. The meal of lentil (Ervum lens,—Linn.), variously doctored with other substances. In some cases the article sold under the name does not contain a particle of lentil meal.

Prep. 1. (Paris Ervalenta.) Indian-corn meal (fine), and bean flour, of each 14 lbs.; salt and sugar, of each 1 lb.; mix, and pass the compound through a sieve.

2. (Warton’s.) Lentil powder, 1 part; durra or Turkey millet flour (Sorghum vulgare), 2 parts. Some persons assert that it contains a large quantity of the flour of Indian corn. See Revalenta and Lentils.

ERYN′′GO. Syn. Eryngium, L. The root of the Eryngium campestre, a plant common in middle and southern Europe. It is sweet, aromatic, and tonic, and formerly enjoyed much repute in gonorrhœa, suppressed menstruation, and visceral obstructions generally, especially those of the gall-bladder, liver, and uterus. Candied eryngo (ERYNGIUM CONDITUM, ERYNGII RADIX CONDITA), according to Lindley, “has the credit of being a decided aphrodisiac,” and has a considerable sale. Eryngium aquaticum (bitter snake-weed) and E. maritimum (sea eryngo, sea holly) furnish the eryngo of the Ph. U. S. See Candying.

ERYSIP′ELAS. Syn. St. Anthony’s fire, The rose. A peculiar form of inflammation, which chiefly attacks the skin, and is generally accompanied or followed by an eruption of a very red colour, sometimes vesicular, and by tumefaction. It commonly attacks the head and face, and is at its height from the third to the sixth day, but the duration and progress of the symptoms are variable. From the eighth to the twelfth day the eruption usually scabs or scales off. Sometimes suppuration occurs, especially of the eyelids and scalp, and during the latter stages of the disease there is, in general, a tendency to debility. In many cases erysipelas is attended by typhoid symptoms, and is then a dangerous and often fatal disease.

Treat. Aperients and diaphoretics, assisted by a cooling diet. When the inflammatory symptoms run high, blistering and cupping are frequently had recourse to. Local irritation may be subdued by milk-and-water, or cooling or evaporating lotions, or by sprinkling starch, hair-powder, or arrow-root, on the part. The tendency to debility in the latter stages should be combated with bark, quinine, or other like tonics. When shiverings, sickness, and delirium, attend the height of the disorder, wine, bark, ammonia, and other stimulants, are usually prescribed, and depletion must be avoided. The same treatment is also adopted in the gangrenous forms of the disease, to which doses of opium and calomel are also commonly added. When suppuration and sloughing of the cellular membrane have taken place, it is usual to make incisions to give exit to the discharge, and relieve the tension of the limb. These may be about 1⁄2 inch in length, and from 2 to 4 inches apart, and should be made in the direction of the long dimensions of the limb. Mr Higginbottom, of Nottingham, applies (freely) lunar caustic to the inflamed skin, and also to the healthy skin, to the extent of an inch or more beyond it. The result, in many cases, is a complete change of action in the part, and a resolution of the disease. Iodine paint is often successfully used in the same way.

Wherever practicable medical assistance should be called in on the first appearance of this dangerous disease.

Erysipelas is generally symptomatic of a debilitated or bad constitution. It is also a common sequel of surgical operations in crowded and ill-ventilated hospitals, where it often appears to be contagious. In these cases cleanliness, ventilation, and change of air, are the only remedies. We need scarcely add, that this disease should never be tampered with, but the best medical advice sought, whenever it can be procured.

For animals. The bowels should be kept gently open, by small doses of medicine, and laxative glysters. If there be any feverish symptoms, saline diuretics should be administered; and as a lowering treatment is objectionable, tonics and stimulants should be had recourse to at an early stage of the disease. The affected parts should be kept constantly moist with a lotion composed of one part of Goulard’s extract to thirty parts of distilled or freshly boiled water. Nutritious food, fresh air and general comfort must not be neglected. Cold applications are hurtful. Horses are seldom attacked by erysipelas.

ERYTHORE′TIN. Syn. Red resin of rhubarb. A yellow or reddish-yellow substance, forming one of the three resins found by Schlösberger and Dœpping in rhubarb. It is very soluble in alcohol; less so in ether; with ammonia and potassa it forms soluble compounds of a rich purple colour. See Rhubarb.

ERYTH′RIC ACID. Prep. The lichen Roccella tinctoria (Canary or herb-archil) is boiled with milk of lime, and the filtered solution precipitated with hydrochloric acid; the dried precipitate is dissolved in warm alcohol, and filtered; as the solution cools, crystals of erythric acid are deposited.

Prep., &c. Feebly acid; colourless; inodorous; scarcely soluble in water; soluble in alcohol and ether; chloride of lime turns its solutions of a blood-red colour.

ERYTH′RINE, Amarythrine, Erythriline, Pseudo-erythrine, and Telerythrine. Substances obtained by Kane and Heeren from Roccella tinctoria, Parmelia roccella, Leconara Tartarea, &c. They are of little practical importance.

ESCHAROT′ICS. Syn. Escharotica, L. Substances that destroy the texture of living organic bodies, with the production of an ‘eschar’ or ‘scab.’ Escharotics have been divided into two classes—mechanical and chemical. Among the former are actual cauteries, as a heated iron, moxas, &c.; among the latter are all those substances commonly known as caustics. Some writers have subdivided chemical escharotics into ERODING ESCHAROTICS, as blue vitriol, red precipitate, burnt alum, &c.; and into CAUSTIC ESCHAROTICS, as lunar caustic, pure potassa, strong sulphuric acid, nitric acid, &c.; but these distinctions possess little practical value. “In cauterising with a heated iron, this should be at a white heat, as, at this temperature, it occasions less pain to the patient, from its causing an immediate death of the parts to which it is applied.” “The surrounding surface should be protected by some non-conductor of heat, but not by wet paper or cloth, as the sudden extrication of steam will produce a blistered surface around the burn, and will much increase the pain.” (Dr R. E. Griffith.) See Caustic, Solution, &c.

ES′CULENTS. Substances used for food. The more important esculents are noticed under their respective heads.

ESCU′LIC ACID. A peculiar acid found by M. Bussy in the bark of the horse-chestnut. It is but little known, and has not been applied to any use.

ESERINE. Powder of Calabar bean, 100 parts; tartaric acid, 1 part; potassium bicarbonate in powder, q. s.; alcohol (90°) q. s.; rectified and washed ether q. s. Exhaust the bean mixed with tartaric acid by several digestions in alcohol at the heat of a water-bath, alcohol equal to about three times the weight of the powder being used for each maceration. Distil the combined liquors and filter; heat the residue in a water-bath exposed to the air until it contains no more alcohol. After cooling suspend the extract in a small quantity of distilled water, and filter through paper to separate the insoluble resin.

Agitate the filtrate with rectified and washed ether, until the ether is no longer sensibly coloured; two or three treatments are usually sufficient. Treat the aqueous liquor which contains the eserine in the state of acid tartrate, with a slight excess of potassium bicarbonate, until the reaction is alkaline. Shake this liquor several times with ether, which removes the liberated eserine, and deposits it upon evaporation. The product is purified by fresh crystallisations from ether.

Pure eserine is colourless or slightly rose coloured; it crystallises in thin laminæ having a rhomboid form. Most frequently it occurs in commerce under the form of yellowish spangles, or amorphous masses more or less coloured by the action of the air.

It is slightly soluble in water, but dissolves freely in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. When a one per cent. solution of it is treated with potash or soda it rapidly acquires a characteristic rose colour. Heated in a flask with a water-bath in contact with excess of ammonia, it gives upon evaporation of the liquor in the open air, a magnificent blue colour, very soluble in the water. This solution treated with acids, produces a very fine dichroic liquor, violet and transparent by transmission, and carmine red and turbid by refraction. Eserine has the property of contracting energetically the pupil of the eye.

A kilogram of Calabar beans yields on the average one gram of eserine (from ‘Formulæ for new Medicaments, adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society.’) See Calabar Bean.

Eserine, Neutral Hydrobromate of. This body is prepared with colourless hydrobromic acid in the same manner as the sulphate. The solution evaporated to a syrupy consistence, crystallises in the course of a few days in fibrous masses, rarely colourless and non-deliquescent.

The neutral hydrobromate of eserine is employed like the sulphate and in the same doses, although it contains a little less eserine. (From ‘Formulæ for New Medicaments,’ adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society.) See Calabar Bean.

Eserine, Neutral Sulphate of. This salt is obtained by saturating directly and exactly a known quantity of eserine with dilute sulphuric acid (1 in 10); or better still, by shaking a solution of the eserine with a titrated solution of sulphuric acid so as not to exceed the point of saturation. The filtered solution of sulphate of eserine is evaporated rapidly to dryness by the aid of a gentle heat.

Sulphate of eserine can be crystallised in long prismatic needles, combined in radiating groups, but it is very difficult. It is preferable to preserve it in the amorphous state, and in well-stoppered bottles, as it is very deliquescent.

Sulphate of eserine is employed like eserine, internally under the form of granules containing up to one milligram. It is employed also for the eyes as a solution, containing two to five centigrams of the salt to ten grams of distilled water.

Solutions containing eserine, pure or combined, alter rapidly in contact with the air, becoming red; they should only be prepared in small quantities as required. (From ‘Formulæ for New Medicaments,’ adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society.) See Calabar Bean.

ESPRIT. [Fr.] Spirit. This term is commonly applied to alcoholic solutions of the essential oils, and to various odorous and aromatic essences sold by the perfumers and druggists as articles of the toilet. See Essence, Spirit, &c.

ES′SENCE. Syn. Essentia, L. The active and characteristic portion of a substance, or that on which its most remarkable properties depend. The term has been very loosely applied to various preparations presumed to contain these essential principles or qualities, disencumbered of grosser matter. Modern systematic writers generally restrict its application to the volatile oils obtained from vegetable substances by distillation, or to a strong solution of them in alcohol. In pharmacy and perfumery, the word ‘essence’ is applied to concentrated preparations that differ vastly from each other. Thus, concentrated effusions, decoctions, liquors, solutions, and tinctures, are frequently called ‘essences’ by those who vend them; but the term ‘fluid extracts’ would be more appropriate, if those already mentioned are not deemed sufficiently showy and attractive. We shall here confine ourselves to a brief notice of the principal compound essences, or those that undergo some preparation beyond being merely extracted from vegetables by distillation along with water. The latter will be considered under the article Oil.

The concentrated preparations of the pharmaceutist, termed ‘essences,’ are mostly prepared by digesting the active ingredient or ingredients in rectified spirit of wine, either with or without the addition of a certain portion of water; or they are extemporaneously formed by dissolving a portion of the essential oil of such substances in the spirit. In this way are made the essences of lavender, musk, ginger, &c. When it is desired only to obtain the aromatic and volatile portion of the ingredients, the latter are usually digested in the spirit for a few days, and then submitted to distillation, when the alcohol comes over loaded with aromatic essential oil, or other volatile matter. In this way are prepared most of the fragrant essences of the perfumer and druggist, when simple solution of the essential oils in alcohol is not resorted to. In many cases the active principles of the ingredients are partly volatile and partly fixed, or at least do not readily volatilise at the temperature at which alcohol distils over. This is the case, for instance, with the active portion of ergot and Jamaica ginger. In such cases digestion alone should be adopted. When the principles of organic substances, of which it is desired to obtain a concentrated solution, are resinous or oily, or little soluble in weak spirit (which is mostly the case), the strongest rectified spirit of wine should alone be employed. In the preparation of essences without distillation, the method by percolation or displacement is preferable to that of simple maceration and expression, when the nature of the ingredients and other circumstances render it applicable, as it is not only more economical, but a more concentrated solution may thereby be obtained. At the same time, however, the reader should remember, that this mode of operating requires much greater experience and skill to ensure success than the former method. This clumsiness of manipulation is the common cause of the failures which are so frequently met with in the preparation of these articles.

The ingredients for the preparation of essences must undergo the same operations of bruising, powdering, or slicing, as directed under ‘Tincture,’ previous to digestion in the spirit, or other menstruum; and the length of time they should be allowed to infuse, when this method alone is adopted, should not be less than ten days; but this time may be advantageously extended to a fortnight, or even longer. During the whole of this period frequent agitation should be employed, and when the ingredients are so bulky as to absorb the whole of the fluid, the vessel which contains them should be securely fastened by a bung or stopper covered with bladder, and inverted every alternate day. By this means every portion of the ingredients will be equally exposed to the action of the menstruum. In all such cases the method of displacement, or percolation, is preferable. For the essences used as perfumes and for flavouring, not only must the spirit be perfectly tasteless and scentless, but it must be also quite devoid of colour.

The following formulæ embrace most of the essences met with in the shops. Those not found among them may be readily prepared by applying the general directions given above, or by employing the formula given for the preparation of the essence of some similar substance, merely varying the characteristic ingredient. Thus, were it desired to form an essence of ambergris or of myrrh, and no formulæ could be found for these preparations, the tyro would consider in what menstruum the active principles of these substances were most soluble. This, he would immediately see by reference to their properties, is rectified spirit of wine. He would next have to decide on the proper strength of his essence. In this he must be guided, either by the strength of the like preparations of other makers, or by his own judgment of what would be useful, novel, or convenient. Suppose he decided that his essence should represent 1-10th of its weight of the solid ingredient. He would then take 2 oz. of ambergris or myrrh, and 20 oz. of rectified spirit, which he would digest together for 10 days or a fortnight in the manner described above. Had the required preparation been an essence of senna (for example), he would probably recollect, or might easily ascertain by reference, that the active properties of senna are soluble in both water and weak spirit. Then, to make an essence 4 times as strong as the tincture of the pharmacopœia, 7 oz. of senna, and 1 pint of proof spirit, should be employed, with due digestion, as before. The same applies to other preparations. See Concentration, Decoction, Infusion, Liquor, Spirit, Tincture, &c.

Essence of Ac′onite. Syn. Essentia aconiti, L. Prep. From aconite (herb, dried, and powdered), 8 oz.; rectified spirit, 16 oz.; macerate for 4 days at a temperature of 68° Fahr., press, and strain; the marc or residuum is again macerated with (a little) spirit, and pressed as before, so that the weight of the mixed tinctures may amount to double that of the herb.—Dose, 3 to 6 drops. See Tincture.

Essence of All′spice. Syn. Essence of pimento; Essentia pimentæ, L. Prep. From essential oil of pimento or allspice, 1 fl. oz.; strongest rectified spirit of wine, 1 pint; agitate until perfectly united, and the next day decant the clear portion, if there is any sediment. Used to make pimento water, and by cooks and confectioners as a ‘flavouring.’

Essence of Al′monds. Syn. Essence of bitter almonds, E. of peach kernels, E. of ratafia, E. of noyeau, Quintessence of n., Almond flavour; Essentia amygdalæ, E. a. amaræ, L. Prep. 1. From essential oil of almonds, as the last.

2. (Pereira.) Essential oil of almonds, 1 fl. oz.; rectified spirit, 7 fl. oz.

Uses, &c. It is added to wine, cordials, perfumery, pastry, &c., to impart an agreeable nutty flavour or aroma. It is also employed to prepare cherry-laurel, peach-kernel, and bitter-almond water. A large quantity is consumed by the confectioners, and by wine merchants to ‘improve’ their sherries, and to give Cape wine a sherry flavour. It should be used in very small quantities, as it is very powerful, and, in quantity, poisonous. A few drops are sufficient for several pounds of pastry. The first formula is that used in trade. The second is sometimes used by the druggists, and is occasionally vended under the name of ‘CONCENTRATED ESSENCE OF BITTER ALMONDS,’ &c. The directions for purifying the almond oil from hydrocyanic acid before dissolving it in the spirit, given in more than one recent book of receipts, are absurd, as in this way the oil loses much of its characteristic odour and flavour, and by keeping gradually becomes nearly destitute of both. See Essential Oil.

Essence of Am′bergris. Syn. Essentia ambræ griseæ, E. a. simplex, Tinctura a. concentrata, L. Prep. 1. Ambergris (cut very small), 5 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; place them in a strong bottle or tin can, secure the mouth very firmly, and expose it to the heat of the sun, or in an equally warm situation, for 1 or 2 months, frequently shaking it during the time; lastly, decant, and filter through paper.

2. (Guibourt.) Ambergris, 1 dr.; rectified spirit, 3 oz.; digest 10 or 12 days.

3. (Redwood.) Ambergris, 2⁄2 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; macerate for 14 days. Chiefly used as an element in other perfumes. The first is the formula employed by the London houses.

Essence of Ambergris and Musk. Syn. Concentrated tincture of a. and m.; E. ambræ griseæ (odorata), E. a. et moschi, E. regia, L.; Essence royale, Fr. Prep. 1. Ambergris (cut small), ⁄4 oz.; 1 or 2 fresh-emptied musk-pods (or musk, 12 gr.); rectified spirit, 1 pint; proceed as in No. 1 (above).

2. Ambergris, 2⁄2 oz.; bladder musk, ⁄2 oz.; spirit of ambrette (purple sweet sultan), 1 gal.; as last.

3. Ambergris, 2⁄2 oz.; bladder musk, 1 oz.; spirit of ambrette, 1 gal.; as before. The fragrance of the above, especially of the last two, is very powerful, and is much esteemed.

4. Ambergris, ⁄2 oz.; musk and lump sugar, of each ⁄4 oz.; triturate together in a wedgwood-ware mortar, adding oil of cloves, 20 drops; true balsam of Peru, 30 drops, and enough essence of jasmine or tuberose to convert it into a perfectly smooth paste; then put it into a strong bottle with rectified spirit, 1 quart; observing, before adding the whole of the last, to rinse the mortar out well with it, that nothing may be lost; lastly digest for 6 or 8 weeks, as directed in No. 1 (above).

5. Ambergris, 4 dr.; musk, 1⁄2 dr.; sand, 3 oz.; triturate, then add, of oil of cinnamon, 1 dr.; oil of rhodium, ⁄2 dr.; essence of roses and eau fleurs d’orange, of each ⁄4 pint; rectified spirit, 1⁄2 pint; digest as before (or not less than 14 days), and decant and filter. The last two are very fine, though inferior to Nos. 2 and 3.

6. To the last (No. 5), add civet, 1 dr.; salt of tartar, 3 dr.; and an additional pint of rectified spirit. Inferior to the above, but cheaper.

Obs. Essence of ambergris is used as a perfume, and is added in small quantities to sweet-scented spirits and wines, to improve their flavour and aroma. A very small quantity of any one of them added to lavender water, eau de Cologne, tooth-powder, hair-powder, wash-balls, or a hogshead of claret, communicates a delicious fragrance. See Ambergris and Essence Royale (below).

Essence d’Ambrette. [Fr.] Syn. Essence of musk seed, Spirit of m. s.; Esprit d’ambrette, Fr. Prep. 1. Musk seed (ground in a clean pepper-mill), 1⁄4 lb.; rectified spirit, 3 pints; digest for 3 or 4 weeks in a warm place, and filter.

2. Musk seed, 4 lbs.; rectified spirit, 1 gal.; digest 10 days, add water, 2 quarts, and distil over 1 gal. Very fine.

Essence of Ammoni′acum. Syn. Concentrated tincture of ammoniacum; Essentia ammoniaci, Tinctura a. concentrata, L. Prep. 1. Ammoniacum (in tears), 1 lb., is bruised in a very cold marble mortar with half its weight of coarse and well-washed siliceous sand or powdered glass, and rectified spirit, ⁄2 pint, gradually added; the trituration is continued until the whole is reduced to a smooth paste, and is then placed in a wide-mouthed bottle, and spirit of wine, 1⁄2 pint, further added; the whole is then digested together for a week with constant agitation, and after sufficient repose to settle, the supernatant transparent liquid is decanted into another bottle for use.

2. Gum ammoniacum, 1 lb., is reduced to a cream with boiling water, ⁄4 pint; as soon as the mixture has cooled a little, it is placed in a strong bottle, and rectified spirit of wine, 1⁄4 pint, is cautiously added; the mixture is then corked down close, and the whole macerated for a few days; the bottle is next placed in a moderately warm situation, that the sediment may subside, after which the clearer portion is poured off through flannel into another bottle.

Obs. This preparation is used as a substitute for the gum in substance, for extemporaneously preparing emulsion of ammoniacum, mixture of a., &c. It is represented to possess fully the same amount of medicinal virtue as an equal weight of the solid gum, on which account it has a considerable sale. The product of the first formula, when well managed, is a beautiful pale brownish-coloured, transparent tincture; that of the second is milky and less sightly. The preparation generally sold under the name of ‘CONCENTRATED ESSENCE OF AMMONIACUM’ (ESSENTIA AMMONIACI CONCENTRATA, L.), and represented as twice as strong as the gum in substance, is generally prepared by the first formula given above for ESSENCE OF AMMONIACUM. A stronger article may be prepared by a similar process, by using 1 lb. of ammoniacum to a pint of the strongest rectified spirit. As, however, a clear liquid at this strength is somewhat difficult to produce, it is very seldom attempted by the druggists; they therefore generally content themselves with sending out the liquid at half the professed strength, leaving the label to confer the additional concentration. See Ammoniacum.

Essence of Anchov′ies. Syn. Essentia clupeæ, L. Prep. 1. Anchovies, 1 lb., are ‘boned,’ reduced to a pulp in a wedgwood-ware or marble mortar, and passed through a clean hair or brass-wire sieve: meanwhile the bones and other portion that will not pass through the sieve are boiled with water, 1 pint, for 15 minutes, and strained; to the strained liquor, salt, and flour, of each, 2⁄2 oz., together with the pulped anchovies are added, and the whole simmered for 3 or 4 minutes, when the vessel is removed from the fire, and as soon as the mixture has cooled a little, strong pickling vinegar, ⁄2 pint, is mixed in; it is then bottled, and the corks tied over with bladder, and either ‘waxed’ or ‘capsuled.’ Product, 3 lbs. (nearly).

2. Anchovies, 7 lbs.; water, 9 pints; salt and flour, of each, 1 lb. Product, 20 lbs.

3. To the last add of Cayenne pepper, ⁄4 oz.; the peel of a lemon (grated), and mushroom catsup, 4 oz. Very savoury.

4. From British anchovies (pickled sprats) or young pilchards, along with herring liquor, or the drainings of anchovy barrels.

Use, &c. As a sauce and condiment; when well prepared, it has a fine flavour. That of the shops is usually coloured with Venetian red or Armenian bole. An infusion of cochineal, or a little annotta, would form a more appropriate colouring, and would be perfectly harmless. See Anchovy and Sauce.

Essence of Angel′ica. Syn. Essentia angelicæ, L. Prep. (Van Mons.) Angelica root (bruised), 1 part; rectified spirit, 8 parts; water, 16 parts; digest, and distil over 6 parts; Stomachic, carminative, and alexipharmic.—Dose, 1 to 2 spoonfuls.

Essence of Ani′seed. Syn. Essentia anisi (B. P.), L.; Esprit d’anise, Fr. Oil of anise, 1 part; rectified spirit, 4 parts; mix (B. P.). Stimulant, aromatic, and carminative.—Dose, 10 to 20 minims. Used also to flavour liqueurs, and to make aniseed water. See Spirit.

Essence of An′odyne. Syn. Essentia anodyna, L. Prep. 1. Hard aqueous extract of opium (in powder), 1 dr.; powdered cinnamon, ⁄2 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 fl. oz.; digest a week.—Dose, 5 to 20 drops.

2. Extract of henbane (recent), 5 dr.; rectified spirit, 2 fl. oz.; as last.—Dose, 10 to 30 drops. Narcotic, sedative, and antispasmodic. Both are excellent preparations.

Essence, Antihyster′ic. Syn. Essentia antihysterica, L. Prep. 1. Cyanuret of potassium, 3 gr.; powdered sugar, 1 dr.; rectified spirit and eau d’orange, of each 4 fl. dr.; agitate together until dissolved.—Dose, 10 to 20 drops, in pure water; in hysteria, gastrodynia, &c. See Draught (Antihysteric).

2. (P. Cod.) Resembles FETID SPIRIT OF AMMONIA (which see).

Essence of Ap′ple. Syn. Solution of valerianate of amyl; Essentia pomi odorata, L. Prep. From apple oil (valerianate of oxide of amyl), as ESSENCE OF ALMONDS. Used to flavour liqueurs and confectionery.

Essence of Ar′nica. Syn. Essentia arnicæ, E. a. florum, Tinctura a. e. concentrata, L. Prep. (Ph. Baden, 1841.) From arnica flowers, ESSENCE OF ACONITE. It represents half its weight of herb.

Essence, Aromat′ic. Syn. Essentia aromatica, L. Prep. From hay saffron, dr.; and rectified spirit, 6 fl. dr.; digested together; to the filtered tincture is added oil of cinnamon and powdered white sugar, of each 1 dr.; ether (rect.), 2 fl. dr.; oil of nutmeg and essence of ginger, of each ⁄2 dr.; after agitation and a few days’ repose, the clear portion is decanted into a stoppered phial.—Dose, 5 to 15 drops, on sugar or in a glass of wine or weak spirit; in cholera, diarrhœa, spasms, &c.

Essence of Bark. Syn. Essentia cinchonæ, E. corticis c., L. Prep. 1. Resinous extract of yellow bark, 4 dr.; rectified spirit, 1⁄2 fl. oz.; tincture of orange peel, ⁄2 fl. oz.; acetic acid (Ph. L.), 1 fl. dr.; digest a week.

2. Disulphate of quinine, ⁄2 dr.; resinous extract of bark, 2 dr.; rectified spirit, 2 fl. oz.; as before.—Dose, 12 drops to a teaspoonful; as a febrifuge and tonic.

Essence of Beef. Syn. Essence of red meats, &c. Prep. 1. From lean beef (chopped small), 1 lb.; water, ⁄2 pint; place them in a bottle, which they will only half fill, and agitate them violently for half an hour; then throw the whole on a sieve, and receive the liquid in a jug; next boil the undissolved portion in water, 1 pint, for 20 minutes; strain, mix the decoction with the cold infusion, evaporate the liquid to the consistence of a thin syrup, adding spice, salt, &c., to taste, and pour the essence, whilst boiling hot, into bottles, jars, or (still better) tin cans, which must then be at once hermetically corked, sealed, or soldered up, and stowed away in a cold place. In this state it will keep a long time. (Brande’s.)

2. (Ellis.) Take of lean beef (sliced), a sufficient quantity to fill the body of a porter bottle; cork it up loosely, and place it in a pot of cold water, attaching the neck, by means of a string, to the handle of the pot; boil for 1⁄2 to 2 hours, then decant the liquid and skim it. Spices, salt, wine, brandy, &c., may be added as before. Highly nutritious and sustaining.

Essence of Ber′gamot. See Oil (Volatile).

Essence, Bit′ter. Syn. Essentia amara, L. Prep. (Ph. Den.) Wormwood, 4 parts; gentian root, bitter orange peel, and blessed thistle, of each 1 part; rectified spirit, 45 parts; digest a week. Tonic and stomachic.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 2 dr.

Essence of Calum′ba. Syn. Essentia calumbæ, L. See Infusion of Calumba.

Essence of Cam′phor. Syn. Camphor drops, Liquor of camphor, Concentrated essence of c., Concentrated solution of c., Conc. camphor julep; Essentia camphoræ, Liquor c., L. c. concentratus, L. Prep. 1. Camphor (clean), 4⁄2 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 gall.; dissolve. This forms the ‘ESSENCE OF CAMPHOR’ and ‘LIQUOR CAMPHORÆ’ of the wholesale houses. About ⁄2 fl. dr., added to 7⁄2 fl. dr. of cold distilled water, forms (by agitation) a transparent aqueous solution of camphor, fully equal in strength to the filtered ‘MISTURA CAMPHORÆ’ (camphor julep) of the Ph. L. The above made with weaker spirit forms the ‘spirit of wine and camphor’ of the shops.

2. Camphor, 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 10 oz. (by weight); dissolve. This forms the ‘CONCENTRATED ESSENCE OF CAMPHOR’ of the wholesale druggists. 10 or 12 drops, added to 1 fl. oz. of pure cold water, make a transparent camphor julep, as before. There is a large quantity of these solutions of camphor sold by the London houses, who charge a considerable price for them. They are very convenient for preparing extemporaneous camphor julep or camphor mixture in dispensing.

3. (Fordred.) Tincture of camphor, 13 fl. dr.; tincture of myrrh, ⁄2 fl. dr.; rectified spirit, 18⁄2 fl. dr.; mix. 1 fl. dr., added to 4 fl. oz. of water, forms camphor julep. It has been proposed to bleach the tincture of myrrh with animal charcoal, but this interferes with its proper action.

4. (Homœopathic.) See Cholera remedies, Nos. 6 and 7.

5. (Houlton.) Spirit of camphor (Ph. L.), 1 fl. oz.; proof spirit, 7 fl. oz.; 1 fl. dr. to 3 fl. oz. of water; forms ‘CAMPHOR JULEP,’

6. (Redwood.) Camphor, 1 dr.; rectified spirit, 2⁄2 oz.; dissolve, and add of water, ⁄2 oz.

7. (Swediaur.) Powdered camphor, 1 dr.; water saturated with carbonic acid gas, 12 fl. oz.; dissolve. 1 part of this solution, added to 4 parts of water, forms ‘CAMPHOR MIXTURE,’ See Camphor.

Essence of Cap′sicum. See Essence of Cayenne.

Essence of Car′away. Syn. Essentia carui, L. Prep. From oil of caraway, as ESSENCE OF ALMONDS. Its applications and uses are similar. An inferior kind is prepared by macerating the seeds in proof spirit.

Essence of Car′damoms. Syn. Essentia cardamomi, E. c. concentrata, L. Prep. From lesser cardamom seeds (ground in a pepper mill), 5⁄2 lbs.; rectified spirit of wine, 1 gall.; digest for a fortnight, press, and filter.

Obs. This preparation is very convenient for flavouring cordials, pastry, &c., and is very powerful. In the laboratory it is frequently substituted for powdered cardamoms in making compound extract of colocynth, and has the advantage of adding no inert matter to the preparation, whilst it imparts the characteristic odour of the seeds in a remarkable degree. When used in this way it is not added to the extract until it is nearly cold and about to be taken from the pan. The testæ or shells of the seed should be separated from the kernels, as the former are quite inert, and if used occasion a loss of spirit for no purpose.

Essence of Cascaril′la. Syn. Essentia cascarillæ, L. Prep. 1. Cascarilla (bruised), 12 oz.; proof spirit, 1 pint; proceed either by digestion or percolation. The product is 8 times the strength of the infusion of cascarilla. (Ph. L.)

2. See Infusion (Concentrated).

Essence of Cas′sia. Syn. Essentia cassiæ, L. Prep. From oil of cassia, as essence of allspice or almonds.

Essence of Cayenne′. Syn. Essence of cayenne pepper, E. of capsicum, Concentrated e. of c.; Essentia capsici, Tinctura capsici concentrata, L. Prep. 1. Capsicum (recent dried pods, bruised), 3 lbs.; rectified spirit, 1 gall.; digest 14 days, press, and filter. Some persons prepare it by the method of displacement.

2. Capsicum, ⁄4 lb.; proof spirit, 1 pint; digest as before. Weaker than No. 1.

3. (Kitchener’s.) Cayenne pepper, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint; digest, &c., as before.

Obs. The product of the first formula is a transparent, dark-coloured liquid, having an intensely burning taste. One drop is sufficient to deprive a person of the power of speech for several seconds; and a few drops will impart the rich pungency of cayenne to a large quantity of soup, sauce, or any other article. It forms the ‘ESSENCE OF CAYENNE’ and the ‘CONC. ESS. OF CAYENNE PEPPER’ of the London houses. It is principally used as a flavouring, and to make SOLUBLE CAYENNE PEPPER; also in dispensing. It is fully eight times as strong as the ‘TINCTURA CAPSICI’ (Ph. L.). The product of the third formula is used exclusively for culinary purposes. The pods or fruit of Capsicum annuum (capsicum chilly), C. baccatum (bird pepper), and C. fructescens (Guinea pods, red pepper), are indiscriminately used for this preparation, but the first are those preferred for medicinal purposes; the others have similar properties, but are more pungent and acrimonious; hence the preference given to them in the preparation of cayenne pepper. See Pepper.

Essence of Ce′drat. See Oil (Volatile).

Essence of Cel′ery. Syn. Essence of celery seed; Essentia apii, Ess. a. seminis, L. Prep. 1. From celery seed (bruised or ground), 4⁄2 oz.; proof spirit, 1 pint; digest a fortnight, and strain.

2. (Concentrated.) Celery seed, 7 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest as before. Very fine. Both are used for flavouring.

Essence, Cephalic. See Essence for Headache.

Essence of Cham′omile. Syn. Chamomile drops; Essentia anthemidis, E. chamæmeli, E. c. alba, L. Prep. 1. From essential oil of chamomile, as essence of allspice. Stomachic and stimulant.—Dose, 5 to 30 drops; ⁄2 fl. oz., shaken with about 1 pint of pure water, forms an excellent extemporaneous chamomile water.

2. Gentian root (sliced or bruised), 1 lb.; dried orange peel, ⁄4 lb.; proof spirit, 1 gal.; essential oil of chamomile, 3⁄2 fl. oz.; macerate a week. Slightly coloured. Some persons use ⁄2 lb. of quassia wood, instead of the gentian and orange peel. Both the above are stomachic and tonic, and are favourite remedies in loss of appetite, dyspepsia, &c.—Dose. As the last, on sugar, or in a wine-glassful of wine or beer.

Essence of Chiret′ta. See Infusion (Concentrated).

Essence of Cin′namon. Syn. Essentia cinnamomi, Spiritus c. concentratus, L. Prep. 1. From oil of cinnamon, as ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE or ALMONDS.

2. Cinnamon, 5 oz.; rectified spirit, ⁄4 pint; water, ⁄4 pint; digest a week, and strain. Inferior to the last. Essence of cassia is commonly sold for it.

Essence of Civ′et. Syn. Essentia zibethi, L. Prep. 1. Civet (cut small), 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; as ESSENCE OF MUSK.

2. Instead of rectified spirit use spirit of ambrette. Both are used in perfumery; chiefly in combination with other substances.

Essence of Cloves. Syn. Essentia caryophilli, L. Prep. 1. (White.) From oil of cloves, as ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE. Used as a ‘flavouring.’

2. (Coloured.) Cloves (bruised), 3⁄2 oz. proof spirit, ⁄4 pint; water, ⁄4 pint; digest a week, and strain. Inferior to the last. It is 8 times as strong as INFUSION OF CLOVES (Ph. L.). Chiefly used in dispensing.

Essence of Cof′fee. See Coffee.

Essence of Co′gnac. (kōne′-yăk). Syn. Brandy essence. Prep. From brandy oil, 2 fl. oz.; rectified spirit, 18 fl. oz. For flavouring malt spirit to imitate brandy. See Oil.

Essence of Cologne. Syn. Concentrated eau de Cologne; Essentia Coloniensis, Aqua C. concentrata, L. Prep. 1. By taking 8 times the quantity of the ingredients ordered for Cologne water, and using the strongest rectified spirit.

2. Oils of lemon and cedrat, of each, 2 dr.; oil of rosemary, 1 dr.; oil of bergamotte, 1 oz.; spirit of neroli, 2 fl. oz.; purest rectified spirit, 5 fl. oz. Used as a condensed perfume.

Essence of Colts′foot. Prep. 1. (Ryan.) Balsam of tolu, 1 oz.; rectified spirit and compound tincture of benzoin, of each 3 oz.; dissolve, and in a few days decant the clear portion.

2. (Paris.) Equal parts of balsam of tolu and compound tincture of benzoin, with double the quantity of rectified spirit.

3. Tincture of tolu, 5 fl. oz.; compound tincture of benzoin, 3 fl. oz.; powdered sugar (quite dry), 1 oz.; hay saffron, 1 dr.; digest a week, with frequent agitation.

Obs. Pectoral and stimulant. A quack remedy for consumption and most other diseases of the lungs, but unless assisted by occasional aperients, and in the absence of fever, it is more likely to kill than cure in these complaints. The last is the best formula.

Essence of Cu′bebs. Syn. Concentrated essence of cubebs; Essentia cubebæ, E. c. concentrata, L. Prep. 1. Cubebs (bruised, or preferably ground in a pepper mill), ⁄2 lb.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest 14 days, press, and filter.

2. (Wholesale.) Cubebs, 4⁄4 lbs.; rectified spirit, 1 gall. This essence has a very large sale, and if carefully prepared from a good sample of the drug, is a most excellent preparation. Every fl. oz. represents 2⁄2 dr. of cubebs.—Dose, 1 to 3 dr.

Essence of Cubebs (Oleo-resinous). Prep. (Dublanc.) Oleo-resinous extract of cubebs, 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 3 oz.; dissolve. A very active and concentrated form of administering cubebs, which must not be confounded with the preceding preparation, which is the one always meant when ‘Essence of Cubebs’ is ordered.—Dose, ⁄2 dr. to 1 dr.

Essence of Dill. Syn. Dill drops; Essentia anethi, L. Prep. 1. From oil of dill, as ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE.

2. Oil of dill, extract of dill, and salt of tartar, of each ⁄2 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest, and strain. Both the above are aromatic and anti-flatulent. The first is commonly used as an adjunct to other medicines, especially to purgatives for children. The second is a popular tonic and stomachic in the flatulent colic, dyspepsia, &c., of women and children.—Dose. A few drops, on sugar.

Essence of Er′got. See Liquor or Ergot of Rye.

Essence of Ergot (Ethereal). Syn. Essentia ergotæ etherea, E. secalis cornuti e., L. Prep. 1. (Mr Lever.) Ergot (powdered), 2 oz.; rectified sulphuric ether, 2 fl. oz.; digest a week, express the tincture, filter, and abandon the liquid to spontaneous evaporation; lastly, dissolve the residuum in ether, 1 fl. oz. This is an expensive and troublesome formula. The following modification of it is both simpler and less expensive.

2. Ergot (ground), 8 oz.; ether, 16 fl. oz.; prepare a tincture as before, and by a gentle heat distil off the ether in a retort connected with a well-cooled refrigerator, until 15 fl. oz. shall have passed over; continue the evaporation at a reduced heat until the remainder of the ether has passed off; lastly, dissolve the residuum, as soon as cold, in ether, 4 fl. oz.

Obs. Each fl. oz. represents 2 oz. of ergot.—Dose, 10 to 30 drops as a parturifacient, taken on sugar; 3 to 5 drops as a hæmostatic and emmenagogue, in hæmorrhages, floodings, &c. It possesses all the acrid, narcotic principle of the ergot, but less of the hæmostatic principle than the ordinary essence, whilst it is much more costly.

Essence of Fen′nel. Syn. Essence of sweet fennel; Essentia fœniculi, L. Prep. From oil of fennel (Fœniculum dulce), as ESSENCE OF ALLSPICE.

Essence of Gen′tian. See Infusion of Gentian (Concentrated).

Essence of Gin′ger. Syn. Concentrated tincture of ginger, Essentia zingiberis, Tinctura z. concentrata, L. Prep. 1. Unbleached Jamaica ginger (bruised), 5 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest a fortnight, press, and filter.

2. (Oxley’s ‘Concentrated essence of Jamaica ginger,’ The same as the preceding, with the addition of a very small quantity of essence of cayenne. The above possess only about 4 times the strength of tincture of ginger (Ph. L.); and though vended in the shops as essence of ginger, scarcely deserves the name.

3. As No. 1 (next article, below), but using double the quantity of spirit. Very fine.

4. (Kitchener’s.) Ginger (grated), 3 oz.; yellow peel of lemon (fresh), 2 oz.; brandy, 1⁄2 pint; digest 10 days. For culinary purposes, &c. See below.

Essence of Ginger (Concentrated). Syn. Essentia zingiberis concentrata. Prep. 1. Jamaica ginger (best unbleached, in coarse powder) and siliceous sand, equal parts, are sprinkled with rectified spirit of wine, q. s. to perfectly moisten them, and after 24 hours the mass is placed in a ‘percolator,’ and after returning the first runnings 2 or 3 times, the receiver is changed, and more rectified spirit poured on gradually, and at intervals, as required, until as much essence is obtained as there has been ginger employed.

Obs. The quality of the product of the above formula is excellent, but the process is somewhat difficult to manage. The mass remaining in the percolator is treated with fresh spirit until exhausted, and the tincture so obtained is employed, instead of spirit, for making more essence with fresh ginger. The last portion of spirit in the waste mass may be obtained by adding a little water. Coarsely powdered charcoal is frequently used instead of sand, in which case the product has less colour; at the same time, however, a little of the flavour is lost.

2. (Wholesale.)—a. Best unbleached Jamaica ginger (as last), 12 lbs.; rectified spirit, 2⁄2 galls., are digested together for 14 days, and the expressed and strained tincture reduced by distillation, in a steam or water bath, to exactly 1 gall.; it is next cooled, and transferred as quickly as possible into stoppered bottles, and the next day filtered.

Obs. The product of the last formula is a most beautiful article, of immense strength, and the richest flavour. The assertion made by a recent writer on pharmacy, that ‘the product is very strong, but has lost some of the flavour of the ginger,’ is evidently made in ignorance of the preparation. “We were the first to introduce and publish this formula, and have employed it for years on the most extensive scale, and can conscientiously assert that, for inexpensiveness, and the quality of the essence produced by it, it is unequalled by any other. The process, though apparently complicated is, in reality, easily performed. The spirit distilled over contains none of the fragrant or aromatic principles of the ginger; on the contrary, the little flavour it has received (apparently from a species of ethereal oil) is rather disagreeable than otherwise, and is better got rid of than retained in the essence. The spirit is used with advantage for preparing the common tincture of ginger, and several other articles. The cause of failure when this process is adopted is careless or awkward manipulation. When possible, hydraulic pressure should be employed to express the tincture, 2 oz. of this essence are regarded as equivalent to 3 oz. of the finest ginger, being fully twenty times as strong as the ‘TINCTURE OF GINGER’ (Ph. L.). A single drop, swallowed, will almost produce suffocation.” Cooley.

b. From ginger (as last), 24 lbs.; rectified spirit, 6 gall.; make a tincture, as before, and reduce it by distillation to 1 gall.; then cool as quickly as possible out of contact with the air and add, of the strongest rectified spirit of wine, 1 gall.; lastly, filter, if required. Quality resembles No. 2, a (nearly). “We are in the habit of applying the method developed in the last two formulæ to the preparation of the essences of several other substances, the active principles of which are not volatile at a low temperature.” Cooley.

Essence of Grape. Prep. From grape oil, as ESSENCE OF ALMONDS. It is used to flavour brandy and wines. See Oil (Volatile).

Essence of Guaiac′um. Syn. Fluid extract of guaiacum; Essentia guaiaci, Extractum guaiaci fluidum, L. Prep. Recent guaiacum shavings, from which the dust has been sifted, 3 cwt., are exhausted by coction in water, as in the preparation of an extract, using as little of that fluid as is absolutely necessary; the decoction is evaporated to exactly 1⁄4 gall.; it is next stirred until cold, to prevent the deposit of resinous matter, when it is put into a bottle, and spirit of wine, 5 pints, is added; the whole is then repeatedly agitated for a week, after which it is allowed to settle for 7 or 8 days, and the clear portion is decanted into another bottle.

Obs. This preparation is frequently substituted for guaiacum shavings in the preparation of compound decoction of sarsaparilla. 1 pint of this essence is considered equivalent to 19 lbs. of guaiacum in substance. See Decoction of Sarsaparilla (Comp.).

Essence for the Handkerchief. See Essentia Odorata, &c.

Essence for the Headache. Syn. Cephalic essence, Embrocation of ammonia, Dr Hawkins’ embrocation, Ward’s e., Ward’s essence for the headache; Embrocatio ammoniæ, Linimentum a., Essentia cephalica, L. Prep. 1. Oil of lavender (Mitcham), 1 dr.; camphor, 1 oz.; liquor of ammonia, 4 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; dissolve. Very fragrant and powerful.

2. (Beasley.) Spirit of camphor, 2 lbs.; strong water of ammonia, 4 oz.; essence of lemon, ⁄2 oz.

3. (Redwood.) Camphor and liquor of ammonia, of each 2 oz.; oil of lavender, 4 dr.; rectified spirit, 14 oz. Very fragrant. Stimulant and rubefacient. Used as a counter-irritant lotion in local pains, as headache, earache, colic, &c. Compound camphor liniment is usually sold for it. See Liniment.

Essence of Henbane. Syn. Essentia hyoscami, L. See Essence (Anodyne), No. 2.

Essence of Hop. Syn. Essentia lupuli, E. humuli, Tinctura lupuli concentrata, L. Prep. 1. New hops (rubbed small), 26⁄2 oz.; proof spirit, 1 quart; digest 24 hours, then distil over (quickly) 1 pint, and set the distillate (spiritus lupuli) aside in a corked bottle; to the residuum add water, 1 pint; boil 15 minutes, cool, express the liquor, strain, and evaporate it as quickly as possible to dryness by the heat of a water bath, powder the residuum, and add it to the distilled spirit; digest a week, and filter.

2. Lupulinic grains (yellow powder or lupulin of the strobiles), 5 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest 10 days; express, and filter. Both the above are powerfully bitter, and loaded with the aroma of the hop. They are fully 8 times as strong as the ‘TINCTURA LUPULI’ of the Ph. L. A few drops added to a glassful of ale or beer render it agreeably bitter and stomachic.