ABRA′SION. [Eng., Fr.] Syn. Abra′sio, L. The rubbing or wearing down of surfaces by friction. In the arts, the reduction or figuration of materials by the use of an abrasive tool, or grinder, of which the effective portion is an exact counterpart of the form to be produced.
Abrasion. In numismatics, the ‘wear and tear,’ or waste of the substance of coins, in the pocket and circulation. It forms a large item in the expense of a metallic currency. The means employed to obviate, or to reduce it, consist in either alloying the metal to render it tougher and harder, or raising the borders so as to lessen the surface exposed to friction. In well-formed coin both methods are adopted.
Abrasion. In pathology and surgery—1. A superficial removal or injury of the skin by fretting or friction.
Treat., &c. When the injured surface is large, or exposed, it should be protected from dirt and further injury, by applying a piece of lint or soft linen rag, covered with spermaceti cerate, or some other simple ointment; over which a piece of strapping, or bandage of any sort, may be placed to keep it on. In many cases, a piece of common sticking-plaster will be found quite sufficient.
2. A very superficial ulceration or excoriation of the intestinal or other mucous membrane. Treat. Aperients of castor oil, demulcents,
and a light nutritious diet. See Excoriations.
ABRUS PRECATORIUS. (Ind. Ph.) Indian Liquorice Plant. Habitat. Tropical portions of both hemispheres, Officinal part. The root (Abri Radix, Indian Liquorice). Occurs in pieces of various lengths, from 1⁄2 to 1 inch in diameter; pale brown externally, yellowish internally; inodorous, taste sweetish and mucilaginous, much resembling officinal liquorice root. Properties and uses. Similar to those of liquorice, for which it forms an excellent substitute. Preparation. Extract of Abrus (Extractum Abri). Prepared as Extractum Glycyrrhizæ.
ABSCESS. A formation of matter or pus, resulting from inflammation, either acute or chronic. The symptoms are pain, swelling, heat, and redness, a conical projection on the swelling, often with a white point at the apex. Abscess or suppuration may come on any part of the body. When the local inflammation does not yield to cold lotions, apply poultices; a pledget of lint dipped in cold water and kept moist by means of oil-silk; a slice of bread softened with boiling water or milk, or linseed meal, make the best poultices. Should the pain be severe add laudanum, and additionally rub it round the swelling. Or apply common white paint by laying it on gently with a brush, or else tincture of marigold or arnica in the same manner. Chronic abscesses in the glands in the neck are usually scrofulous, and should be opened. Abscesses in the breast should not be opened too early, or others are formed. Those in the gums may be cut early, not so if in the tonsils. After opening with a needle or lancet-point external abscesses, continue to poultice till the hardness disappears, then dress with spermaceti ointment spread on lint. When the abscess is of a dangerous nature, lose no time in consulting a medical practitioner.
Treatment for horses and cattle. Mr Finlay Dun prescribes fomentations, poultices, counter-irritants, the knife, cauterisation, carbolic-acid dressing, stimulating injections, and the administration of sulphites and chlorate of potash.
ABSINTHE. [Fr.] Absinthium, L.; Wormwood, E.; Wermuth, G. This article is met with in commerce in the form of the dried herb with the flowers of Artemisia Absinthium, having a whitish-grey appearance, a soft feel, an aromatic and unpleasant odour, and an extremely bitter and aromatic flavour. The plant is indigenous, and grows in thickets, in mountainous districts, and on waste ground. Its odour is due to its containing an essential oil; its bitterness is referable to absinthin, a crystallisable principle which may be extracted from the herb by water or spirit. The name absinthe is also given to an intoxicating liqueur which is extensively drunk on the Continent, and which unfortunately appears to be rapidly attracting consumers in this country. The remarks on this subject by Blyth in his admirable ‘Dictionary of Hygiène’ are so pregnant with important facts that they will be here produced verbatim et literatim. “An analysis recently made at the Conservatoire des Arts shows that absinthe now contains a large quantity of antimony, a poison which cannot fail to add largely to the irritant effects necessarily produced on the alimentary canal and liver by constant doses of a concentrated alcoholic liquid. And we have recently received the results of some experiments made by M. Magnan, of Paris. By means of successive distillations he has been able to isolate various products—(1) a blue oil; (2) a yellowish oil; (3) an oxygenated substance. There was besides a yellowish residue left in the glass. These various substances were tried on animals; ten grammes of the yellow sediment given to a small dog produced no effect; thirty centigrammes of the blue oil produced from eight to ten epileptiform attacks. The oxygenated product proved, however, the most powerful toxic agent. Fifteen centigrammes of it, injected into the veins of a large dog, caused the most violent epileptic attacks, which followed in rapid succession, and ended in death. There was an extraordinary rise of temperature, from 39° to 42° Centigrade, and the post mortem showed various apoplectic centres. Dr Decaisne regards the terrible evil of this almost universal absinthe-drinking as the greatest national calamity that has ever befallen France, and has made an eloquent appeal to the Government to strike at once a decisive blow at the trade in this liqueur. Originally the only important ingredient in its composition besides alcohol was the essential oil of absinthium or wormwood; and though this without doubt added something to the mischievous effects of the liqueur, it would be impossible to trace to it, or to the other comparatively trivial ingredients, the more serious of the special results which are now observed to occur to victims of absinthe, though the habitual drinking even in small doses of good absinthe is believed by Dr Decaisne, sooner or later, to produce disorders in the animal economy. Now various deleterious substances are added, the most important of these being antimony. As at present constituted, therefore, and especially when drunk in the disastrous excess now common in Paris, and taken, as it frequently is, on an empty stomach, absinthe forms a chronic poison of almost unequalled virulence, both as an irritant to the stomach and bowels, and also as a destroyer of the nervous system. The effect of absinthe is to produce a superabundant activity of the brain, a cerebral excitement, which at first is agreeable; intoxication comes on rapidly; the head swims, and the effect produced is nearly the same as that of poisoning by a narcotic, which certainly does not occur with an equal dose of brandy. With the absinthe-drinker,