Decoction of Quince. Syn. Decoction of quince seed, Mucilage of q. s.; Decoctum cydonii (Ph. L.), L. Prep. From quince seeds, 2 dr.; water, 1 pint; boil for 10 minutes, and strain. Used as an emollient and sheathing application to abraded or wounded surfaces, as cracked lip, nipples, &c.; and to the skin in erysipelas, to painful hæmorrhoidal tumours, and the like. Prepared with a little less water, it is used by the hairdresser as ‘bandoline’ or ‘fixateur.’
Decoction of Red Gum. Syn. Decoctum Gummi Rubri (Mr Squire.) Red gum, 1 oz.; water, 2 pints; boil 10 minutes, and strain.
Decoction of Rice. Syn. Rice water, Rice
drink; Decoctum ory′zæ, L. Prep. Rice, 2 oz.; water, 1 quart; boil to one half, and strain. Demulcent. A good drink in fevers, coughs, &c., either alone or sweetened and flavoured with a little lemon peel.
Decoction of Sarsaparil′la. Syn. Decoctum sar′zæ (Ph. L. & E.), D. sarsaparillæ (Ph. D.), L. Prep. 1. (Ph. L.) Sarsaparilla (sliced), 5 oz.; water, 2 quarts; boil to a quart, and strain.
2. (Ph. E.) Sarsaparilla, 5 oz.; boiling distilled water, 4 pints; macerate for 2 hours, in a vessel lightly covered, and placed in a warm situation; then take out the root, bruise it, return it again to the liquor, boil down to a quart, and strain.
3. (Ph. D.) Sarsaparilla, 2 oz.; boiling water, 11⁄2 pint; digest an hour, boil 10 minutes, cool, and strain.
4. (Ph. B.) Digest 21⁄2 oz. of Jamaica sarsaparilla cut transversely in 11⁄2 pint of boiling water for an hour, boil for 10 minutes, cool, and strain. Make up to one pint.
Obs. The medicinal virtues of sarsaparilla root reside wholly in the bark, or cortical portion; it is therefore quite unnecessary to bruise it, as directed in the Ph. E. By those houses which do largely in decoction of sarsaparilla, the root is seldom split or cut; the bundles in which it is made up being simply untied and spread open, to allow of the free exposure of every part to the solvent action of the water. By this plan the whole of the soluble portion of the bark is extracted, whilst the feculent matter that pervades the wood is only partially dissolved out. According to Soubeiran, a mere infusion is preferable. The dose is a teacupful to half a pint, 3 or 4 times a day.
An extemporaneous decoction of sarsaparilla is made by dissolving 3⁄4 oz. of the simplest extract in 1 pint of hot water. See Sarsaparilla, and below.