Strontium, Oxide of. SrO. Syn. Protoxide of strontium, Strontia. Prep. Quite pure crystalline nitrate of strontium. Prop. Greyish-white powder, uniting with water to form a white, somewhat soluble substance, the hydrate of strontium, Sr(HO)2.
With acids it forms various salts, of which the carbonate is a white insoluble powder, and the nitrate a white crystalline salt, soluble in 5 parts of cold water, and in alcohol; communicating a brilliant red colour to flame.
STROPH′ULUS. A papular eruption peculiar to infants. There are several varieties:—In strophulus intertinctus, red gum, or red gown, the pimples rise sensibly above the level of the cuticle, possess a vivid red colour, and are usually distinct from each other; they commonly attack the cheeks, forearm, and back of the hand, and, occasionally, other parts of the body.—In strophulus albidus, or white gum, there are a number of minute whitish specks, which are, sometimes, surrounded by a slight redness. The two preceding varieties commonly occur during the first two or three months of lactation.—In strophulus confertus, rank red gum, or tooth rash, which usually appears about the fourth or fifth month, the pimples usually occur on the cheeks and sides of the nose, sometimes on the forehead and arms, and still less frequently on the loins. They are smaller, set closer together, and less vivid, but more permanent than in the common red gum.—In strophulus volaticus small circular patches or clusters of pimples, each containing from 6 to 12, appear successively on different parts of the body, accompanied with redness; and as one patch declines another springs up near it, by which the efflorescence often spreads gradually over the whole face and body.—In strophulus candidus the pimples are larger than in the preceding, and are pale, smooth and shining; it principally attacks the upper parts of the arms, the shoulders, and the loins. The last two varieties commonly appear between the third and ninth month.
The treatment of the above affections consists chiefly in removing acidity and indigestion and duly regulating the bowels by an occasional dose of magnesia or rhubarb, or both combined. Diarrhœa may be met by the warm bath and the daily use of arrowroot (genuine), to which a teaspoonful or two of pure port wine has been added; and itching and irritation may be alleviated by the use of a lotion consisting of water, to which a little milk, lemon juice, borax, or glycerin, has been added.
STRYCH′NINE. C21H22N2O2. Syn. Strychnina, Strychnia (B. P., Ph. L., E., & D.), L. Prep. 1. Dissolve hydrochlorate or sulphate of
strychnine in distilled water, and throw down the alkaloid with ammonia, carefully avoiding excess; redissolve the precipitate in hot rectified spirit, and collect the crystals which form as the liquid cools.
2. (Ph. D.) Nux vomica (in powder), 1 lb., is digested for 24 hours in 1⁄2 gall. of water acidulated with 2 fl. dr. of sulphuric acid, after which it is boiled for half an hour, and the decoction decanted; the residuum is boiled a second and a third time with a fresh 1⁄2 gall. of water acidulated with 1 fl. dr. of the acid, and the undissolved matter is finally submitted to strong expression; the decoctions are next filtered and concentrated to the consistence of a syrup, which is boiled with rectified spirit, 3 pints, for about 20 minutes, hydrate of calcium, 1 oz., or q. s., being added in successive portions during the ebullition, until the solution becomes distinctly alkaline; the liquid is then filtered, the spirit distilled off, and the residuum dissolved in diluted sulphuric acid, q. s.; ammonia, in slight excess, is added to the filtered solution, and the precipitate which falls is collected upon a paper filter, and dried; it is next redissolved in a minimum of boiling rectified spirit, and digested with 1⁄2 oz. of animal charcoal for 20 minutes; the filtered liquid, as it cools, deposits strychnine, in crystals.
3. (Ph. B.) Nux vomica 1 lb., acetate of lead 180 gr., solution of ammonia q. s., rectified spirit q. s., distilled water q. s. Subject the nux vomica for two hours to steam in any convenient vessel; chop or slice it; dry it in a water bath or hot-air chamber, and immediately grind it in a coffee mill. Digest the powder at a gentle heat for 12 hours with two pints of the spirit and 1 pint of the water, strain through linen, express strongly, and repeat the process twice. Distil off the spirit from the mixed fluid, evaporate the watery residue to about 16 oz., and filter when cold. Add now the acetate of lead, previously dissolved in distilled water, so long as it occasions any precipitate; filter; wash the precipitate with 10 oz. of cold water, adding the washings to the filtrate; evaporate the clear fluid to 8 oz., and when it has cooled add the ammonia in slight excess, stirring thoroughly. Let the mixture stand at the ordinary temperature for 12 hours; collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it once with a few ounces of cold distilled water, dry it in a water-bath or hot-air chamber, and boil it with successive portions of rectified spirit, till the fluid scarcely tastes bitter. Distil off most of the spirit, evaporate the residue to the bulk of about 1⁄2 oz., and set it aside to cool. Cautiously pour off the yellowish mother-liquor (which contains the brucia of the seeds) from the white crust of strychnia which adheres to the vessel. Throw the crust on a paper filter, wash it with a mixture of two parts of rectified spirit and one of water, till the washings cease to become red on the addition of nitric acid; finally, dissolve it, by boiling it with 1 oz. of rectified spirit,
and set it aside to crystallise. More crystals may be obtained by evaporating the mother-liquor. [Strychnine is more readily obtained, and in greater purity, from St Ignatius’s Bean.] The usual dose of strychnia and its salts to commence with is from 1⁄30th to 1⁄12th of a grain, to be very slowly increased, carefully watching its effects. Magendie says the salts are more active than their base.
Prop. A white, inodorous, infusible powder; or small, but exceedingly brilliant, transparent, colourless, octahedral crystals; soluble in about 7000 parts of water at 60°, and in 2500 parts at 212° Fahr.; freebly soluble in hot rectified spirit; insoluble in absolute alcohol, ether, and solutions of the caustic alkalies; imparts a distinctly bitter taste to 600,000 times its weight of water (1 part in 1,000,000 parts of water is still perceptible—Fownes); exhibits an alkaline reaction; and forms salts with the acids, which are easily prepared, are crystallisable, and well defined.