Violet Water; Aqua violæ. Violets, 1 part; water, 4; after 6 hours distil 2 parts.
Wormwood Water; Aqua absinthii (P. Cod.). Wormwood tops, 4 lbs.
Uses, &c. Distilled waters are mostly employed as vehicles or perfumes. A few, as bitter-almond, cherry-laurel, and peach water, are poisonous in doses larger than a few drops. The dose of the aromatic or carminative waters, as those of dill, caraway, peppermint, pennyroyal, &c., is a wine-glassful, ad libitum.
Concluding Remarks. In the preparation of distilled waters for medical purposes the utmost care should be taken to prevent contamination from contact with either copper, lead, or zinc, since these metals are gradually oxidised and dissolved by them. In preparing them from the essential oils, silica, in impalpable powder, is the best substance that can be employed to promote the division and diffusion of the oil, as directed in the Ph. L. Magnesia and sugar, formerly used for the purpose, are objectionable; as the first not; only decomposes a portion of the oil, but the water is apt to dissolve a little of it, and is hence rendered unfit to be used as a solvent for metallic salts, more especially for corrosive sublimate and nitrate of silver; whilst the other causes the water to ferment and acetify.
In the distillation of waters intended for perfumery the utmost care is requisite to produce a highly fragrant article. The still should be furnished with a high and narrow neck, and the heat of steam, or a salt-water bath, should alone be employed. The first 2 or 3 fl. oz. of the runnings should be rejected, except when spirit is used, and the remainder collected until the proper quantity be obtained, when the whole product should be mixed together, as distilled waters progressively decrease in strength the longer the process is continued. When a very superior article is desired, the waters may be redistilled by a gentle heat, the first two thirds only being preserved. The herbaceous odour of recently distilled waters is removed by keeping them for some months, loosely covered in a cold cellar.
When distilled waters have been carefully prepared, so that none of the liquor in the still has ‘spirted’ over into the condensing worm, they keep well, and are not liable to change; but when the reverse is the case, they frequently become ropy and viscid. The best remedy for this is to redistil them. Waters which have acquired a burnt smell in the ‘stilling’ lose it by freezing. Distilled waters
may be prevented from turning sour by adding a little calcined magnesia to them, and those which have begun to spoil may be recovered by adding 1 gr. each of borax and alum to the pint. The doctoring is not, however, to be recommended, and should never be adopted for those used in medicine. A drop of solution of terchloride of gold added to these waters shows whether they contain any uncombined essential oil, by forming, in that case, a fine metallic film on the surface. After distilled waters have acquired their full odour, they should be carefully preserved in well-stopped bottles. Such houses keep a separate still for each of the more delicate perfumed waters, as it is extremely difficult to remove any odour that adheres to the body of the still and worm. The addition of the small quantity of spirit ordered in the Ph. E. and Ph. L. 1836, in the preparation of their waters, in no way tends to promote their preservation.
In general, the druggist draws off 2 galls., or more, of water from the quantities of the herbs, barks, seeds, or flowers, ordered in the Pharmacopœias; hence the inferior quality of the waters of the shops. They do, however, very well for vehicles. The perfumers, on the contrary, use an excess of flowers, or at least reserve only the first and stronger portion of the water that distils over, the remainder being collected and used for a second distillation of fresh flowers.
The most beautiful distilled waters are those prepared in the south of France, and which are imported into England under the French names. Thus eau de rose, eau de fleurs d’oranges, &c., are immensely superior to the best English rose or orange-flower water, &c. The water that distils over in the preparation of the essential oils is usually of the strongest and finest class. See Essence, Oils (Volatile), Spirits (Perfumed), Vegetables, &c.
WATERS (Eye). Syn. Collyria, L. Prep. 1. From distilled vinegar, 1 fl. oz.; distilled water 1⁄2 pint. Half a fl. oz. of rectified spirit, or 1 fl. oz. of brandy, is often added. In simple chronic ophthalmia, blear eyes, &c., also to remove particles of lime from the eyes.