Caryophilli Aromatici Germen, E.
Caryophilli aromat. Calyx, D. Cloves.
Cloves are the unexpanded flowers, or flower-buds, of the clove tree, which are first obtained when the tree is six years old; they are gathered in October and November before they open, and when they are still green; and are dried in the sun, after having been exposed to smoke at a heat of 120°, till they assume a brown hue. It is a curious fact that the flowers when fully developed are quite inodorous, and that the real fruit is not in the least aromatic. Qualities. Form, that of a nail, consisting of a globular head, formed of the four petals of the corolla, and four leaves of the calyx not yet expanded; and a germen situated below nearly cylindrical, and scarcely an inch in length. Odour, strong, fragrant, and aromatic. Taste, acrid, aromatic and permanent. Benzoic acid has lately been discovered in them.
Solubility. Water extracts their odour, but little of their taste; alcohol and ether take up both completely. Medicinal Uses. They are more stimulant than any of the other aromatics; they are sometimes given alone, but more generally as a corrigent to other medicines. Officinal Preparations. Infusum Caryophyllorum. L. Spir. Lavand. co. D. (B) Frauds. The Dutch frequently mix the best cloves with those from which the oil has been drawn.
Caryophyllorum Oleum. This essential oil, in consequence of the resinous matter which it holds in solution, has a specific gravity of 1·020, and consequently sinks in water. When the oil has a hot fiery taste, and a great depth of colour, it is adulterated. It is imported from the spice islands. On account of its stimulant properties, it is added to griping extracts, or used as a local application in the tooth-ache. Vauquelin obtained from the leaves of the Agathophyllum ravensara an essential oil, in every respect similar to that of cloves; and I am informed by Dr. Davy that an oil exactly resembling in smell the oil of Cloves is procured in Ceylon from the leaf of the Cinnamon tree; but very little, if any, has ever been exported.
CASCARILLÆ CORTEX. L.D. Croton Eleutheria. E. (Croton Cascarilla.)
Cascarilla Bark.
Qualities. Form, curled pieces, or rolled up into short quills; its fracture is smooth and close, of a dark brown colour; Odour, light and agreeable; when burning, it emits a smell resembling that of musk, which at once distinguishes it from all other barks. Taste, moderately bitter, with some aromatic warmth. Chemical Composition. Mucilage, bitter extractive, resin, volatile oil, and a large proportion of woody fibre; neither Cinchonia nor Quina has hitherto been discovered in it. Solubility. Its active constituents are partially extracted by alcohol and water, and completely by proof spirit. Medicinal Uses. Carminative and tonic; it is an excellent adjunct to cinchona, rendering it by its aromatic qualities more agreeable to the stomach, and increasing its powers. It is valuable in dyspepsia and flatulent cholic, in dysentery and diarrhœa, and in the gangrenous thrush peculiar to children. Forms of Exhibition. It is most efficacious in substance; it may however be given in the form of infusion, or tincture. Decoction dissipates its aromatic principle; the extract therefore merely acts as a simple bitter. See Infus. Cascarillæ. Dose of the powder, grs. xij to ʒss. Officinal Preparations. Infus. Cascarill. L. Tinct. Cascarill. L.D. Extract. Cascarill. D.
CASSIÆ PULPA. L.E.D. Cassia Pulp. (Cassia Fistula, Lomentorum Pulpa.)
The fruit is a cylindrical pod scarcely an inch in diameter, but a foot or more in length; the exterior is a hard brown bark; the interior is divided into numerous transverse cells, each of which contains an oval seed imbedded in a soft black pulp. Qualities. Odour, faint and rather sickly. Taste, sweet and mucilaginous. Solubility. Nearly the whole of the pulp is dissolved by water, partially by alcohol and sulphuric ether. Chemical Composition. Sugar, gelatine, glutine, gum, and a small portion of resin, extractive, and some colouring matter. Uses. It is gently laxative, and is adapted for children and very delicate women, but it should be always given in combination with manna or some other laxative, or it is apt to induce nausea, flatulence and griping. Officinal Preparations. Confectio Cassiæ. L.E.D. Confectio Sennæ (B.O.) L.E.D.[[453]] There are two kinds of this drug in the market; that from the West Indies, the pods of which are generally large, rough, thick rinded, and contain a nauseous pulp; and that from the East Indies, which is to be preferred, and which is distinguished by smaller and smoother pods, and by their containing a much blacker pulp. The pulp ought not to have a harsh flavour, which arises from the fruit having been gathered before it was ripe, nor ought it to be sour, which it is very apt to become by keeping. The heaviest pods, and those in which the seeds do not rattle, are to be preferred.