MYRISTICÆ NUCLEI. L.E.
Nux Moschata. D. Nutmeg.
All the properties of this well-known substance depend upon an essential oil, filling the dark coloured veins which run through its substance, the other components are starch, gum, wax, and a fixed oil. The oil obtained by expression is improperly called oil of mace, for it would appear to be a triple compound of fixed oil, volatile oil, and wax, and which, although limpid when first drawn, soon acquires on cooling the consistence of spermaceti. Mace is the involucrum of the nut. Med. Uses. Stimulant, and in large doses, as from ʒij to ʒiij, narcotic, frequently producing delirium. See Cullen Mat. Med. ii. 201. Officinal Prep: Spir: Myristicæ. L.E.D. Frauds. Nutmegs are frequently despoiled of their essential oil, by being punctured and submitted to the operation of decoction, the orifices being subsequently closed by powdered Sassafras; the imposition is detected by the comparative lightness of the nutmeg, and by its extreme fragility; the holes may also be discovered by carefully examining the surface of the nut, after having steeped it in hot water.
MYRRHA. L.E.D.
(Arboris nondum descriptæ, Gummi-resina.)
Myrrh.
Qualities. Form, irregularly shaped pieces, translucent, of a reddish yellow colour; Odour, peculiar and fragrant; Taste, bitter and aromatic. Chemical Composition. Resin, gum, essential oil, and some extractive. Solubility. When triturated with soft, or distilled water, nearly the whole appears to be dissolved, forming an opaque, yellowish solution, but by rest the greater part is deposited, and not more than one-third is actually dissolved; its solubility, however, in water may be increased by trituration with camphor or an alkali; rectified spirit dissolves it, and the resulting tincture, when diluted, becomes turbid, although no precipitate occurs. Med. Uses. Stimulant, as in Form. 103. Expectorant, 132, 133, 138. Emmenagogue, 95, 98, 99. It is also tonic, and agrees with some constitutions better than any of the bitters. Forms of Exhibition. No form is so eligible as that of substance. Dose, grs. x to ʒj. The alkalies, in their crystalline state, when triturated with myrrh, reduce it to the form of a tenacious fluid. Officinal Preparations. Tinct. Myrrh. L.E.D. Tinct. Aloes et Myrrh. E. Tinct. Aloës Ætherea. E. Mist. Ferri comp. L. (G L) Pil. Aloes cum Myrrha. L.E.D. Pil. Ferri cum Myrrha. L. Pil. Galb. comp. L.D. (B) Pil. Assafœtid. comp. E. (B) Pil. Rhei, comp. E. (G) Adulterations. It is subject to a variety of frauds, being frequently mixed with adventitious gums, which are to be detected by their foreign odour, their white or dark colour, and by their opacity.
NUX VOMICA. (Strychnus Nux Vomica.)
Nux Vomica.
This seed has not at present a place in the British pharmacopœiæ; it presents however several points of interest to the physiologist, the physician, and the chemist. Its virulent action upon animals has been long known; and it has been administered in combination with gentian in intermittents.[[567]] (Ludovic. Phar. p. 113,) and as a narcotic in mania; it also constituted an ingredient in the famous Electuarium de ovo, (Ph. Angl. p. 263.) Nux vomica has been said to produce benefit in the plague; the German writers have strongly commended it in mania, epilepsy, and hydrophobia; as well as in chronic rheumatism, gout, scrophula, lues venera, and cutaneous eruptions; in Sweden it is stated to have displayed very beneficial effects in Dysentery. Dr. Fourquier has lately introduced its use in the Hopital de la Charité, in cases of partial paralysis, and it is said, with very great success.[[568]] The value of the practice has been since confirmed by the experiments of Dumeril, Majendie, Hebreard, Husson, and Asselin. The dose is four or five grains of the powder in pills, during the day. The French codex contains two alcoholic extracts of this substance; the one prepared with a strong spirit (22, 32, Beaumé, i. e. from sp. gr. ·915 to ·856,) is much more active and powerful than that made with a weak spirit. (12, 22, Beaumé, i. e. from sp. gr. ·985 to ·915.)