Pharmacologia / Fourth American, from the Seventh London Edition

by John Ayrton Paris

Antimonial Wine.

During the period that I was Censor of the College, I took considerable trouble, in conjunction with my colleagues, to ascertain the state in which this preparation was to be generally met with in the wholesale and retail shops of the metropolis. We were satisfied, during our official visitations, that where sound Sherry wine had been employed as a solvent, an efficient and permanent solution was obtained, and that no precipitation of Antimony took place, the sediment which occurred being merely Tartrate of Lime, an incidental impurity derived from the Cream of tartar: but in a majority of instances an inferior wine of British manufacture was substituted, in which case the Antimonial Oxyd was universally found in a copious precipitate, in combination with vegetable extractive matter; and I have even seen this decomposition so complete, that the supernatant liquor would not yield any trace of the antimonial salt. This report has been confirmed by successive Censors, and the College have accordingly endeavoured to remedy the evil, by superseding the use of wine altogether, and of introducing a spirit of equivalent strength. The virtues of this solution are those detailed under the history of Antimonium Tartarizatum; of which two grains are contained in every fluid-ounce of the preparation. The Medicinal Dynameter will shew the proportion of salt in any other given quantity. Dose, ♏︎x to fʒj, in any suitable vehicle, repeated every three or four hours, in which case it acts as a diaphoretic. As an emetic, it may be given to infants in the dose of a tea-spoonful, every ten minutes, until the desired effect is produced. See Form: 69, and 117.[^[710]]

Vinum Colchici. This medicated wine is made as follows: Take of the recent bulb of the Colchicum, sliced and bruised, [pound]j; of Proof Spirit, f℥iv; of water, f℥viij; let them infuse for fourteen days, and filter for use. There is perhaps no form better calculated to ensure the medical effects of the plant than the one we are now considering. Its dose may be stated to be from ♏︎xx to fʒiss. The virtues of Colchicum have been already noticed, see Colchici Radix.

Vinum Ferri. L.D. When prepared according to the London College (P.L. 1809.) each pint is stated to contain 22 grains of the red Oxide of Iron; the strength however must in such a case depend upon the quantity of tartar contained in the wine. Very dry Sherry is frequently incapable of acting upon the iron until a small proportion of Cream of Tartar be added to it; would it not therefore be adviseable to direct at once a given portion of ferrum tartarizatum to be dissolved in wine? The Dublin formula is more eligible than that of the former London Pharmacopœia, since it directs the use of Rhenish wine instead of Sherry as a solvent, and iron wire in preference to iron filings; this last circumstance is important, for the purest iron can only be drawn, and this is most easily acted upon by the super-tartrate of potass. These observations are offered to those who still prefer to make the preparation with wine. They can have no relation to the present Vinum Ferri of the London College, which is prepared with a weak spirit, and which contains tartrate of potass and iron, with an excess of super-tartrate which supplies the place of the acid contained in the wine, and ensures the solution of the tartarized iron in the Spirit. According to the experiments of Mr. Phillips, which I have every reason to believe accurate, the present preparation contains less peroxide of iron than the former did; it will be seen by the Dynameter that f℥j contains exactly one grain, which is exactly equivalent to five grains of Tartarized Iron, whereas an equal quantity of the former wine held in solution 1–4/10 gr, which was equivalent to seven grains of the salt. Med. Uses. It is the least unpleasant of all the preparations of iron, and its medicinal activity is supported by the testimony of ages, for it is one of the oldest preparations with which we are acquainted. Dose, fʒij to f℥ss.

Vinum Ipecacuanhæ. L.E.D. The virtues of this root are completely extracted by dilute spirit. Dose, as an emetic, from fʒij to f℥ss: as a diaphoretic, from ♏︎xx to xl. See Form. 63, 137.

Vinum Opii. L.E.[^[711]] This is a spirituous solution of the extract of Opium combined with various aromatics, which are supposed to modify the effects of the opium, while by the substitution of the extract for the crude opium, it is considered as being less likely to disturb the nervous system. I submit whether the views offered under the history of Wine, respecting the relative effects of combined and uncombined Alcohol, might not lead us, by analogy, to prepare a more efficient vinum opii, and a preparation less likely to affect the stomach: by adding the opium to the wine during its state of fermentation, it would enter into intimate union with its elements, in the same way that brandy is incorporated by the technical manipulation of fretting-in: this suggestion is also sanctioned by the generally acknowledged superiority of the Black Drop, which I have little doubt is indebted for its peculiar efficacy to the state of combination in which the acetate of morphia exists in the vinous menstruum. The preparation, when made with wine, as directed in the late Pharmacopœia, is nearly analogous to the celebrated Liquid Laudanum[^[712]] of Sydenham, and its degree of narcotic power is nearly the same as that of the ordinary tincture, as may be seen by referring to the Medicinal Dynameter.

Vinum Veratri. L. Since the discovery of the real nature of the Eau Medicinale, this preparation has fallen into comparative disuse, and might have been removed, as we have now introduced the Vinum Colchici. It is however a singular circumstance that both these preparations should owe their medicinal powers to the same elementary principle, viz. Veratria; and as some practitioners are still addicted to its use, the Committee agreed to let it remain.

ULMI CORTEX. L.E.D. (Ulmus Campestris.)

Elm Bark.

Qualities. Odour, none; Taste, slightly bitter and mucilaginous. Chemical Composition. Gum, extractive, gallic acid, and super-tartrate of potass. Solubility. Water is its appropriate solvent. Med. Uses. It has been commended in herpetic eruptions, but in the hands of Dr. Willan and others it has not proved successful; it is one of those articles that might be discarded from our Pharmacopœia with much propriety. Officinal Prep. Decoct: Ulmi. L.D.