[457]. So called from Chiron the Centaur, who is said to have employed it to cure himself of a wound accidentally received by letting one of the arrows of Hercules fall upon his foot.
[458]. Kirkland’s Neutral Cerate. Is formed by melting together ℥ viij of Lead Plaster with f℥iv of olive oil, into which are to be stirred ℥iv of prepared chalk; when the mixture is sufficiently cooled f℥iv of acetic acid, and ʒiij of pulverized Acetate of lead are to be added, and the whole is to be stirred until nearly cold.
Marshall’s Cerate. ℞. Palm. Oil ℥v. Calomel ℥i, Acetate of Lead ℥ss, Nitrate of Mercury ℥ij.
Cold Cream (Ceratum Galeni.) Ol: Amygdal: ℔j, Ceræ alb: ℥iv; melt, pour into a warm mortar, and add, gradually, Aq: Ros; oj. It should be very light and white. Gray’s Supplement.
[459]. There are no less than twenty-five distinct species of Cinchona, independent of any additions which we may owe to the zeal of Humboldt and Bonpland; and Mr. A. T. Thomson, in his London Dispensatory, states that in a large collection of dried specimens, of the genus Cinchona, in his possession, collected in 1805, both near Loxa and Santa Fé, he finds many species which are not mentioned in the works of any Spanish botanist.
[460]. See London Medical and Physical Journal. Vol. v. p. 33.
[461]. Essential Salt of Bark. It is highly necessary that the public should know that the preparation sold under this empirical title, has no relation whatever to the late discoveries of Pelletier. It is merely an extract prepared by macerating the bruised substance of bark in cold water, and submitting the infusion to a very slow evaporation.
[462]. The designation of Cinchonin, consistent with the principles of chemical nomenclature, must now have a termination in a, and the name Cinchonia appears preferable to that of Cinchonina.
[463]. The following is the process by which Cinchonia may be prepared. Take a pound of Pale Bark, bruised small, and boil it for an hour in three pints of a very dilute solution of pure Potass. After the liquid has cooled, it must be strained through a fine cloth with pressure, and the residuum be repeatedly washed and pressed. The cinchona, thus washed, is to be slightly heated in a sufficient quantity of water, adding muriatic acid gradually until litmus paper is slightly reddened. When the liquid is raised nearly to the boiling point, it is to be strained, and the cinchona again pressed. To the strained liquor, while hot, add an ounce of sulphate of magnesia, and after this add a solution of potass, till it ceases to occasion any precipitate. When the liquor is cold, collect the precipitate on a filtre, wash and dry it, and dissolve it in hot alcohol. On evaporation of the spirit, the cinchona will crystallize.
[464]. Thus, as we have stated, 100 parts of Cinchonia unite with 13·021 of Sulphuric acid, while the same weight of Quina requires for saturation not more than 10·91 of the same acid.