[497]. At Apothecaries’ Hall, this plaster, as well as others, is made in a steam apparatus which is so well regulated, that a uniform temperature of 210° Fah. is insured during the whole process.
[498]. Baynton’s Adhesive Plaster. (Strapping.) Differs only from this preparation in containing less resin, six drachms only being added to one pound of the litharge plaster. This excellent plaster is sold ready spread on calico.
Court Plaster. Sticking Plaster. Black Silk is strained and brushed over ten or twelve times, with the following preparation. Dissolve ℥ss of Benzoin in f℥vi of rectified spirit: in a separate vessel, dissolve ℥j of Isinglass in oss of water; strain each solution, mix them, and let the mixture rest, so that the grosser parts may subside; when the clear liquor is cold, it will form a jelly, which must be warmed before it is applied to the silk. When the Plaster is quite dry, in order to prevent its cracking, it is finished off with a solution of Terebinth: Chia, ℥iv, in Tinct: Benzoes f℥vj.
Corn Plaster. The green coloured plaster sold under this title is usually composed of 3 parts of wax, 4 of Burgundy pitch, and 2 of common turpentine; to which is added one part of verdegris.
[499]. Mystery is rarely practised but as the cloak of imposture; it is therefore unnecessary to add, that Mr. Barry made no difficulty in stating the following to be the formula by which it was prepared.
A tincture of Bark, made with rectified spirit, was distilled until the whole of the spirit was driven off, the remaining solution was then left to cool, after which the resin that floated on the surface was removed, and the residuum inspissated at a low temperature.
[500]. Barclay’s Antibilious Pills. Take of the Extract of Colocynth ʒij, Resin of Jalap (extract Jalap) ʒj, Almond Soap ʒjss, Guaiacum ʒiij, Tartarized Antimony, grs. viij, essential oils of Juniper, Carraway, and Rosemary, of each gtt. iv, of syrup of Buckthorn, as much as will be sufficient to form a mass, which is to be divided into sixty-four pills.
[501]. Refined Liquorice. This article, which is sold in the form of cylinders, is made by gently evaporating a solution of the pure extract of liquorice with half its weight of gum arabic, rolling the mass, and cutting it into lengths, and then polishing, by rolling them together in a box: many impurities however are fraudulently introduced into this article, such even as glue, &c.
[502]. The juices of the Iris root, and Bryony root, and those of many other plants, allow their medicinal elements to separate and subside in a similar manner, leaving the supernatant liquid perfectly inert; if we must have a generic name to express such a substance, it should be termed a feculence, rather than a fecula.
[503]. “Observations on the nature and preparation of the Elaterium,” read at the Medical Society of London, April 24, 1819, and which were published in the Medical Repository, vol. xii, No. 67.