[711]. Ford’s Laudanum. This is similar to the Vinum Opii of the present Pharmacopœia.
[712]. Laudanum. Paracelsus first bestowed the term Laudanum upon a preparation of Opium, a Laudata ejus efficacia, Laudatum medicamentum.
[713]. According to the experiments of M. Vogel, Annales de Chimie, (t. lxiv. p. 220) this ointment is nothing more than metallic mercury mixed with grease, the division of which has been carried to such an extent as to impart a blackish colour to the mixture.
[714]. It is to be hoped that a quantity of the ointment will be prepared according to these views, and be submitted to a more extended series of experiments. The oxide may be procured by decomposing Calomel by a solution of pure potass, or by pouring a solution of the nitrate of mercury into a caustic alkaline solution; this oxide should be at first triturated with a little lard, in the cold, to make the penetration complete, taking care that the lard be quite free from common salt, or else Calomel will be the ultimate result: the mixture is then to be submitted to the action of heat, and it is very important to attend to the necessary temperature, for at 212° the oxide and lard will not unite, at 600° the oxide will be decomposed and the mercury volatilized, at 500° and 400° the oxide is partially decomposed, some red oxide being formed and mercury reduced; the proper temperature is between 300° and 320°, at which it should be maintained for an hour, and the ointment should be stirred until cold.
[715]. Four ounces, troy, of mercurial ointment, prepared six months before, were kept at 212°, when it separated into two distinct strata, viz. the upper one which was light grey, and extremely active as a medicine, and the under one, which upon being triturated with magnesia, yielded a large proportion of metallic mercury, and which was not found to possess any activity.
[716]. Whenever it is our object to direct the mercurial impression to any particular organ, we should if possible rouse its excitability by some specific stimulus. An exception, however, to this doctrine would seem to offer itself in the fact, that children at the period of dentition are not readily salivated; a priori, we should have certainly supposed that a predisposition to a flux of saliva would have produced a contrary effect. As it is, we can only conclude that those organs are not disposed to take on any action that may be incompatible with, or adverse to, that of dentition.
[717]. The Unguentum Werholfii, so long celebrated on the Continent, was a combination of this kind.
[718]. Basilicon, i. e. the Royal Ointment.
Bailey’s Itch Ointment. This is a very complicated combination; containing Nitre, Alum, Sulphate of Zinc, and Cinnabar, made into an ointment with Olive oil and Lard, and perfumed with the essential oils of Anise Seeds, Origanum, and Lavender; and coloured with Alkanet root.
The Indians use an ointment in inveterate itch, which is said to prove very successful, and consists of finely powdered Cocculus Indicus mixed with a little warm Castor oil.