Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 12

_Char._ Usually from one to three inches long, not thicker than the finger at the crown, tapering, blackish-brown, internally whitish. A _minute_ portion, cautiously chewed, causes prolonged tingling and numbness.

=ACONITI FOLIA.= See ACONITE LEAVES.

=ACONITI RADIX.= See ACONITE ROOT.

=ACONITIA.= C_{30}H_{47}O_{7}N. (B. P.) _Syn._ ACONITIA, L. An alkaloid obtained from aconite.

Take of Aconite root, in coa.r.s.e powder, 14 pounds.

Rectified spirit } Distilled water } of each Solution or ammonia } a sufficiency.

Pure ether } Diluted sulphuric acid}

Pour upon the aconite root three gallons of the spirit, mix them well, and heat until ebullition commences; then cool and macerate for four days.

Transfer the whole to a displacement apparatus, and percolate, adding more spirit, when requisite, until the root is exhausted. Distil off the greater part of the spirit from the tincture, and evaporate the remainder over a water bath until the whole of the alcohol has been dissipated. Mix the residual extract thoroughly with twice its weight of boiling distilled water, and when it has cooled to the temperature of the atmosphere, filter through paper. To the filtered liquid add solution of ammonia in slight excess, and heat them gently over a water bath. Separate the precipitate on a filter, and dry it. Reduce this to coa.r.s.e powder, and macerate it in successive portions of the pure ether with frequent agitation. Decant the several products, mix and distil off the ether until the extract is dry.

Dissolve the dry extract in warm distilled water acidulated with the sulphuric acid; and, when the solution is cold, precipitate it by the cautious addition of solution of ammonia diluted with four times its bulk of distilled water. Wash the precipitate on a filter with a small quant.i.ty of cold distilled water, and dry it by slight pressure between folds of filtering paper.

_Characters and Tests._ A white, usually amorphous, solid, soluble in 150 parts of cold, and 50 of hot water, and much more soluble in alcohol and in ether; strongly alkaline to reddened litmus, neutralising acids, and precipitated from them by the caustic alkalies, but not by carbonate of ammonia or the bicarbonates of soda or potash. It melts with heat, and burns with a smoky flame, leaving no residue when burned with free access of air. When rubbed on the skin it causes a tingling sensation, followed by prolonged numbness. It is a very active poison.

=ACONITIA, CRYSTALLISED.= C_{27}H_{40}NO_{10}. Exhaust the root of wild aconite, carefully picked and powdered, with very strong alcohol, to which 1 per cent. of tartaric acid has been added. Distil at a gentle heat, and sheltered from the air, to recover the alcohol. Treat the extract with water to separate all the fatty and resinous matters. The solution which contains the aconite in the state of acid tartrate is first shaken with ether to remove colouring matters, and then the alkaloid is set free by the addition of alkaline bicarbonate, until the cessation of effervescence. A fresh treatment with ether of this alkaline solution removes the alkaloid, which crystallizes upon the concentration of the ethereal liquid, with an addition of petroleum spirit. The crystals are colourless tables, rhombic or hexagonal, according to the modifications produced princ.i.p.ally in the acute angles. Crystallized aconitia is soluble in alcohol, ether, benzine, and chloroform; insoluble in petroleum oils and glycerine.

ACONITIA NITRATE, CRYSTALLISED. Crystallised aconitine q. s.; nitric acid, sp. gr. 1442, q. s. Saturate the nitric acid with the aconitine and evaporate. Voluminous crystals are easily obtained (from 'Formulae for New Medicaments adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society').--'Pharm.

Journal.' Owing to the decomposition which this alkaloid undergoes in the animal organism, as well as to its liability to decompose during the process of evaporation, and exposure to the air, it often becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain it in a separate state in conducting a _post-mortem_ examination. The physiological effects seem to furnish the most prominent and characteristic evidence of its presence in such cases, or at any rate these may serve as a valuable guide to the toxicologist.

Uncrystallised aconitia is sometimes contaminated with delphinia, as well as with aconella, another const.i.tuent of aconite root. For the dissection of these see ALKALOIDS. One fiftieth of a grain of aconitia is stated to have killed a dog.

_Antidotes._ See ACONITE.

=ACONITIC ACID.= (Identical with _Pyrocitric Acid_.) An acid extracted by Peschier from _aconitum napellus_, and by Bracconnot from _equisetum fluviatile_. It exists in these plants chiefly in the form of aconitate of calcium.

_Properties._ A white, colourless, semi-crystalline ma.s.s.

=ACONITINA.= See ACONITIA.

=ACONITINE.= See ACONITIA.

=ACONI'TUM.= [L.] Aconite. The pharmacopial name of _aconitum napellus_(see _below_).

=Aconitum Ferox.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Temperate and sub-Alpine Himalaya, at 10,000 to 14,000 feet elevation, from Gurhwal to Sikkim.

_Officinal part._ The dried root (_Aconiti ferocis Radix_), in common with those of other Himalayan species, viz., _aconitum napellus_, _a.

palmatum_, and _a. luridum_, const.i.tutes the drug well known in the bazaars of Upper India under the Hindostani name of _Bish_ or _Bikh_.

It occurs in the form of tuberous roots of a more or less conical form, from two to three inches in length, and from half an inch to one inch in thickness at their upper end. They have usually a shrunken appearance, and are covered with a dark shrivelled bark; fracture s.h.i.+ning and resinous; sometimes waxy, varying in colour from pale to deep brown. Some specimens are white and spongy; and these, it is a.s.serted, are superior in activity to the more compact kinds. Inodorous; taste at first slightly bitter, leaving a peculiar sense of numbness on the tongue and fauces. Active principle, aconitia.

_Medical Properties and Uses._ Similar to those of _aconitum napellus_ of Europe. _Preparations._ This root may be advantageously used for the manufacture of aconitia, the proportion of this alkaloid being much larger than in the European drug; and also for the preparation of Linimentum Aconiti. From its greater activity, however, it is unsuited for the preparation of this tincture, which is intended for external use.

=Aconitum Hetorophyllum.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Western temperate Himalaya, at 8000 to 13,000 feet elevation; from Indus to k.u.maon. _Officinal part._ The dried root (_Aconiti heterophylli Radix_). Ovoid tuberous roots, tapering downwards to a point, from one to one and a half inches or more in length, and from three eighths to half an inch in thickness. The surface, which is covered with a thin greyish epidermis, is slightly wrinkled longitudinally, and marked here and there with root scars. It is inodorous, and of a bitter taste, devoid of acridity. Does not contain aconitia. It may be readily distinguished from other roots sold in the bazaars under the same vernacular name (Atis) by its characteristic bitterness. _Properties._ Tonic and antiperiodic. It may be administered internally with safety, as it contains no poisonous principle.

_Therapeutic uses_. In convalescence after debilitating diseases, and in intermittent and other paroxysmal fevers, it has been found an efficient remedy. _Doses._ Tonic, 5 to 10 grains thrice daily; antiperiodic, 20 to 30 grains of the powdered root every three or four hours, irrespective of the presence of pyrexia.

=Aconitum Napell'us.= [Linn.] _Syn._ ACONI'TUM, Ph. L., E., & D.; ACONITNAPeL, CHAPERON DE MOINE, Fr.; EISENHUT, BLAUERSTURMHUT, Ger. Early blue wolfsbane, or deadly aconite. _Hab._ Various parts of Europe; grows wild in England, flowering in June and July. The fresh and dried leaves (ACONITI FO"LIUM), Ph. L. & E. The root (ACONITI RA'DIX), Ph. L. & D.

This is the species of aconite ordered in the pharmacopias, and commonly used in medicine. When chewed it imparts a sensation of acrimony, followed by a pungent heat of the lips, gums, palate, and fauces, which is succeeded by a general tremor and chilliness. The juice applied to a wound or the unsound skin affects the whole nervous system. Even by remaining long in the hand, or on the bosom, it produces unpleasant symptoms. Fatal cases of poisoning, by eating the root in mistake for horseradish, have been common of late years. The two roots may be, however, easily distinguished from one another; when sc.r.a.ped aconite emits an earthy, and horseradish its well-known pungent odour. Moreover, the shape of the roots is very different. In the accompanying figure _a_ represents aconite root, and _b_ horseradish root.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The leaves should be gathered as soon as the flowers appear. The root should be taken up in autumn. When the whole plant is employed, it should be gathered as soon as the flowers begin to open. The strength (richness in aconitia) varies considerably with the time of the year. 1 oz. of the fresh root contains 1/4 to 3/4 gr. of aconitia; 1 lb. of the dried English root contains from 12 to 36 gr. (Herapath). The leaves possess the greatest activity just before flowering; the root, after it. The root is at all times fully six times as strong as the leaves or herb. The wild plant contains much more aconitia than that which is cultivated. The herb, and all its preparations, lose their efficacy if long kept. The powder, more particularly, cannot be relied on. Mr Holmes says it is difficult to find in a commercial sample of aconite root one root in a dozen, which upon fracture appears sound and in good condition.

_Properties, Antidotes, &c._ See ACONITE.

_Tests, &c._ See ACONITE.

_Uses, &c._ In small doses aconite is narcotic, powerfully diaph.o.r.etic, and sometimes diuretic; in larger ones, the symptoms are similar to those produced by aconitia. It acts as a powerful sedative on the heart's action, and destroys sensibility without disturbing the mental faculties.

It has been given in chronic rheumatism, gout, paralysis, scirrhus, scrofula, cancers, venereal nodes, epilepsy, amaurosis, intermittents, &c.; but its exhibition requires the greatest possible caution. As a topical benumber it has been used with great advantage in painful affections depending on increased sensibility of the nerves. Externally it "is most valuable for the cure of neuralgic and rheumatic pains. In neuralgia, no remedy, I believe, will be found equal to it. One application of the tincture produces some amelioration; and after a few times' use, it frequently happens that the patient is cured. In some cases, the benefit appears almost magical. In others, however, it entirely fails to give permanent relief." "I do not think that in any (case) it proves injurious." "When it succeeds, it gives more or less relief at the first application. When the disease depends on inflammation, aconite will be found, I think, an unavailing remedy." "In rheumatic pains, unaccompanied with local swelling or redness, aconite is frequently of very great service." (Pereira, iii, 691.) _Dose_, of the powder, 1 to 2 gr., gradually increased to 6 or 8. Dr Stocrk was the first who gave wolfsbane internally, about the year 1762. It has since been successfully employed in Germany in cases of chronic rheumatism, gout, &c., some of which were of long standing and had resisted every other remedy. In England it has been less extensively used.

=Aconitum Panicula'tum.= Panicled wolfsbane; a species formerly ordered in the Ph. L.; and, with _a. napellus_, also in the Ph. U. S. It is less active than the officinal species.

=A'CORN.= _Syn._ GLANS. QUER'CUS, L. The seed or fruit of the oak. In the early ages of the world, acorns probably formed one of the princ.i.p.al articles of the food of man. (Ovid, _Met._, i, 106; Virgil, _Georg._, i, 8; &c.) In modern times, during periods of scarcity, they have been consumed as food on the Continent. Besides starch, they contain a peculiar species of sugar, which crystallises in prisms, and is unfermentable; they also contain tannic and gallic acids. Mannite and dulcose are the substances which it most nearly resembles. (M. Dessaignes.) During the autumn, acorns are said to be sometimes poisonous to cattle and sheep.

Supposed cases of so-called acorn poisoning are best treated by withdrawing the supply of acorns, or removing the animals from the pastures on which the acorns fall, and by the administration of aperients, alkalies, and stimulants.

=AC'ORUS CAL'AMUS.= See SWEET FLAG.

=ACOTYLE'DONS= (-ko-te-le'-). _Syn._ ACOTYLE'DONES (don-ez; L., prim.

Gr.), Jussieu; ACOTYLeDONS, Fr.; OHNE SAMENLAPPEN, Ger. In _botany_, plants whose seeds are not furnished with distinct cotyledons or seed-lobes. _Acotyledonous plants_ form one of the two great divisions of the vegetable kingdom, according to the natural system. They are remarkable by increasing chiefly in length, by additions to their end; and not by addition to the outside, as in Exogens; nor to the inside, as in Endogens. They are also termed As.e.x'UAL and FLOWERLESS PLANTS, and answer to the CRYPTOGAMIA of the Linnean system. See ACROGENS, CELLULARES, THALLOGENS, &c.

=ACOUS'TICS= (-kow'-). The science of audition and sound; that branch of physics which treats of their cause, nature, and phenomena. The doctrine of the production and transmission of sound is termed DIACOUS'TICS; that of reflected sound CATACOUS'TICS.

=Acoustics.= In _medicine_, remedies employed to relieve deafness. See DEAFNESS and DROPS, ACOUSTIC.

=ACQUETTA.= [IT., _Little Water._] _Syn._ AQUA TOFFANA; A. TOFFANIA; ACQUETTA DI NAPOLI DELLA TOFFANA, IT. A celebrated poison, prepared by an Italian woman named Toffano, or Tophana, and in great request in Rome about the middle of the 17th century. The composition of this poison has been a matter of frequent controversy. Pope Alexander VII, in his proclamation, described it as "aquafortis distilled into a.r.s.enic." This would produce a concentrated solution of a.r.s.enic acid. The Emperor Charles VI, who was governor of Naples during Toffano's trial, declared to his physician, Garelli, that it was a.r.s.enic (a.r.s.enious acid) dissolved in _aqua cymbalaria_. According to Gerarde this cymbalaria was an aquatic species of pennywort, highly poisonous. The only objection to the latter statement is the smallness of the dose, regard being had to the comparative insolubility of a.r.s.enious acid; but if the woman Toffano prepared two poisons, as is probable from history--one, a single dose of which was fatal, and another, of which the dose required repet.i.tion, and which was more gradual in its activity--the discrepancy will be at once removed.

=AC'RID.= _Syn._ AC'ER, AC'RIS, L.; ACRE (acre), Fr.; BEISSEND, SCHARF, Ger. In _chemistry_ and _medicine_, sharp, pungent, acrimonious. Acrid substances are such as excite a sensation of pungency and heat when tasted, and which irritate and inflame the skin; as mustard, turpentine, cantharides, &c.

=ACRIDITY.= _Syn._ ACRETe, Fr.; ACRITUDO, L. The quality of being acrid.

=AC'RIMONY.= _Syn._ ACRIMO'NIA, L.; ACRIMONIe, ACRETe, Fr.; SCHARFE, Ger.

In _medicine_ and _chemistry_, the quality or property of inflaming, irritating, corroding, dissolving, or destroying other bodies.

=ACROGENS.= _Syn._ ACROGENae, L.; ACROGeNES, Fr. In _botany_, acotyledonous or cryptogamic plants, in which stems and leaves, or an organisation approaching leaves, are distinguishable; which have stomates or breathing spores on their surface, are propagated by spores, and increase by the growth of the stem at the point only. Ferns and club-mosses are examples of this cla.s.s of plants.

=ACROLEIN.= _Syn._ ACRYLIC ALCOHOL. This substance occurs amongst the products of decomposition when glycerine or any of its compounds is subjected to ordinary distillation. It derives its name from its violently irritant effect upon the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory organs. It is best prepared by the process of Redtenbacher (see 'Leibig's Ann.,' xlvii, 114), by distilling in a capacious retort, a mixture of glycerine with phosphoric anhydride, or with hydric-pota.s.sic sulphate (the acid sulphate or bisulphate of potash); the vapours must be condensed in a properly cooled receiver, which is luted on to the retort and provided with a tube opening into a chimney having a good draught. The distilled liquid separates into two layers, the upper one consisting of acrolein, and the lower one of an aqueous solution of the same substance mixed with a quant.i.ty of acrylic acid. This distillate, after digestion with finely powdered litharge, with the object of neutralising the acid, must be rectified by the heat of a water bath: the acrolein so obtained must be submitted to a second rectification from calcic chloride. All these operations must be conducted in vessels filled with carbonic anhydride (carbonic acid) because acrolein becomes rapidly oxidized when exposed to the air.

Acrolein is a clear colourless liquid, lighter than water, boiling at about 125 F. It has great refracting power and a burning taste; when pure it is neutral to test paper.

=AC'ROSPIRE= (-spire). _Syn._ ACROSPI'RA, L.; PLUMULE, Fr.; BLATTKEIM, Ger. The shoot or sprout of a seed, when it begins to grow; the part of a germinating seed termed the plume, or plumula.

When the growth of a seed begins to be developed, the germ, from which the stem originates, shoots forth under the form of a delicate curved fibre, which, gradually bursting its covering, makes its appearance at the end of the seed. The fibrils of the radicle first sprout forth from the tip of the grain; a white elevation appears, that soon divides into three or more radicles, which rapidly grow larger, and are succeeded by the plumula, which peeps forth at the same point, in the form of a pale green leaflet, which, twisting thence beneath the husk to the other end of the seed, ultimately bursts its prison-house, and becomes a perfect leaf. See GERMINATION and MALTING.

=ACTINIC RAYS.= See ACTINISM.

=ACTINISM.= _Syn._ ACTINIC RAYS; CHEMICAL RAYS. A term given to a supposed principle accompanying the heat and light of the sunbeam. Actinic rays chiefly exist beyond the violet extremity of the solar spectrum, and are characterised by the power of exciting chemical change, _e.g._, the decomposition of certain silver salts (in photography); the combination of a mixture of chlorine and hydrogen, &c. The so-called vital functions of animals and plants are also greatly influenced by the actinic or chemical rays.