Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 32

=Almonds, Bitt'er.= _Syn._ AMYG'DALae AMA"Rae, L.; AMYGDALA AMARA, Ph. E.; AMANDES AMeRES, Fr.; BITTERE MANDELN, Ger. A variety imported from Mogadore, chiefly characterised by possessing the bitter flavour, and when rubbed with water, the odour of peach-kernels. They are also smaller and thicker than the sweet almond.

_Uses, &c._ Bitter almonds are used to relieve the flavour of sweet almonds, to clear muddy water, and to flavour confectionery, liqueurs, &c.

By pressure, they yield their bland oil (OIL OF ALMONDS; O'LEUM AMYG'DALae, L.); the resulting cake (BITTER-A. CAKE; PLACEN'TA A. AMARae, L.) is distilled for the volatile oil (ESSENTIAL OIL OF A.; O. A. A., L.), and is afterwards again pressed into cakes (A.-CAKE), and used to fatten pigs, and for other purposes. Bitter almonds are now seldom employed in medicines, although it is said that they have cured 'intermittents' when bark had failed (Bergius), and that their emulsion has been found useful in pulmonary and dyspeptic affections, hooping-cough, and asthma; and externally as a lotion in acne. (Thomson.) In large quant.i.ties they are poisonous, and even in the smallest quant.i.ties have been known to produce nettle-rash (_urticaria_) and other unpleasant symptoms. They have long been in repute as an antidote to intoxication. The ancient baccha.n.a.ls chewed them at their orgies, to lessen the effects of wine, and to enable them to take it in larger quant.i.ties with impunity.

=Almonds, Blanched'= (blancht'-). _Syn._ AMYG'DALae DECORTICA'Tae, L.

Almonds from which the husk or seed-coat has been removed. This is effected by soaking them for a short time in warm water, until the skin can be easily removed by pressure between the thumb and forefinger. They are then peeled, rinsed in cold water, drained, and dried. When intended for the table, the last is effected by wiping them with a soft towel; but when they are intended to be powdered, or kept, they are dried by a very gentle heat in a stove, or in the sun.

=Almonds, Burnt'.= _Syn._ ROASTED ALMONDS; ALMOND COFFEE. Used to colour and flavour liqueurs and confectionery; and formerly, as a subst.i.tute for coffee.

=Almonds, Guia'na.= (g_h_e-a_h_'-na; _g_ hard). Brazil-nuts.

=Al'monds, In'dian.= The fruit of _terminalia catappa_ (Linn.). They are oleaginous, and nutritious; and are used as a subst.i.tute for almonds.

=Almonds, Ja'va= (ja_h_'-). The nuts or kernels of _canarium commune_ (Linn.). They are eaten, made into bread, and pressed for their oil.

=Almonds, Sweet'.= _Syn._ ALMONDS; AMYG'DALae, L.; A. DULCES, Ph. D.; AMYGDALA, A. JORDAN'ICA, Ph. L.; A. DULCIS, Ph. E., & Ph. L. 1836; AMANDES, AMANDES DOUCES, Fr.; SuSSE MANDELN, Ger. These are the well-known dessert or table fruit of the name, and are the kind always referred to when 'almonds' (simply) are spoken of or ordered.

_Comm. var._--1. JOR'DAN ALMONDS, which are the finest, and are imported from Malaga. Of these there are two kinds; the one, above an inch in length, flat, and with a clear brown cuticle, sweet, mucilaginous, and rather tough; the other, more plump, and pointed at one end, brittle, but equally sweet with the former.--2. VALEN'TIA A. (which come next in quality) are about 3/8ths of an inch broad, not quite an inch long, round at one end, and obtusely pointed at the other, flat, of a dingy brown colour, with a dusty cuticle.--3. BAR'BARY and ITAL'IAN A., which resemble the latter, but are generally smaller and less flattened.--4. A variety, of medium quality, imported in baskets from Spain.

_Uses, &c._ Sweet almonds are nutritive, emollient, and demulcent; but frequently disagree with weak stomachs. The husk is apt to occasion indigestion and nausea. Owing to a peculiar idiosyncrasy of some habits, dyspepsia, diarrha, dematous swelling of the face, and urticaria (_nettle-rash_), sometimes, though seldom, follow the use of unblanched almonds. Blanched almonds do not produce these inconveniences, and, therefore, should be preferred for the table. In _medicine_, almonds are employed chiefly under the form of emulsion, confection, &c., and to suspend oily substances in water. Their uses for dietetical purposes are well known. Preparations of them are also employed as cosmetics. The cake left after expressing the oil (ALMOND-CAKE) is used for was.h.i.+ng the skin, which it is said to render beautifully soft and clear. See ALMOND PASTE, &c.

=AL'NIGHT= (awl'-). A cake of wax with a wick in the midst. The forerunner of, and a rude form of the modern dumpy night-lights called MORTARS.

=AL'OE= (al'-o). _Syn._ AL'Oe (-o-e), L., Fr. (or ALOeS), Ger., Ital., Sp., Belg., Dan., Dut., Swed. The aloe-tree. In _botany_, a genus of plants of the nat. ord. Liliaceae (DC). The species, of which there are several, are succulent plants or small trees with endogenous stems, and stiff, fleshy, hard, pointed leaves, abounding in a purgative principle (ALOES), which is obtained from them by either evaporating the expressed juice or the decoction. They are all natives of warm climates, and most of them are indigenous to southern Africa.

_Hist._ [Hebrew: a-enx], _aehleem_ (aloe-trees), were known to the sacred historians; and both the plant and the insp.i.s.sated juice are described by Dioscorides[28] and Pliny.[29]

[Footnote 28: Lib. iii, c. xxv.]

[Footnote 29: 'Hist. Nat.,' lib. xxvii, c. v.]

_Uses, &c._ In Africa, the leaves of the Guinea aloe are made into ropes, fis.h.i.+ng-lines, bow-strings, stockings, hammocks, &c. The leaves of another species are used to catch and hold rain-water. The expressed juice and decoction are also used by the natives as a distaff. (Vide _infra_.) Comparative trials, made in Paris, of the strength of cordage and cables formed of hemp, and of the aloe from Algiers, are said to have shown the great superiority of the latter. Fabroni obtained a fine violet colour from the recent juice of the aloe, which has been proposed as a dye for silk.[30]

[Footnote 30: 'Annales de Chimie,' xxv, 305.]

=American Aloe.= The _agave Americana_ (Linn.) is a plant unconnected with the preceding, and belonging to the nat. ord. Bromeliaceae. It is found in all parts of tropical America, and is largely cultivated on the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean; and less frequently, as an exotic plant in this country. It grows to the height of about 20 feet, and takes many years to produce its gigantic and magnificent pyramid of flowers; shortly after which it perishes, exhausted, as it were, by its efforts in bestowing its rare beauty on the floral world. The vulgar belief is that it blossoms only once in a century; but, as stated by the late Mr Loudon, it flowers sooner or later according to the culture bestowed on it. Its sap yields a kind of honey (AGAVE HONEY), and by fermentation an intoxicating liquor (PULQUE); desiccated juice, mixed with wood ashes, is used as soap, and lathers either with sea or fresh water; leaf-fibre, used as hemp to make thread and twine.

=AL'OE-RESIN.= _Syn._ RESI'NA AL'OeS, L. The resinous matter deposited by a decoction of aloes as it cools.

_Prep._ (Ph. L. 1746.) Boil aloes, 1 part, in water, 8 parts, and allow the decoction, strained whilst hot, to repose until the next day; then wash the deposited RESIN, and dry it by a gentle heat. It is probably a mixture of aloine and oxidised extractive.

=AL'OES= (-oze). _Syn._ BITT'ER ALOES; AL'Oe (-o-e), L.; ALOeS, SUC D'ALOeS, Fr.; ALOE, GLAUSINDE ALOE, Ger.[31] The insp.i.s.sated juice or extract of several species of aloe.

[Footnote 31: Also see ALOE, (above).]

_Comp., Prep., &c._ Aloes is a complex resinous substance containing a body called aloin, which is its active or purgative principle. It is completely soluble in boiling water, and in alcohol or rectified spirit.

The decoction deposits an impure resin or resinoid on cooling.

_Phys. eff., Uses, &c._ Aloes is a warm stimulating purgative, in doses of 3 to 10 gr.; whilst even 1 or 2 gr. seldom fail to produce one motion without pain or inconvenience. It is considered highly serviceable in hypochondriacal, hysterical, and dyspeptic affections, particularly in phlegmatic habits, and in cases arising from deficiency of bile. As an emmenagogue, and a vermifuge, few medicines are more valuable. It acts on the large intestines, and princ.i.p.ally on the r.e.c.t.u.m; and, therefore, should be administered with caution, or only in small doses, where there is a tendency to prolapsus or piles, and in cases where uterine stimulants (as in pregnancy, &c.) would be improper. "It is remarkable with regard to it, that it operates almost to as good a purpose in a small as in a large dose; and one or two grains will produce one considerable dejection, and twenty grains will do no more, except it be that in the last dose (case) the operation will be attended with griping, &c. It is one of the best cures for habitual costiveness." (Cullen.) Many of the effects complained of arise from its slow solubility in the primae viae, and may be obviated by administering it in a liquid form, or in a solid form combined with soap, which renders it freely soluble in the juices of the stomach.

Aloes is more frequently taken than, perhaps, any known purgative. It enters into the composition of a majority of the aperient medicines prescribed by the faculty, and forms the princ.i.p.al ingredient of nearly all the advertised purgative, antibilious, and universal pills of the nostrum-mongers. The fact of aloetic pills not acting until about 8 to 10 hours after being swallowed--so that if taken on retiring to rest at night they do not generally disturb the patient before the usual time of rising in the morning--has contributed more than anything else to make such remedies popular with parties whose habits or business avocations would be otherwise interfered with.

Aloes is also extensively used in veterinary practice. It is the most valuable and reliable purgative for the horse of the whole materia medica; but is less to be depended on for cattle, sheep, and hogs. Barbadoes aloes is the best for this purpose. Cape aloes are, however, often employed, when 1-4th more must be given.--_Dose_ (of the former), for a HORSE, 4 to 8 dr.;[32]--CATTLE, 3 to 6 dr. (followed by a purging drench);--HOGS, 5 to 15 gr.;--SHEEP, 15 to 30 gr.;[33]--DOGS (small ones), 10 to 30 gr., (middle-sized) 20 to 44, or even 60 gr., (large) 3/4 to 1 dr., or even 2 dr.

[Footnote 32: Aloes takes from 18 to 30, or even 36 hours, to operate on a horse.]

[Footnote 33: Aloes, however large the dose, often fails to purge sheep.

In very large quant.i.ties it is poisonous to them.]

Aloes is also used in dyeing; and as a colouring matter in stains, lacquers, and varnishes. Aloes, and several of its preparations, are likewise extensively employed to adulterate porter.

_Var._ These, arranged in the order of their reputed medicinal value, are--Socotrine, Hepatic, Barbadoes, Cape, &c.; and alphabetically, as given below:--

=Aloes, Barba'does.= _Syn._ ALOES IN GOURDS; AL'Oe BARBADEN'SIS, L., Ph.

L. & E. Imported from Barbadoes and Jamaica, usually in gourds; sometimes in boxes. The best is the insp.i.s.sated juice of the cut leaf of _aloe vulga"ris_; an inferior quality is prepared from the decoction.--_Char., &c._ Opaque, l.u.s.treless, of a liver colour, a little tending to black, with a bitter nauseous taste, and a very disagreeable odour, especially when breathed on; powder a dull olive-yellow. It is the 'hepatic' aloes of most continental writers, and said to be the ???? of Dioscorides. It is more active than the other varieties of aloes; but is also more apt to occasion haemorrhoids, and to gripe, than any of them.

=Aloes, Cab'alline= (-line.) _Syn._ FT'ID ALOES, HORSE A.; ALOe CABALLI'NA, A. GUINIEN'SIS, L.; ALOeS CABALLIN, Fr. From _aloe In'dica_ (O'Shaughnessy); or from _aloe spica'ta_ by long and careful boiling.

(Lindley.) Used only by farriers. Scarcely known in English commerce.

=Aloes, Cape.= _Syn._ ALOe CAPEN'SIS, A. LU'CIDA (_Geiger_), L. Imported from the Cape of Good Hope, and obtained from _aloe spica'ta_, and other Cape species. Odour stronger and even more disagreeable than that of Barbadoes aloes; colour deep greenish-brown; appearance s.h.i.+ning and resinous; fracture generally gla.s.sy; powder a lively greenish-yellow; almost completely soluble in boiling water, decoction paler than that of other kinds. It is weaker than Barbadoes or even hepatic aloes, and is more apt to gripe, &c., than the latter. A finer kind, known as '_Bethelsdorp aloes_,' imported from Algoa Bay, is more of a liver colour, and softer than the preceding, and hence often called CAPE HEPATIC-ALOES.

=Aloes, Hepat'ic.= _Syn._ BOMBAY' ALOES*, EAST-INDIA A.*, LIVER-COLOURED SOCOTRINE A.*; ALOe HEPAT'ICA, Ph. L. & D.; A. IN'DICA, Ph. E. Imported from Bombay and Madras. It is usually said to be obtained from "uncertain species of aloes;" but it is almost certain that it is "the juice of the Socotrine aloes plant which has been solidified without the aid of artificial heat."[34]--_Char., &c._ "Opaque, of a liver colour, bitter taste, and an unpleasant odour." (Ph. L.) It is less odorous, darker coloured, and more opaque than Socotrine aloes; its powder has also a duller colour, and weak spirit leaves much undissolved matter. Its decoction on cooling frequently deposits a yellow powder. The finer and brighter varieties of hepatic aloes are commonly sold for 'Socotrines,'

and their medicinal virtues are nearly similar. (See _below._)

[Footnote 34: Pereira, 'Elem. Mat. Med. and Therap.,' vol. ii, 188, 4th Ed.; 'Pharm. Journ.,' vol. xi.]

=Aloes, In'dian= (various);--1. Deep brown or black, very opaque, and less soluble than ordinary aloes. Scarcely known in commerce.--2. Several varieties ranging in character from 'Cape aloes' to 'hepatics,' and occasionally to 'Barbadoes,' obtained from several species.

=Aloes, Mo'cha= (-kah). _Syn._ ALOe DE MOCHa, L. Imported from Muscat. An inferior kind of Indian aloes. (Christison.) It is obtained from the same plant as produces genuine hepatic aloes. (Lindley.) It holds an intermediate position between 'Cape' and 'hepatics,' but contains much impurity; the latter often amounting to upwards of 25%. Some specimens are, however, of excellent quality. When melted and 'doctored,' it is sold for Barbadoes, hepatic, and even Socotrine aloes.

=Aloes, Soc'otrine= (-trin; suk'-). _Syn._ SOC'OTORINE ALOES, SMYR'NA A., TUR'KEY A.; ALOe SOCOTRI'NA, Ph. L.; ALOe, Ph. L. 1836; A. SOCOTRI'NA, Ph.

E. "The juice of the cut leaf of uncertain species hardened by the air."

(Ph. L.) Genuine Socotrine aloes is generally supposed to be obtained from _aloe spica'ta_; but is referred by De Candolle to a distinct species, A.

SOCOTRI'NA; and by Martius, also to _a. purpuras'cens_. Formerly this variety was brought from the Island of Socotra or Zocotora (hence the name), by way of Smyrna and Malta; but it is now chiefly obtained from Bombay and Madras.--_Char., &c._ Colour garnet red to golden red; smell peculiar and aromatic, not unlike a decaying russet apple, especially when fresh-broken, or breathed on, or warmed; taste permanently and intensely bitter; fracture conchoidal; softens in the hand, and becomes adhesive, yet retains considerable brittleness; powder bright golden-yellow colour; central portions of the lumps often soft, especially when first imported.

"It is brittle, bitter, of a reddish-brown colour, and an aromatic odour.

Light permeates thin recently broken laminae." (Ph. L.) "In thin pieces, translucent and garnet red; almost entirely soluble in spirit of the strength of sherry. Very rare." (Ph. E.)

Socotrine aloes are always preferred for medicinal purposes, and are the only variety used in perfumery, varnishes, and other nice purposes in the arts.

=Aloes, Strained.= _Syn._ MELTED ALOES; ALOe COLA'TA, L. _Proc._ 1. The aloes are melted in a copper pan, by the heat of steam or a water bath, and are then pressed through a strong hair or wire sieve, and allowed to cool.

2. As above, but with the addition of about twice its weight of water; the decoction being strained and evaporated.

_Obs._ Mocha, Indian, and other common aloes, treated in this way and coloured, are frequently sold for melted or strained 'Socotrines' and 'hepatics.' The colouring matter usually employed is the precipitated carbonate of iron (sesquioxide), or Venetian red, in very fine powder, with, sometimes, a little annatto. This fraud is not readily detected by mere inspection, by those unaccustomed to these matters; and hence the impunity with which it is perpetrated.

The object in melting aloes is to deprive it of the foreign matters, as sand, leaves, pieces of wood, &c., which the commoner kinds generally contain in large quant.i.ties. The action of the heat drives off much of their nauseous smell, at the same time that it deepens their colour, and renders their appearance more translucent and resinous, to the disguise of their original nature. The operation, on the large scale, is usually carried on at night, in consequence of the horribly nauseous fumes evolved, which may be smelt at a great distance, and contaminate the clothes of those engaged in it for a long time afterwards.

=AL'OES HEMP.= A plant growing in Peru, the East and West Indies, and Mexico (_A. Americana_, _A. vivapara_, _A. ftida, &c._), where the leaf is cultivated for its fibre, which is generally of a yellowish-white colour, and used for rope-making.