boiled in water, when the steam carries over the camphor in vapor. The camphor is deposited around the straw (with which the head of a still is filled), in minute grains. The crude camphor is heated in a vessel from which the steam is allowed to escape at a small aperture and the camphor sublimes as a transparent cake. It is white, tough, solid; slightly lighter than water; sparingly soluble in this liquid, freely in alcohol, ether, acetic acid and the essential and fixed oils; fuses at 347°; boils at 399°. Very inflammable, burns with a smoky flame. The Borneo camphor is the product of Dryobalanops aromatica, a large tree of the order Dipteraceæ. It is found in natural cavities of the wood in crystalline masses. The composition of camphor is C10H16O. By treatment with various reagents it yields a number of interesting products.. Cymol C10H14. Camphoric acid C10H16O4, &c. Forms compounds with iodine and bromine, the most important of which is mono-bromated camphor, obtained by heating equal portions of bromine and camphor to 172°. One-half the bromine is given off as hydrobromic acid, the other forms the mono-bromated camphor-C1H1¿BгO. 15 CERA ALBA. { Oleum Camphora. Oil of Camphor. Yellowish or brown; limpid liquid; invariably containing camphor in solution, which crystallizes out on cooling. WAX. { A CERA FLAVA. 4 peculiar concrete substance, prepared by Apis mellifica. The vegetable world furnishes a number of wax-like bodies, almost every plant secreting a wax-like substance, especially in the seeds and fruit. The animal kingdom likewise furnishes several varieties-e. g., Chinese wax,-spermaceti; (these however are not true waxes, not containing melissic acid) the officinal is the typical bees-wax of which bees form their cells. It is the honeycomb of the hive bee. It is of a yellow color, agreeable odor, feels a little greasy but more sticky, and moulds readily under the warmth of the fingers; sp. gr. 960 to .965. Bleached by exposing thin sheets to the light, it yields the WHITE WAX, which is somewhat less fusible than the yellow (fuses at about 145° F.) A num ber of chemical processes are used for bleaching; among the number, bichromate of potash and sulphuric acid, nitric acid and chlorine, &c. It consists essentially of three substances, separable from each other by alcohol; myricine, insoluble in boiling alcohol (consisting chiefly of palmitate of melisiyl); cerotic acid, dissolved by boiling alcohol, crystallizes on cooling; ceroline, soluble in cold alcohol (the body to which the color, odor and tenacity is due). Adulterations, Suet, gives it a fatty feel and disagreeable taste; Resin, soluble in cold alcohol; Pea or Bean meal, insoluble in ol. turpentine, &c.; Paraffin makes it have a lower fusing point; also detected by heating with strong sulphuric acid, which destroys the wax, forming a black, jelly-like mass, while paraffin is left as a transparent mass on the surface. Pure wax congeals with a convex surface, but the presence of paraffine gives it a concave and translucent appearance. Chloroform should not dissolve over 25 per cent.; if it does, it is probably impure from Stearin or Stearic acid. White wax should melt below 150°, yellow, below 140°. EXTRACT-LIKE DRUGS. SWEET. EXTRACTUM GLYCYRRHIZÆ. G. glabra and G. echinata. Liquorice. Cylindrical rolls, very black, dry, brittle; breaks with a shining fracture; very sweet, peculiar taste. A bitter or empyreumatic taste is a sign of inferior quality. Some are entirely soluble in cold water, others leave a large residue undissolved. The residue (soluble in alkaline solutions) contains probably Pectin and some Glycyrrhizin. The latter principle is precipitated from a strong aqueous solution by acids. When washed with dilute alcohol and dried, it is an amorphous yellow powder; bitter, sweet taste, acid reaction. It is combined with ammonia in the root; the extract, when heated with potash evolves ammonia. Its solution in hot water, gelatinizes on standing. BITTER. A. vulgaris. Barbadoes Aloes. ALOE BARBADENSIS. A. Socotrina. ALOES.-Derived from several species of aloes furnishing a bitter juice (extracted from leaves), which when inspissated furnishes the drug. The difference in the several commercial varieties is due not only to the species employed but method of extraction. SOCOTRINE. From Isle of Socotra and neighboring districts. Also called, when opaque and liver-colored, Hepatic Aloes; imported in casks and tin-lined boxes; best quality of a dark, reddish-brown color, agreeable odor, comparable to myrrh or saffron, due to the presence of a small quantity of vol. oil; shining, resinous fracture; taste bitter, slightly aromatic. Very thin layers under the microscope reveal abundance of crystals. BARBADOES. From Barbadoes and West Indies. Deep chocolatebrown. A variety is often seen having a smoother, glassy fracture, but by keeping, it passes into the other variety, which has a clear, dull, waxy fracture; odor distinguishable from Socotrine, very slightly aromatic. Imported in gourds and boxes. CAPE. From Cape of Good-Hope. Brilliant, conchoidal fracture; bright, bottle-green mass, red by transmitted light. No crystals seen under microscope. Odor, sourish; taste, nauseous. NATAL. Imported from Natal. Grayish-brown and very opaque; contains a crystalline principle found in no other kind. In preparation, the leaves are cut obliquely into slices, and the juices are allowed to exude in the hot sunshine, then evaporated in iron pots. Great care is taken to prevent burning; not as much care in preparation of other varieties. The most interesting constituents are the Aloins, which are prepared in a general way, by dissolving out the amorphous substance, with about an equal quantity of alcohol, at 48° C. The crystals separated on a filter, washed with cold spirits. (They exist to about 16 to 25 per cent.) Barbaloin, crystallizes in tufts. Nitric acid produces a crimson color. Socaloin, acicular prisms. Nitric acid little effect. Nataloin, rectangular scales. A minute quantity added to a drop or two of sulphuric acid, then allowing the vapor of nitric acid to pass over the surface, it assumes a fine blue, which is permanent while cold. With Barbaloin, this color soon fades. With Socaloin, this reaction is not produced. PAULLINIA. P. sorbilis. Guarana. Prepared from the seeds of Paullinia sorbilis--a climbing shrub of Brazil. Nat. Ord. Sapindaceae. The seeds are dried, powdered then moistened and made into a paste, this mixed with more of the seeds, either whole or bruised, is rolled into cylinders, which on drying form a hard, mottled, reddish-brown mass. P. Cupana growing on the banks of the Orinoco river is also said to yield it Contains a principle analogous to caffeina, which is crystalline. Its effects are generally very good in sick headache, but like all such neuralgaic remedies is very uncertain. Dose ranges from twenty grains to a drachm. Constituents not as yet well defined. CATECHU. ASTRINGENT. A. Green with Ferric Chloride. Acacia Catechu. Catechu. Catechu or cutch, an extract from the wood of two species of Acacia-A. Catechu which has a dark gray or brown bark, A. Suma, a white bark—the former abounds in tropical Eastern Africa, the latter in South India. Preparation. A decoction of the chips is evaporated to an extract, which is further dried in the sun. It is a dark brown, brittle substance, slightly granular, fracture somewhat shining; astringent taste, with a sweetish after-taste. Ether extracts catechin, which is the sparingly soluble (in cold water) portion of catechu. This principle differs from tannin in not precipitating gelatin, tartar emetic and the alkaloids. Converted by long boiling into catechu-tannic acid which latter exists in catechu ready formed but associated with catechin, from which it is very difficult to separate. When catechu is sublimed it yields the interesting principle found in other substances (areca-nut, kino, gambier, tar, &c.), called pyrocatechin. Dilute acids occasion a precipitate with infusion of catechu. The dark green precipitate of ferric chloride is turned purple by a mere trace of an alkali. GAMBIER. Uncaria Gambir. (Ord. Rubiacea). Gambir. The name of Cutch or Terra Japonica is often applied to this substance, and Gambier is sometimes used in the name of catechu. This is extracted from the leaves, tops and young shoots by decoction and evaporation. It is an earthy looking substance of a light brown hue; it also comes in pale brown, dark brown and blackish pieces. It is generally found in cubes (the best), but often in irregular pieces; friable, devoid of odor. Under the microscope both catechu and gambier display minute acicular crystals. |