Part 119

=COPTIS TEETA.= (Ind. Ph.) _Syn._ COPTIS, or MISHMI TITA. _Hab._ Mishmel mountains, east of Assam. _Officinal part._ The dried root (_Coptidis Radix_), imported into Bengal from Assam in small rattan baskets, each containing from 1 to 2 ounces of the drug. This consists of pieces of a woody rhizome, of the thickness of a small goose-quill and from 1 to 2 inches in length, often contracted at one extremity into a short woody stem; the surface is usually rough, irregular, more or less annulated, and marked with the remains of rootlets in the shape of short spiny point. Externally, yellowish-brown; internally, much brighter, frequently of a golden-yellow colour, exhibiting on fracture a radiated structure. Taste, persistently bitter, and when chewed tinges the saliva yellow. Contains neither tannic nor gallic acid, but abounds with a yellow, bitter principle, soluble in water and alcohol.--_Prop._ Pure bitter tonic.--_Therapeutic uses._ In debility, convalescence after fevers, and other debilitating diseases, atonic dyspepsia, and in mild forms of intermittent fevers.--_Dose_, 10 to 15 gr. of the powdered root, thrice daily.

=Tincture of Coptis= (_Tinctura Coptidis_). Take of coptis root, in coarse powder, 2-1/2 oz.; proof spirits, 2 pints. Macerate for 7 days in a closed vessel, with occasional agitation; strain, press, filter, and add sufficient proof spirit to make 1 pint.--_Dose_. 1/2 to 2 fl. oz.

=Infusion of Coptis= (_Infusum Coptidis_). Take of coptis root, in coarse powder, 5 dr.; boiling water, 1 pint. Infuse in a covered vessel for 2 hours, and strain.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 fl. oz., thrice daily.

=COR'AL.= _Syn._ CORAL'LIUM, L. The comprehensive term for all calcareous or stony structures secreted by the marine asteroid polypes, or zoophytes. The RED CORAL of commerce, which is so largely employed for beads, earrings, and other ornaments, may be described as the internal skeleton of _Corallium rubrum_.

=Coral, Red= (=Facti''tious=). _Syn._ CORAL'LIUM RU'BRUM FACTI''TIUM, L. Prepared chalk, coloured with a little sesquioxide of iron or rose pink, and passed through a sieve. Sold by the druggists for powdered coral.

=Coral, Prepared' Red.= _Syn._ CORAL'LIUM RU'BRUM PREPARA'TUM. Levigated coral was formerly used in medicine as an antacid or absorbent, and is still occasionally employed as a dentifrice. It consists almost entirely of carbonate of lime, coloured with red oxide of iron, and possesses no advantage over good chalk. It is prepared in a similar manner as chalk.

=CORAL, to Bleach.= Immerse the coral in a mixture composed of one part of hydrochloric acid, and thirty parts of water; and keep it in this liquid until it becomes quite white. It should then be taken out, washed well in cold water, and allowed to dry.

=COPPER, CYANIDE= (CuCy_{2}). This salt is much used in electro-coppering. It may be obtained by adding to a solution of a copper salt, a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium; when a precipitate is obtained, which dried, is of a brown colour, and is cyanide of copper.

=CORALLINE.= See TAR COLOURS.

=CORD'IALS.= _Syn._ CARDI'ACA, L. Warm, stimulating, restorative medicines, that tend to raise the spirits and promote the circulation. The principal cordial medicines are noticed under the heads TINCTURE and SYRUP. See also PATENT MEDICINES.

=Cordials.= Aromatised and sweetened spirits used as beverages. See LIQUEUR.

=CORIAN'DER.= _Syn._ (CORIANDER FRUIT, CORIANDRI FRUCTUS, (B. P.); CORIANDERS, C. SEED; CORIANDRUM (Ph. L. E. & D.), L. "The ripe fruit of the _Coriandrum sativum_, dried." (B. P.) Coriander is chiefly used by confectioners and distillers as a flavouring ingredient. In the East it is much employed as a condiment, being an ingredient in CURRY POWDER. It is aromatic, carminative, and stimulant; and more effectually covers the taste of senna than any other substance.--_Dose_, 20 to 60 gr.; chiefly used as a corrective or adjuvant in compound medicines.

=CORK.= The outer bark of the _Quercus Suber_ or _cork oak_, a tree common in southern France, Italy, and Spain. The bark obtained from the younger branches of the same tree is employed for tanning. See ALCORNOCO.

=Cork.= A stopple or plug for a bottle or jar cut from the above substance. The common practice of employing inferior corks for the purpose of stopping the mouths of bottles is often productive of considerable loss, from the air being only partially excluded, and the contents suffering in consequence. Many a large bin of valuable wine has become, from this cause, in less than a year, little better than sour 'Cape.' Chemical preparations often suffer from a similar cause. The best corks are those called 'velvet corks,' and of these the finest qualities are imported from France. No pains should be spared to obtain sound and soft cork for connecting the combustion- and drying-tubes used in organic analysis.

Ruschhaupt gives the following process for preparing corks for corking bottles containing alcoholic or caustic liquids:--Paraffin is fused in a suitable vessel, the dry corks are added, and immersed in the paraffin by means of a perforated coon or disk. The air is now easily expelled from the pores of the corks, which after about five minutes, are removed and cooled; they may now be cut and bored like wax, are easily driven into the necks of bottles, and readily removed, retain their smoothness and are gas-tight throughout.

Several attempts have been made to introduce cork-cutting by machinery, but they have hitherto failed to supersede hand labour.

=Cork-bo''rer.= A thin brass tube, filed to a cutting edge, used for piercing holes through corks. Several tubes of different sizes, which fit into each other, are generally sold together. This simple and convenient instrument was introduced into the laboratory by Dr Mohr.

=CORN.= _Syn._ CLA'VUS, L. A horny induration of the skin, with a central nucleus, very sensitive at the base. The common cause of corns is continued pressure over the projection of the bones, from tight or stiff boots or shoes. They are of two kinds, hard and soft. The first grow on the exposed portions of the joints; the last, between the toes.

_Preven._ This consists in keeping the feet clean, by frequent ablution with warm water, and in the use of easy, soft boots and shoes. Without the latter precaution, corns will generally return, even after they appear to have been perfectly removed.

_Treatment._ After soaking the feet in warm water for a few minutes, pare the corns as close as possible with a sharp knife, taking care not to make them bleed. They may now be touched over with a little lunar caustic, or nitric acid, or a little concentrated acetic acid or aromatic vinegar. The last two do not stain the skin. The first is used by merely rubbing it on the corns, previously slightly moistened with water; the others, by moistening the corns with them, by means of a small strip of wood, or, preferably, a rod of glass; due care being taken not to allow the liquid to touch the neighbouring parts. This treatment, adopted every 3 or 4 days for 10 days or a fortnight, accompanied by the use of soft, loose shoes, will generally effect a cure. It has been recommended to remove large corns by ligatures of silk, applied as close to their base as possible, and tightened daily until they drop off; but this plan is tedious, and often inconvenient, and is not always successful. Another mode of extirpation is, the application of a small blister, which will frequently raise them with the skin out of their beds. In this case the exposed surface must be dressed with a little simple ointment. Soft corns may be removed by applying ivy leaf, previously soaked in strong vinegar changing the piece every morning; or by placing a dressing of soap cerate, spread on a bit of lint or old rag, between the toes. One of the simplest and best remedies for hard corns, and which has received the sanction of high medical authority, is to wear upon the toe or part affected a small, circular piece of soft leather, or, still better, a piece of amadou, spread with diachylon, or some other emollient plaster, and having a hole cut in the centre, corresponding to the size of the corn. (Sir B. Brodie.) By this means the pressure of the boot or shoe is equalised and the apex of the corn protected from injury. The following are among the most useful of the POPULAR REMEDIES FOR CORNS:--

=Corns, Caus'tic for.= _Prep._ From tincture of iodine and chloride of antimony, of each, 1 dr.; iodide of iron, 3 grs.; mix. It is applied with a camel-hair brush, after paring the corn. 2 to 4 applications are said to effect a cure.

_Obs._ Most of the remedies noticed below really act as caustics.

=Corns, Lo'tion for.= _Prep._ 1. A solution of sal-ammoniac, 1 part; in proof spirit, 4 parts.

2. A concentrated aqueous solution of sulphate of copper. To be applied night and morning.

=Corn Plasters.= _Prep._ 1. From white diachylon, 3 parts; yellow resin, 2 parts; verdigris, 1 part; melted together, and spread on leather.

2. From galbanum plaster, 1 oz.; verdigris, 1 dr.; as the last.

3. From resin plaster, 2 oz.; black pitch, 1 oz.; verdigris and sal-ammoniac, of each 1/2 dr.

4. To the last add powdered opium, 1 dr. Recommended to allay pain, &c.

5. (W. Cooley.) A piece of spread adhesive plaster is placed upon a table, and a piece of card paper having a round hole cut in it the size of the central portion of the corn is laid upon it; the exposed part is then softened by holding a piece of heated iron for a second or two near it; the card paper is then instantly removed, and nitrate of silver, in fine powder is sprinkled over the part which has been warmed. As soon as the whole is cold, the loose powder is shaken off, and the plaster is ready for use. Very cleanly and convenient. Two or three applications seldom fail to effect a cure.

6. (MECHANICAL CORN PLASTERS.) From common adhesive plaster spread on buckskin, amadou, or vulcanised india rubber, cut into pieces, and a circular hole corresponding to the size of the corn punched in each.

=Corn Sol'vent.= _Prep._ 1. Carbonate of potassa or pearlash, contained in an open jar or bottle, set in a damp place, until it deliquesces into an oil-like liquid (oil of tartar). Applied by means of a feather, or a small piece of rag dipped in it is bound on the corn.

2. Hydrate of potassa, 1 dr.; rectified spirit 1 oz.; dissolve. As No. 1.

3. Carbonate of potassa, with smalts, ochre, or bole, q. s. to give it the required colour. It must be kept dry, in a well-corked bottle. A pinch is placed on the corn, and confined by means of adhesive plaster or rag.

4. Carbonate of soda, 1 oz., finely powdered and mixed with lard, 1/2 oz. Applied on linen rag every night.

5. (Sir H. Davy's.) Carbonate of potassa, 2 parts; salt of sorrel, 1 part; each in fine powder; mix, and place a small quantity on the corn for four or five successive nights, binding it on with a rag.

_Obs._ Care must be taken, in all cases, to pare the corn moderately close before applying the remedy; but in _no case should any of the above be applied to a raw surface_.

=Corns, Pomade' for.= _Prep._ 1. Powdered verdigris, 1 dr.; savine ointment, 7 dr.

2. Dried carbonate of soda, 3 dr.; lard, 5 dr.; verdigris or smalts, q. s. to give a slight tinge of green or blue. Applied on a piece of rag.

_Treatment for Horses._--"Pare out carefully the seat of corn, removing all reddened and diseased horn; reduce the crust of the quarter slightly, where it is unduly strong, but leave the bars and frog untouched. They must be religiously preserved, especially in weak feet, to afford a wide bearing for the bar shoe that should afterwards be used. To soften the parts, apply, in bad cases, a poultice for a day or two, and a few drops of nitric acid, when the horn is dry and scurfy; keep the hoof soft with soft soap and lard, or any emollient dressing, and pare out the corn every fortnight. In horses subject to corns, shoe and pare out frequently; and along with leather pads, use a bar shoe made with a wide heel on the inside quarter, and nailed only on the outside, or with one nail toward the inside toe."[250]

[Footnote 250: Finlay Dun.]

=CORRO'SIVE SUBLIMATE.= See MERCURY.

=CORUN'DUM.= See EMERY.

=CORYZA.= Cold in the head. See CATARRH.

=COSMET'ICS.= _Syn._ COSMET'ICA, L.; COSMETIQUES, Fr. External applications employed for the purpose of preserving or restoring personal beauty. The term is generally understood to refer to substances applied to the cuticle, to improve the colour and clearness of the complexion; but some writers have included under this head every topical application used with the like intention. Hence cosmetics may be divided into--CUTANEOUS COSMETICS, or those applied to the skin; HAIR COSMETICS, or such as are employed to promote the growth and beauty of the hair; and TEETH COSMETICS, or such as are used to cleanse and beautify the teeth. See BALDNESS, COSMETIQUE, DENTIFRICES, DEPILATORY, HAIR-DYE, POMADE, TOOTH POWDER, &c.

=COSMETIC VINEGAR= (Acetum cosmeticum) is a mixture of tinct. benz., 60 parts; bals. Peruv., 10 parts; eau de Cologne and bals. vitæ Hoffm. ph. bor. [=a][=a] 150 parts; aceti puri, 300 parts; allowed to precipitate and filtered clear.

=COSMETICUM= (Dr Henry's):--For scalp diseases and an application for the hair. Spirit, 180 parts; oil of lemon, 3 parts; oil of bergamot, oil of rosemary, and oil of lavender, of each 1 part. (Hager.)

=Cosmeticum= (Siemerling) for skin affections, freckles, &c. Sweet almonds, 30 grammes; bitter almonds, 15 grammes; blanched and emulsified with 330 grammes of water; the emulsion strained and mixed with 25 grammes tinct. benzoin and 15 grammes lemon juice. (Wittstein.)

=COSMETIQUE.= [Fr.] Hard pomatum, formed into a cake or stick for the toilet. It is sometimes coloured black or brown, the pigments being added in the state of an impalpable powder.

1. (BLACK--COSMETIQUE NOIR.) From good lard, 5 parts; wax, 2 parts; (or, hard pomatum, 7 parts;) melt, stir in levigated ivory black, 2 parts; and pour it into moulds of tinfoil; which are afterwards to be placed in paper sheaths.

2. (BROWN--COSMETIQUE BRUN.) As the last, but using levigated umber for 'plain brown,' and levigated terra di Sienna for 'auburn' and 'chestnut.'

3. (WHITE, OR PLAIN--COSMETIQUE BLANC.) The same, without colouring matter.

_Obs._ They are generally scented with musk, ambergris, or cassia.

_Use._ The above are used to colour moustaches, eyebrows, whiskers, &c., as well as to keep the hair in its place. The labels on the packets before us have--"pour fixer et lisser les cheveux." The application must be renewed daily, as the cosmetique is gradually removed by friction, and perfectly so by soap-and-water.

=COSMOLINE.= _Syn._ COSMOLIN. Under the names of Cosmoline and Vaseline some fatty substances melting at 32° to 85° or even 95° C. have lately appeared in commerce. They are very variable mixtures of solid paraffin with paraffin oil, neutral oil, lubricating oil, &c., and are the residues left after the distillation of petroleum slightly purified by means of charcoal. (Miller.)

Cosmoline has been examined by Mr Naylor, who states his belief that it consists of a mixture of paraffins. Comparing Mr Naylor's results with those obtained by Mr Moss, in an analysis made of a body imported from America, and called "Vaseline," there seems little reason to doubt that if this latter and "Cosmoline" are not the same substance, they differ from each other only in a very minute degree, this difference not improbably being due to the varying temperature employed in producing them. Cosmoline was found to have the composition:--

Hydrocarbons (paraffins?) 98·59 Moisture 0·69 Ash 0·04 ------ 99·32

It melts at 40°C., and has a sp. gr. of 0·866 at 45°C. The composition of Vaseline is as follows:--

Hydrocarbons (paraffins?) 97·54 Moisture 0·50 Ash 0·05 ------ 98·09

It melts at 37° C., and has a sp. gr. of 0·840 at 55° C.

Both bodies are pale yellow in colour, translucent, slightly fluorescent, and semi-solid, and both are alike insoluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol, and freely so in ether, whilst they are unaffected by hydrochloric acid and solution of potash. The processes by which it is believed cosmoline and vaseline are obtained, consist in separating the various volatile hydrocarbons from crude petroleum by distillation, the residuum is then brought into contact with superheated steam, and finally purified by filtration through animal charcoal. Vaseline has been also named "petroleum jelly." Professor Otto, of New York, says that vaseline is very extensively used throughout the United States, as a substitute for lard in the preparation of ointments, a purpose for which the freedom from smell, the negative properties and unalterable qualities when exposed to the air, of both substances, seem highly to commend their superiority to lard for this purpose. They have also been employed very successfully for lubricating surgical instruments, and we believe are, when properly scented, used largely as the basis of hair pomades, whilst their suitability for the preparation of suppositories and pessaries has been urged.

This has been demonstrated by the much greater length of time during which certain ointments made by them remain fresh and undecomposed when compared with those in which lard was used.

The 'American Journal of Pharmacy' for March, 1877, gives the following formula as a substitute for cold cream, by E. J. Davidson:--Cosmoline, 24 oz.; white wax, spermaceti, of each 12 oz.; glycerin, 3 fl. oz.; oil of geranium, 1 fl. dr.

=COSMOS POMADE= (J. Pohlmann, Vienna), 1-1/2 parts white wax, 3 parts spermaceti, 2 parts castor oil, 8 parts almond oil, 2 parts glycerine, 9 parts extract of mignonette, 1/2 part eau de Cologne. (Hager.)

=COTARN'INE.= A crystallisable substance obtained from the mother-liquors of opianic acid. It is basic, very soluble, and bitter. Hydrochlorate of cotarnine is soluble and crystalline.

=COTO BARK.= A bark said to be imported from the interior of Bolivia, and thought by Dr Wittstein to belong to a lauraceous or a terebinthinaceous plant. In one specimen examined by Jobst was found a yellowish-white crystalline substance with the biting taste of the bark, which Jobst believes to be its active principle, and to which he gives the name _Cotoin_. Another sample, however, analysed by Jobst in conjunction with Hesse, failed to yield any cotoin, but gave instead a crystalline mass which consisted principally of three crystalline bodies, to which these chemists purpose applying the names _paracotoin_, _oxyleucotin_, and _leucotin_. Dr Gietel reports that he made trial of the bark therapeutically with some patients in the general hospital of Munich, and the results he obtained were such that he regards it as a specific against diarrh[oe]a in all its varieties. Sometimes he administered it in the form of powder, and at others in that of tincture, the latter being made in the proportions of one part of bark to ten of spirit. He gave of the powder 1/2 grain four to six times a day, and of the tincture 10 minims every two hours. Herr Burkhart, similarly making trial of the _cotoin_ and _paracotoin_ instead, was equally successful as far as regarded its anti-diarrh[oe]ic action, _paracotoin_, however, exercising a slighter effect than the _cotoin_. Herr Burkhart administered paracotoin either in powder 1/10th of a gram, with 1/6th of a gram of sugar every three hours, or 1/2 a gram rubbed up as an emulsion.

=COT'TON.= _Syn._ GOSSYPIUM, L. The cotton of which textile fabrics are made consists of hairs covering the seeds of certain plants belonging to the natural order _Malvaceæ_, or the Mallow family. Our commercial cotton appears to be derived from four distinct species, viz.--

=Gossypium arboreum.= The tree cotton, an Indian species. Unlike the other cotton plants, it has the dimensions of a small tree. The cotton-hairs are remarkably soft and silky, and are woven by the natives into very fine muslin, used for turbans by the privileged classes only.

=Gossypium Barbadense.= The 'Barbadoes' or 'Bourbon cotton plant.' This is the species which yields all our best cotton. In the small American islands which fringe the coast from Charlestown to Savannah, this plant has produced the celebrated 'sea-island cotton,' which is unrivalled for the length of its 'staple,' its strength, and silkiness.

=Gossypium herbaceum.= The common cotton plant of India. It produces the Surat cotton of commerce.

=Gossypium Peruvianum or acuminatum.= A species supposed to be indigenous to America. It furnishes the South American varieties of cotton, as Pernambuco, Peruvian, Maranham, and Brazilian.

_Identif._ See LINEN.

_Dyeing._ The fibres of cotton have nearly the same affinity for mordants and the colouring matter of dyed stuffs as linen, and may be treated in the same manner. See DYEING, LINEN, &c.

=Cotton Cake.= The cake remaining after the expression of the oil from the seeds of the cotton plant (_Gossypium_) is used as a cattle food. The decorticated is preferred to the undecorticated variety, as the latter is said to occasionally set up dangerous internal irritation amongst the animals partaking of it.

Composition of cotton-cake (decorticated).

Moisture 9·18 Oil 16·05 Albuminous compounds 41·25 Non-nitrogenous principles 16·45 Phosphates and insoluble earthy matters 8·15 Woody fibre 8·92 ----- 100·00

=COTTON, GUN-.= See PYROXYLIN.

=COUGH.= _Syn._ TUS'SIS, L. The sudden and violent expulsion of air from the lungs. It is generally symptomatic of other affections, but is sometimes idiopathic, or a primary disease. Many cases of cough depend upon the extension of catarrh to the trachea and bronchiæ, which thus become loaded with mucus or phlegm, which they endeavour to throw off by the convulsive effort called coughing. In some cases it is caused by a vitiation and inspissation of the secretions, arising from the imperfect action of the absorbents; this is the common cause of the dry cough of old people. Idiopathic cough is not considered dangerous in itself, or while running its regular course, but it is often productive of most serious consequences, by superinducing the inflammation of some organ, or laying the foundation of phthisis.

Cough is sometimes attended by copious expectoration, and at other times exists without any; it has hence been distinguished into moist or mucous cough, and dry cough.