Part 9
_Uses, &c._ In small doses aconite is narcotic, powerfully diaphoretic, 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 principal 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-l[=e]'-). _Syn._ ACOTYLE'DONES (d[)o]n-[=e]z; L., prim. Gr.), Jussieu; ACOTYLÉDONS, 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 ASEX'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 arsenic." This would produce a concentrated solution of arsenic acid. The Emperor Charles VI, who was governor of Naples during Toffano's trial, declared to his physician, Garelli, that it was arsenic (arsenious acid) dissolved in _aqua cymbalariá_. According to Gerarde this cymbalarià 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 arsenious 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 repetition, and which was more gradual in its activity--the discrepancy will be at once removed.
=AC'RID.= _Syn._ AC'ER, AC'RIS, L.; ACRE (âcre), 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._ ACRETÉ, Fr.; ACRITUDO, L. The quality of being acrid.
=AC'RIMONY.= _Syn._ ACRIMO'NIA, L.; ACRIMONIÉ, ACRETÉ, Fr.; SCHARFE, Ger. In _medicine_ and _chemistry_, the quality or property of inflaming, irritating, corroding, dissolving, or destroying other bodies.
=ACROGENS.= _Syn._ ACROGENÆ, L.; ACROGÈNES, 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 class 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-potassic 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 quantity 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.
=ACTINOGRAPH.= An instrument for registering the intensity of the chemical influence (_actinism_) of the sun's rays.
=ACT, TOWNS IMPROVEMENT CLAUSES, 1847= (10 & 11 Vict., c. 34), The following provisions of this Act are incorporated in the Public Health Act, 1875, and refer exclusively to urban districts:--
1. With respect to naming the streets and numbering the houses.
2. With respect to improving the line of the streets and removing the obstructions.
3. With respect to ruinous or dangerous buildings.
4. With respect to precautions during the construction and repair of sewers, streets, and houses.
5. With respect to the regulation of slaughter houses.
Notices for alterations under the 69th, 70th, and 71st sections, directions under the 73rd section, and orders under the 74th section of the said Towns Improvement Clauses Act, may, at the option of the urban authority, be served on owners instead of occupiers, or on owners as well as occupiers, and the cost of works done under any of these sections may, when notices have been so served on owners, be recovered from owners instead of occupiers; and when such cost is recovered from occupiers, so much thereof may be deducted from the rent of the premises where the work is done as is allowed in the case of private rates under the Act.
=AC'TUAL.= Real, effectual, absolute; as opposed to that which is merely virtual or potential. In _surgery_, a red-hot iron, or any other heated body, used as a cautery, is termed the ACTUAL CAUTERY; whilst a caustic or escharotic so employed is called the POTENTIAL CAUTERY.
=ACTUAL CAUTERY.= See ACTUAL.
=ACUTE'.= _Syn._ ACUT'US, L.; AIGU, Fr.; HEFTIG, HITZIG, SPITZIG, Ger. Sharp, pointed, sensitive. Applied to the senses, as acute hearing, eyesight, &c. In _pathology_, diseases exhibiting violent symptoms, and whose course is short, are said to be acute diseases.
=ADAPTER.= In _chemistry_, a tube placed between two vessels (commonly a retort and receiver) for the purpose of uniting them or increasing the distance between them, so as to facilitate the condensation of vapour in distillation. (See _figure._)
=ADDER'S TONGUE.= _Syn._ COMMON ADDER'S TONGUE; OPHIOGLOS'SUM VULGA'TUM, Linn. A perennial plant, of the natural order Filices (DC.), growing wild in England. It is found in our woods and pastures, and flowers in May and June. It was once used to form a celebrated traumatic or vulnerary ointment and is still highly esteemed among rustic herbalists.
=ADEPS.= _Syn._ LARD. See ADEPS PRÆPARATUS, FAT, and LARD.
=ADEPS BENZOATUS.= _Syn._ BENZOATED LARD.
=ADEPS PRÆPARATUS.= _Syn._ AXUNGE; PREPARED LARD.
=ADHE'SION= (-h[=e]-zhün). _Syn._ ADHÆ'SIO, L.; ADHESION, Fr.; ANHÄNGUNG, ARXLEBUNG, Ger. The act or state of sticking or being united.
=Adhesion.= In _physics_, the force with which bodies remain attached to each other when brought into contact; _e.g._, ink adheres to paper, paint adheres to wood, &c. It differs from 'cohesion' in representing the force with which different bodies cling together; whereas cohesion is the force which unites the particles of a homogeneous body with each other, _e.g._, particles of iron cohere and form a mass of iron; particles of water cohere and form a mass of water, &c.
=Adhesion.= In _pathology_, the morbid union, from inflammation, of parts normally contiguous but not adherent.
=Adhesion.= In _surgery_, the reunion of divided parts, by the adhesive inflammation; as when incised wounds heal by what is termed the 'first intention.'
=ADHE'SIVE.= _Syn._ ADHÆSI'VUS, L.; ADHÉSIF, Fr.; ADHÄSIVE, VERWACHSEND, Ger. In _pharmacy_, &c., having the quality or property of sticking or adhering. Hence adhe'siveness.
=AD'IPOCERE= (-s[=e]re). _Syn._ GRAVE-WAX[double-dagger]; ADIPOCE''RA, L.; ADIPOCIRE, Fr.; FETEWACHS, Ger. A substance resembling a mixture of fat and wax, resulting from the decomposition of the flesh of animals in moist situations, or under water. It is chiefly margarate of ammonium. Lavoisier proposed to produce this substance artificially, for the purposes of the arts. Attempts have since been made to convert the dead bodies of cattle (carrion) into adipocere, for the purposes of the candle-maker and the soap-boiler, but without success. Besides, dead animal matter can be worked up more profitably than in making artificial adipocere.
Hatchettine or rock-fat is sometimes called 'adipocere'; and bog-butter is a substance nearly similar to it.
=AD'JECTIVE.= _Syn._ ADJECTI'VUS, L.; ADJECTIF, Fr. In _dyeing_, depending on another, or on something else; applied to those colours which require a base or mordant to render them permanent. See DYEING.
=AD'JUVANT.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AD'JUVANS, L.; AIDANT, &c., Fr. Assistant; helping. (As a substantive--) In _prescriptions_, see PRESCRIBING (Art of).
=ADULTERATION.= Strictly speaking, this term ought only to be applied to the practice of adding substances to articles of commerce, food or drink, for the purposes of deception or gain, but a wider interpretation is frequently placed on the word than the definition given by magistrates and analysts, these latter often regarding accidental impurity, or even, in some instances, actual substitution as acts of adulteration.
The following definition of an adulterated substance has been adopted by the Society of Public Analysts--
A substance shall be deemed to be adulterated--
A. _In the ease of food or drink:_
1. If it contain any ingredient which may render such article injurious to the health of a consumer.
2. If it contain any substance that sensibly increases its weight, bulk, or strength, or gives it a fictitious value, unless the amount of such substance present be due to circumstances necessarily appertaining to its collection or manufacture, or be necessary for its preservation, or unless the presence thereof be acknowledged at the time of sale.
3. If any important constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted or omitted, unless acknowledgment of such abstraction or omission be made at the time of sale.
4. If it be an imitation of or sold under the name of another article.
B. _In the case of drugs:_
1. If when retailed for medical purposes under a name recognised in the 'British Pharmacop[oe]ia' it be not equal in strength and purity to the standard laid down in that work.
2. If when sold under a name not recognised in the 'British Pharmacop[oe]ia' it differs materially from the standard laid down in approved works on materia medica, or the professed standard under which it is sold.
_Limits._ The following shall be deemed limits for the respective articles referred to:
_Milk_ shall contain not less than 9·0 per cent., by weight, of milk solids, not fat, and not less than 2·5 per cent. of butter fat.
_Skim Milk_ shall contain not less than 9·0 per cent. by weight, of milk solids not butter fat.
_Butter_ shall contain not less than 80 per cent. of butter fat.
_Tea_ shall not contain more than 8·0 per cent. of mineral matter, calculated on the tea dried at 100° C., of which at least 3·0 per cent. shall be soluble in water, and the tea as sold shall yield at least 30 per cent. of extract.
_Cocoa_ shall contain at least 20 per cent. of cocoa fat.
_Vinegar_ shall contain not less than 3 per cent. of acetic acid.
The practice of fraudulent adulteration has been indulged in for centuries. In every civilised state there have been enactments against it. The Romans had their inspectors of meat and corn. In England an Act to prohibit adulteration was passed as early as 1267, and penalties against it were in force in 1581, 1604, 1836, 1851. In 1822, Accum published a work having the sensational title of 'Death in the Pot,' and in 1855 appeared Dr Hassall's book, 'Food and its Adulterations.' The information conveyed in these works, added to the revelations of the 'Lancet' Sanitary Commission, and the contributions to scientific literature on the subject of food by Letheby, Pavy, Parkes, Blyth, and others, together with the published evidence given before the House of Commons Commission appointed to carry out an inquiry into the subject, roused public attention to such a degree as to lead to the passing by the legislature of the Adulteration Acts.
The sophistications may be divided into several distinct classes:
1. To give weight or volume, such as water added to butter, plaster of paris to flour, &c.; red earths to annatto, sand to tea-leaves, &c.; water to milk, &c.; all these, therefore, are substitutions of worthless or very cheap articles which take the place of the real.
2. To give a colour which either makes the article more pleasing to the eye, or else disguises an inferior one, _e.g._, Prussian blue, black lead, &c., to green teas; annatto to cheese, &c.; arsenite of copper to sweetmeats, &c.
3. Substitutions of a cheaper form of the article, or the same substance from which the strength has been extracted put in the place of the real, _e.g._, tea mixed with spent leaves, &c.
4. A very small class where the adulteration is really added with no fraudulent intent, but to enhance the quality of the goods sold--alum to bread in small quantities.
The following, according to Blyth ('Dic. of Hygiène'), is a list of articles most commonly adulterated, with the names of the substances used in their sophistication:--