CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



keep a watchful care over the patient, noticing 

 any changes of symptoms, and the times at which 

 they occur, so as to be able to report them to the 

 doctor on his visit. In emergencies, the nurse 

 must be guided by common-sense and experience. 



FORMS AND MODES OF PREPARATION OF 

 MEDICINES. 



Some medicines are prepared in a liquid, others 

 in a solid form, according as they may be soluble 

 or insoluble, or according to the state in which it 

 may be desirable to administer them. In general, 

 the more finely a substance can be divided, the 

 more rapidly is it taken up by the system, and the 

 more instantaneous its effect ; hence, instead of 

 administering the crude vegetable or mineral, the 

 necessity of preparing infusions, decoctions, tinc- 

 tures, and the like. Another reason for adopting 

 such preparations is, that the active or medicinal 

 principle of a substance may constitute but a 

 small portion of its bulk ; while the greater por- 

 tion may be of no value whatever, or may be even 

 positively detrimental. The preparation of medi- 

 cines is the work of the pharmaceutical chemist. 



Poultices are well-known external applications. 

 They are described by Abernethy as of three 

 kinds the evaporating or local tepid bath, the 

 greasy, and the irritating. The first is thus 

 made : ' Scald out a basin, for you can never 

 make a good poultice unless you have perfectly 

 boiling water ; then having put in some hot 

 water, throw in coarsely crumbled bread, and 

 cover it with a plate. When the bread has 

 soaked up as much water as it will imbibe, drain 

 off the remaining water, and there will be left a 

 light pulp. Spread it, a third of an inch thick, on 

 folded linen, and apply it when of the temperature 

 of a warm bath.' The linseed-meal or greasy 

 poultice is, on the same authority, to be made in 

 the following manner : ' Get some linseed powder, 

 not the common stuff, full of grit and sand. Scald 

 out a basin ; pour in some perfectly boiling water ; 

 throw in the powder, stir it round with a stick, till 

 well incorporated ; add a little more water, and a 

 little more meal ; stir again, and when it is about 

 two-thirds of the consistence you wish it to be, 

 beat it up with the blade of a knife till all the 

 lumps are removed. Then take it out, lay it on a 

 piece of soft linen, spread it the fourth of an inch 

 thick, and as wide as will cover the whole inflamed 

 part ; put a bit of hog's-lard in the centre of it, 

 and when it begins to melt, draw the edge of the 

 knife lightly over, and grease the surface of the 

 poultice.' The irritating poultice to be used in 

 cases where a blister is unnecessary or inconveni- 

 ent, is made simply of mustard and water, mixed 

 as if for the dinner-table, and put within the folds of 

 a piece of fine muslin, so that only the watery part, 

 oozing through, touches the skin. 



In whatever form medicinal preparations may 

 be administered, the quantity is invariably regu- 

 lated by weight or by measure. Though differing 

 in nomenclature and mode of subdivision, both of 

 these are based on the imperial standard of the 

 country. Thus the imperial pound Troy is divided 

 into ounces, drachms, scruples, and grains ; and 

 the imperial gallon into pints, fluid ounces, fluid 



784 



drachms, and minims. In detail 12 ounces 

 make one pound, 8 drachms I ounce, 3 scruples I 

 drachm, and 20 grains I scruple. Again, 8 pints 

 make i gallon, 20 fluid ounces i pint, 8 fluid 

 drachms I fluid ounce, and 60 minims I fluid 

 drachm. The different denominations of weights 

 and measures are denoted in the language of pre- 

 scriptions by the following signs : Pound, Ib ; 

 ounce, 3 ; drachm, 3 ; Scruple, 9 ; grain, gr. ; 

 gallon, C ; pint, O ; fluid ounce, fig ; fluid drachm, 

 fl3 5 and minim, in. Medical prescriptions are 

 generally written in Latin, which, conjoined with 

 these signs, Roman numerals, and a large amount 

 of contractions, gives them a very formidable and 

 mysterious aspect. Thus, R (Recipe) Nitratis 

 Potassae gr. xv. ; Aquae destillatae flfiss ; Syrupi 

 Limonum fl3ij. M. (Misce). Fiat haustus, ter in 

 die sumendus, is but the technical form of ordering 

 the patient to ' Take fifteen grains of the nitrate of 

 potash ; one and a half fluid ounces of distilled 

 water ; and two fluid drachms of syrup of lemon. 

 To mingle and form a drink of them, and take it 

 three times a day.' In 1867, the Medical Council 

 prepared for the United Kingdom a new Pharma- 

 copoeia, which is a list of authorised medicinal 

 preparations, together with an account of the 

 modes of preparing the various substances for use. 



PRESCRIPTIONS FOR HOME USE.* 



No. i. Saline Purgative for mild febrile affections. Take of 

 sulphate of magnesia i\ ounces, carbonate of magnesia 120 grains, 

 and mix in 8 ounces of water. Two table-spoonfuls every three or 

 four hours for an adult. 



_No. 2. Mixture for Dyspepsia with Water-brash. Take of 

 bismuth 180 grains, and of magnesia 120 grains. Beat up in 3 

 ounces of mucilage, and mix with 5 ounces of peppermint-water. 

 One table-spoonful, in a little milk, after meals. 



No. 3. Acid Mixture for Dyspepsia. Also a tonic. Take of 

 nitro-hydrochloric acid i\ ounces, and of water 10 ounces. One 

 table-spoonful three or four times a day. 



No. 4. Chalk Mixture, with astringents, for Diarrhoea. Take 

 of tincture of catechu and of tincture of kino, of each 2 drachms ; 

 of tincture of opium (laudanum) \\ drachms ; and of mixture of 

 chalk 8 ounces. Mix well. One table-spoonful as a dose for an 

 adult, every three or four hours, is required. 



No. 5. Worm-powder for Children. Take of powder of jalap, 

 and of powder of scammony, of each 10 grains. Divide into six 

 powders of equal size. One may be given occasionally to a child 

 of between four and six years of age. 



No. 6. Tonic Iron Mixture. Take of citrate of iron and 

 quinine 120 grains, and of water 8 ounces. One table-spoonful 

 three times a day for an adult. Proportionately less for children. 



No. 7. Cough Mixture for Acute Bronchitis and Cough. Take- 

 of syrup of squills 2 ounces, of Ipecacuan wine 3 drachms, of 

 compound tincture of camphor 3 drachms, and of water 8 ounces. 

 A table-spoonful every four hours for an adult. 



No. 8. Cough Mixture for Chronic Bronchitis of Old People. 

 Take of carbonate of ammonia 20 grains, of spirit of ether 3$ 

 drachms, of compound tincture of camphor 4 drachms, of tincture 

 of squills 4 drachms, and of infusion of senega 8 ounces. One 

 table-spoonful every few hours. 



No. 9. Mixture for the beginning of all Febrile Attacks. 

 Take of sweet spirits of nitre and of solution of acetate of ammonia, 

 of each 2 ounces ; water 8 ounces. One table-spoonful every three 

 hours for an adult. Less for a child, according to age. 



No. 10. For Severe Pain, such as Colic. Take of spirit of 

 chloroform i drachm, of tincture of opium 40 drops, and of pepper- 

 mint-water i\ ounces. One half immediately, and the other, if 

 required, in an hour. 



No. ii. For bleeding front the Lungs, or Stomach, or Kidneys. 

 Take of sulphate of magnesia ij ounces, of dilute sulphuric 

 acid 3 drachms, and of acid infusion of roses 8 ounces. A table- 

 spoonful every three or four hours. Doses of 8 or 12 grains of 

 gallic acid, in water, also useful ; or two lead and opium pills 

 every four hours. 



* In the absence of a doctor, if any of these prescriptions be care- 

 fully copied out, it can be made up by any qualified druggist 



