in 



HITTERS. 



BITUMENS, MKHHAI. rsK.s ]: 



not bitter, such, for example, a* areenio, UiU view cannot be taken, 

 though many of the uiot valuable tunica are bitter. They hare thii 

 property in common with most tonic* : th.it their onitinuetl UM seem* 

 to impair the power of li. and leave it in a rtate of greater 



weakness than at first. Hence their employment should only be 

 temporary, to raise the power* of dig<--ti"ii when they have been 

 enfeebled by previous disease or excessive fatigue. There exist* 

 another reason for caution in their use : they hare a great tendency U> 

 increase the quantity of M. >.!. >~.th by augmenting the np|x-tite, 

 owing to which in- .rr" food is taken, and from which a more nutritive 

 and stimulating chyle in extracted, by which B plethoric state 1.1 tin 

 blood-vewels is induced, and all the attendant evils brought about. 

 Then cautionary remarks apply as well to malt liquors as to those 

 unasBociatedwith any nutritive matter which are only employed 

 as medicines. The full and often bloated habit of body of those who 

 daily consume a large portion of strong ale or )x>rter sufficiently de- 

 monstrates the consequences of such indulgences. Deaden, Imps 

 pomom. like many other bitters, more or less of a narcotic principle, so 

 that the purest beer produces an injurious effect on the brain, if taken 

 in considerable quantity. The sleepiness which follows its use shows 

 this, as well as the fate of those who are addicted to it. " In seven 

 cases out of ten, malt-liquor drunkards die of apoplexy or polity." A 

 moderate use, during dinner, of a beer not containing so much 

 nutritious matter, or too much hop, is allowable to most persons, 

 but it should be thoroughly fermented and purified, and not be hard 

 or stale. 



Persons naturally of a full habit of body should carefully avoid the 

 stronger ales and porters. These remarks do not apply to the medical 

 employment of strong ales as a tonic or restorative during conva- 

 lescence from acute diseases, as few agents so speedily recruit the 

 exhausted powers, or replace the wasted flesh of the sufferer. Neither 

 are they intended to prohibit mothers while nursing from making a 

 moderate use of them, since at that time there is a demand upon the 

 system for an extraordinary quantity of highly nutritive blood, and the 

 infant generally removes any superfluous quantity ; but an excessive 

 use of very strong beer is not leas hurtful to the mother than the 

 child. 



Bitters may be advantageously employed by the inhabitants of cold 

 and damp regions to prevent the action of these causes of disease. 

 These agents generally injure the function of digestion, both by their 

 immediate action on 'the skin, and also, from abstracting the animal 

 heat, on the nervous system: hence the prevalence of intermittent 

 fevers or agues in such districts. Now these may be warded off by 

 maintaining a healthy action of the digestive organs and of the skin. 

 Some preparation of a pure bitter, such as gentian, or of an aromatic 

 nnd 1 litter united, such as chauiomile with sweet flag-root, or infusion 

 of milfoil or yarrow, may be had recourse to for this purpose; but if 

 there be obstruction of the liver with ague-cake, which is the enlarged 

 nnd hardened spleen, dandelion, having beef-tea poured upon it, and 

 used as a soup, is preferable, in wlu'ch way it is extensively employed 

 by the Dutch. In the West Indies, where languor of the system, with 

 weakness of the digestive organs, is produced by the excessive heat, 

 tin- .tppetite is restored and the stomach invigorated by taking before 

 dinner a few drops in a glass of water, of Stoughton's elixir, which is 

 made of gentian, serpentaria, orange-peel, and sweet flag-root; and 

 in America, the infusion or tincture of serpentaria is sometimes 

 taken every morning in damp aguish situations to prevent intermit- 

 tent. Such employment of bitters, within certain limits, is wise and 



I : | I". 



During spring and autumn, when the sources of intermittent fevers 

 are most abundant, the use of such bitters as those above mentioned 

 would be very serviceable in the case of weak and feeble persons 

 rending in aguish districts; but there may be weakness of the digestive 

 organs, and general debility, accompanied with a state of stomach 

 which forbids the employment of bitters or any other tonic. Inflam- 

 mation of the stomach, from its slightest to ita most intense degree, is 

 always attended with a sense of weakness, which prompts many 

 persons to betake themselves to bitters or other stimulating articles, 

 which never fail to aggravate the disease. Such cases demand a widely 

 opposite course of treatment. 



There is another malady to which feeble persons are subject, the 

 evils of which are much lessened by the use of bitters. Worms are 

 rarely developed except in persons with impaired digestion, in which 

 case bitters form, along with proper dietctical means, the most appro- 

 priate instruments of cure. [AxTHKLMiSTicg.] Much diversity of 

 opinion exists with respect to the propriety of using bitters by persons 

 subject to gout Of late yean the once famous Portland gout ]>.], T 

 ha* fallen greatly into disuse, partly because a more certain remedy 

 ha* been discovered, and partly because one of the charge* brought 

 against it had some foundation in truth. It was said to cure the gout, 

 but in n short time to carry off the |>atient by apoplexy. Now such a 

 remit was certainly the indirect effect of this tonic powder ; for, as by 

 the immunity from paroxysms of gout, which the use of it for a time 

 conferred upon the patient*, they were enabled to indulge their in 

 created appetite*, a plethoric state of the system wan brought on, 

 which in many canes induced apoplexy, in which disease gout has a 

 tendency to terminate. This powder consisted of serpentaria, gentian, 

 germander, and lexer centaury. 



Wli, re the disposition - very strong, aome of the most 



experienced practitioners condemn the use even of ale. Still it must 

 lie allowed that many person* who have n<> .!, I...-;M..II to excessive 

 indulgence in the good things of the table, have such slow and trouble- 

 some digestion as to render tonic and aromatic stimulant* useful ; I nit 

 it is best to unite these with some grir . ) \ which the 



plethoric tendency is lessened. For this purpose, orange-peel, rhubarb, 

 and magnesia, united in equal portions, form a fitting combination. 

 Gout and stone in the bladder are so cloeely allied, and the means 

 which are useful in repelling them are so similar r .noes, 



that they are naturally treated of together : the origin of both is 

 depraved digestion. In full livers this is accompanied witl, .1. 



D "f urine, and a tendency to the formation of uric acid. <-\ 

 which red gravel is voided. Here bitt rs with alkalies are eminently 

 useful, such a* qiuuwia with lime-water, or oolchic-um with magnesia. 

 In MTV feeble persons, and also after the long continuance of the 

 uric acid diathesis, and the irritation of a stone in the bladder, an 

 opposite state prevails, namely, an alkaline state of urine, in whir -h it 

 is excessive in quantity, pale, and nil standing Home time, become* 

 covered with on iridescent pellicle, or lets fall a white, generally 

 amorphous sediment. In such a case bitters are extremely useful, 

 especially infusion of quassia with phosphate of iron, or mfoaiafi of 

 quassia with nitric acid ; the extract of ArotOttapkyloi f'ra I'rti (bear- 

 berry). 



In phthisis pulmonalU bitters are sometimes of service, such as the 

 bear-berry and the Iceland moss (C'ctrarla Itlandica), in which the 

 bitter principle should be retained. 



In some cases of diarrhoea, from logs of tone of the intestines, 

 bitters are of the greatest service, provided no inflammatory condition 

 of the mucous membrane exist, such as quinia, infusion of cus|*i 

 even strychnia, perhaps the most intently Litter substance with which 

 we are acquainted. 



The most eligible form for exhibiting bitters is in powder or in- 

 fusion, but where the taste is objected to, an extract may be given 

 formed into pill. Decoction is a bad form, especially for aromatic 

 bitters. Aromatic principles frequently conceal the disagreeable taste 

 of bitters. 



BITTERS. Irrespective of the use of bitter plants for medicinal 

 purposes, there are certain beverages known by the name of bitters. 

 In England, the "bitters" of the spirit-shops are made of ' 

 orange-peel, gentian, cassia, cloves, or some other spice, sugar and >i i > 

 or two other ingredients. Many beverages known in foreign con 

 are more or less analogous to these English "bitters." Thus, the 

 Swiss peasants, inhabiting some of the highest Alpine villages, whirl* 

 are almost constantly wrapped in a penetrating mist, use a spirit 

 distilled from gentian, called bitter schnaps. In France a dee. .et ion of 

 wormwood, which is called absinthe, is a very favourite drink ; and 

 the mint juleps and other mixtures of the citizens of the I'nited 

 States, depend on the same principle, that of acting as gentle tonics, 

 for their general adoption ; and the various modes of preparation are 

 merely used in order to avoid the disagreeableness to the taste of the 

 unadulterated bitter. 



BITUMEN. The name bitumen is applied to certain naturally 

 occurring solid or viscous hydrocarbons which are usually of a black 

 or brown colour, possess a peculiar somewhat tarry odour, nn 

 fusible at temperatures below a red heat. It is uncertain how bitumen 

 has been formed, some chemists regarding it as a product of the 

 putrefaction of vegetable matter at ordinary temperatures ; as the 

 result in fact of a modification of that natural process of decay, which 

 under ordinary circumstances converts woody fibre into peat, lignite, 

 and coal ; whilst others contend that it is a product of the desti 

 distillation of coal occasioned by the exposure of coal-bearing strata to 

 volcanic heat; the latter view derives considerable probability from 

 the fact that analogous substances are produced by the m 

 destructive distillation of coal. Deposit* of bitumen are met with in 

 England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Poland, and An 

 The most remarkable bituminous deposits in this country occur in 

 Derbyshire, where a thin stratum of bitumen is met with immediately 

 underlying the turf of the grass pastures in the mountain limestone 

 district, and encrusted with beautiful crystals of i.rot ..sulphate of 

 iioii. This Derbyshire bitumen i elastic like caoiitehouc. it is soluble 

 in naphtha and essential oils, and when submitted to a red heat, yi> 1. 1- ,i 

 large quantity of highly illuminating gas. Although a considerable 

 quantity of it has been stored up in the Derbyshire caverns, it has not 

 yet been applied to any useful purpose. 



The experiment* of M. Boussingault show that glutinous and elastic 

 bitumens consist of two principles, one of which he calls A*)Ji<iltni 

 [ASPHALT], and the other Pelrolin ; the former is fixed, the latter 

 volatile. IVtrolin may be obtained by distilling bitumen with water. 

 Rectified from chloride of calcium, pctnilin presents the appearrn 

 a pale yellow oil, possessing a bituminous odour, .-md a specific gravity 

 of '891. It boils at 635 Fahr., and has the composition C.,,11.,.,. It is 

 therefore isomeric with oil of turpentine. The harder descriptions of 

 bitumen are undutinguishable from asphalt, and are used for similar 

 purpose* ; the softer varieties frequently contain paraffin, and might 

 probably be utilised for the extraction of this substance. 



BITfMI AS MKIHC.U. rsKS uK. Though the substances 

 popularly termed bitumens, in the m*t extensive ue of tin- term, 



