446 ANIMAL DRUGS 



621. FEL BOVIS. Ox GALL 



OX GALL 

 The fresh bile of Bos taurus Linne (Fam. Bovidae). 



DESCRIPTION. The fresh bile of the ox is a brownish or dark green, viscid 

 liquid, with a characteristic, unpleasant odor, and a nauseous, bitter 

 taste. It is neutral or faintly alkaline. Pettenkofer's test for this 

 liquid is as follows: Two drops in 10 mils of water, when treated, 

 first with a drop of freshly prepared solution of one part of sugar and 

 four parts of water, and afterward with sulphuric acid cautiously 

 added until the precipitate first formed is redissolved, gradually ac- 

 quires a brownish-red color, changing successively to carmine, purple, 

 and violet. 



PREPARATION. Fel Bovis Purificatum. The method by which this 

 medicinal preparation of the crude ox-gall is made, according to 

 the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, is as follows: Fresh ox-gall 300 mils; alco- 

 hol 100 mils. Evaporate ox-gall in tared porcelain capsule on water- 

 bath to 100 Gm.; add to it the alcohol. When precipitation has 

 occurred and the solution cleared, the clear liquid is decanted, the 

 remainder filtered, and the filtrate evaporated to a pilular consistence. 

 Purified ox-gall is a yellowish-green, soft solid, having a peculiar 

 odor and a sweetish, bitter taste. 

 Extractum Fellis Bovis U.S.P. DC. 



ACTION AND USES. The purified ox-gall only is used in medicine. It is 

 tonic and laxative, at one time much used to increase the secretion of 

 bile. Dose: 3 to 10 gr. (0.2 to 0.6 Gm.). 



622. SANGUIS. BLOOD. 



SOURCE. The ox (Bos taurus Linne) furnishes this liquid from the arterial 

 circulation of the vascular system. 



DESCRIPTION. A red, opaque fluid, slightly heavier than water (sp. gr. 

 1.05), containing corpuscles in suspension, and coagulating on exposure. 



CONSTITUENTS. Chiefly water (78 per cent.), with albumen 7 per cent., 

 salts 9 per cent., fibrin 4 per cent., and corpuscles and other constituents 

 13 per cent. Haemoglobin is a peculiar coloring matter made up of globulin 

 and hasmatin, which gives blood its red appearance. 



MEDICAL PROPERTIES. Desiccated blood has enjoyed some reputation 

 as a nutritive or restorative, the dose being about 15 gr. (i Gm.), but it has 

 not been very generally adopted as an agent among therapeutists for treat- 

 ment of debilitated conditions. 



623. LAC. VACCINUM, Cow's milk, N.F. 



SOURCE. The mammary glands of the cow (Bos taurus), the well-known 

 domestic animal. 



DESCRIPTION. A white, opaque liquid or emulsion, made up of butter 

 and casein, and having a pleasant taste and slight odor; specific gravity 

 about 1.030. When allowed to stand for a few hours, the oily globules 

 rise to the surface on account of their lower specific gravity. Under the 

 microscope these globules are seen to be separate, and each -surrounded by an 

 albuminous envelope, but when a caustic alkali is added, this envelope is 

 destroyed, so that the globules are released and accumulate as pure butter. 

 When exposed for a considerable time in a warm place, milk changes from 

 sweet to sour on account of the development of an acid by chemical action 

 between the constituents. 



