BOS TAURUS. 



the pulmonary and digestive organs. It is an excellent 

 sheathing agent in poisoning by caustic and acid substances, 

 and in some of these cases it acts as a chemical antidote ; for 

 example, in poisoning by bichloride of mercury, sulphate of 

 copper, bichloride of tin, the mineral acids, &c., &c. Milk is 

 also employed, on account of its demulcent qualities, in the 

 preparation of bread and milk poultice, which requires to be 

 frequently renewed on account of the facility with which it 

 undergoes decomposition and acquires acrid qualities. 



Whey is an excellent diluent and nutritive. Wine whey 

 taken warm and combined with a sodorific regimen, acts pow- 

 erfully on the skin, and is a valuable domestic remedy in 

 slight colds and febrile disorders. 



Ox OR BEEF'S GALL. The bile of the ox is a viscid fluid, 

 of a green or greenish-yellow color, a peculiar, nauseous odor, 

 and a bitter taste ; its exact composition is not yet settled. 

 As prepared for medicinal purposes, it is dried by spontane- 

 ous evaporation, or aided by a very moderate heat, when it 

 is of a more or less solid and hard consistence, brown color, 

 and possessing its natural and peculiar odor. The method 

 recommended for its preparation is to pour two or three gal- 

 lons of the gall into a deep vessel, and let it stand for twen- 

 ty-four hours. Then pour off the supernatant fluid into a 

 shallow earthen dish. Simmer it away slowly, stirring it all 

 the time until it is dry. Then preserve in glass bottles, well 

 stopped. Thus prepared, it is of a bright-green color, friable, 

 pulverulent, and slightly aromatic. 



A refined gall is obtained by boiling one pint of it, and 

 skimming ; then add alum one ounce, and keep it on the fire 

 for some time ; to another pint of gall add one ounce of com- 

 mon salt, in the same manner ; keep them bottled, separate- 

 ly, for three months, then decant off the clear liquid ; mix 

 them in equal proportions ; a thick, yellow coagulum is im- 

 mediately formed, leaving the refined gall clear and colorless. 



Bile is supposed to be tonic and laxative. It is highly val- 

 ued as a remedy in numerous complaints, and peculiarly ap- 

 plicable to cases attended with deficient biliary secretion. It 

 is used in intermittents, dyspepsia, torpor of the liver, colic, 

 constipation, diarrhoea, dysentery, &c. Five or eight grains 

 of inspissated gall neutralizes the constipating and narcotic 

 effects of one grain of opium, without injuring its sedative 

 influence. Dose, one to ten grains. 



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