320 MATER i A MEDIC A AND THERAPEUTICS. 



Impurity : Cassia bark, rougher, thicker, less aromatic. 



Composition, Cinnamon bark contains the officinal oil, as 

 well as tannic acid, starch, stiff ar, and gum. The oil is readily 

 converted by exposure to air into cinnamic aldehyd, C 9 H 8 0, 

 and cinnamic acid, C 9 H 8 2 . See Styrax, page 334, and Salsa- 

 mum Peruvianum, page 226. 



Dose. 10 to 20 gr. 



Preparations. 



1. Aqua Cinnamomi. 1 in 8. Dose, 1 to 2 fl.oz. 



2. Oleum Cinnamomi. The oil distilled from cinnamon. 



Yellowish when recent, becoming red. Dose, 1 to 4 min. 



3. Pulvis Cinnamomi Compositus. Cinnamon, 1 ; Cardamoms, 



1 : Ginger, 1. Dose, 3 to 10 gr. 



4. Tinctura Cinnamon!!. 1 in 8. Dose, ^ to 2 fl.dr. 



Cinnamon is also contained in a large number of preparations 

 of other more important drugs, including the compound powders 

 of Catechu, Chalk, and Kino. 



ACTION AND USES. 



Cinnamon, besides possessing the same action, and being 

 used for the same purposes, as other aromatic substances (see 

 Caryophyllum, page 242), has moderately astringent properties 

 by virtue of its tannic acid. It is therefore the favourite flavour- 

 ing and carminative agent in astringent powders, tinctures, etc. 

 These are chiefly used in diarrhoea. 



Camphora CAMPHOR. A concrete volatile oil, 

 obtained from the wood of Gamphora officinarum. 

 Imported in the crude state from China and Japan. 

 and purified by sublimation in this country. 



Characters and test. White, translucent, tough, and 

 crystalline ; has a powerful penetrating odour, and a pungent 

 taste followed by a sensation of cold ; floats on water ; vola- 

 tilises slowly at ordinary temperatures ; is slightly soluble in 

 water, but readily soluble in rectified spirit and in ether, or 

 when mixed with carbolic acid, chloral-hydrate, or thymol. It 

 can be powdered by being rubbed with a few drops of spirit. 

 Sublimes entirely when heated. 



Composition. Camphor is a solid volatile oil or stearoptene, 

 with the composition C 1? H 16 0. Borneo Camphor or Baros 

 Camphor, sometimes substituted for Japanese camphor, has the 

 formula C 10 HjgO, i.e. bears the same relation to Japanese cam- 

 phor as alcohol to aldehyd. 



