99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS 



Medical Properties and Uses. Sweet almonds are emollient and 

 nutritive. They may be employed for the extraction of the fixed 

 oil of almonds, but are rarely used for this purpose on account of 

 their cost being greater than that of bitter almonds, and the 

 residual cake of inferior value. 



The principal use of the sweet almond in medicine is for making 

 almond mixture, which is largely used as a demulcent and 

 emollient in pulmonary affections, &c., and is an excellent 

 vehicle for the administration of expectorants, saline refrigerants, 

 &c. For dietetical purposes almonds are employed as a dessert, 

 and for puddings, cakes, &c. When almonds are used for the 

 table they should always be blanched, as their husk possesses 

 irritant properties. An almond cake made from the non-amy- 

 laceous powder of the sweet almond has been recommended by 

 Dr. Pavy as a substitute for bread in the treatment of diabetes. 



2. AMYGDALAE AMAE^I. Bitter Almonds. As already noticed, 

 these almonds very much resemble in form and appearance the 

 inferior kinds of sweet almonds, but are readily known from 

 Jordan almonds by being less elongated and more ovate in form. 

 They are distinguished from all kinds of sweet almonds by their 

 bitter taste and by the emulsion which they afford when triturated 

 with water, having a strong odour resembling ratafia, or peach-blos- 

 soms, which arises from the production under such circumstances 

 of an essential oil and hydrocyanic acid. 



There are three varieties of bitter almonds, namely, French, 

 Sicily, and Barbary, which are placed in the order of their value. 



Bitter almonds, like sweet almonds, contain a fixed oil (see 

 Oleum Amygdala), emulsin, and sugar, but they also contain a 

 crystalline substance called amygdalin, which is not a constituent 

 of sweet almonds. It is, therefore, in the presence of this 

 substance that bitter almonds owe their peculiar characteristics. 

 The volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid which are developed when 

 bitter almonds are triturated with water are not contained in these 

 seeds, but are products resulting from the decomposition of 

 amygdalin under the influence of emulsin and water, the emulsin 

 acting as a kind of ferment. 



