Ci  STYPTIC  COLLOID." 
367 
lint  saturated  with  the  Succus,  or,  if  heat  and  moisture  be  re- 
quired, a  bran  poultice  containing  an  ounce  or  an  ounce  and  a 
half  of  the  Succus,  may  be  used. — London  Pharm.  Journ., 
April,  1867. 
78,  Upper  Berkley  Street,  W. 
(To  be  continued.) 
"STYPTIC  COLLOID."    A  NEW  STYPTIC  AND  ADHESIVE 
FLUID. 
By  Benjamin  W.  Richardson,  M.  A.,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  C.  P. 
(Senior  Physician  to  the  Royal  Infirmary  for  Diseases  of  the  Chest.) 
[The  lecturer  states  that  he  experimented  with  the  view  of  im- 
proving upon  Pagliari's  styptic,  a  formula  for  which  is  given 
in  the  U.  S.  Dispensatory,  12th  Edit.,  page  166.  From  his 
statements,  most  of  which  are  chiefly  interesting  to  surgeons 
only,  we  extract  merely  those  of  value  to  the  pharmacist,  pre- 
facing that  by  absolute  alcohol  and  absolute  ether  in  the  following 
formula,  stronger  alcohol  and  stronger  ether  of  the  pharmacopoeia 
are  undoubtedly  meant.] 
"  The  process  of  manufacture  of  the  fluid  is  tedious,  but  suf- 
ficiently easy.  The  object  to  be  aimed  at  is  to  saturate  ether 
entirely  with  tannin  and  a  collodial  substance,  xyloidine  or  gun- 
cotton.  In  the  first  step  of  the  process,  the  tannin,  rendered  as 
pure  as  it  can  be,  is  treated  with  absolute  alcohol,  and  is  made  to 
digest  in  the  alcohol  for  several  days.  Then  the  ether,  also  ab- 
solute, is  added  until  the  whole  of  the  thick  alcoholic  mixture  is 
rendered  quite  fluid.  Next  the  collodial  substance  is  put  in  until 
it  ceases  readily  to  dissolve.  For  the  sake  of  its  very  agreeable 
odor,  a  little  tincture  of  benzoin  is  finally  admixed. 
"  The  solution  is  now  ready  for  use.  It  can  be  applied 
directly  with  a  brush,  or,  mixed  with  equal  quantities  of  ether,  it 
can  be  applied  in  the  form  of  a  spray.  In  order  to  give  to  the 
fluid  a  short  name  by  which  it  may  be  known,  I  have  called  it 
'styptic  colloid,' 
"  Properties.  When  the  solution  is  brought  into  contact 
with  an  open  surface  of  the  body,  the  resultant  phenomena  are 
these :  the  heat  of  the  body  gradually  volatilizes  the  ether  and 
alcohol,  and  the  tannin  and  cotton,  as  the  ether  leaves  them,  are 
