560 
NOTES  ON  PLASMA. 
remain  fluid.  But  I  do  not  at  all  see  the  etymological  appro- 
priateness of  gljcematum.  A  glycemate  might  certainly  be  a 
correct  name  for  a  compound  of  glycerine  acid  (did  such  a  thing 
exist)  and  a  base ;  but,  as  this  is  not  intended,  I  can  only  sup- 
pose the  word  to  be  also  a  compound  of  glycerinum  and  poma- 
tum. But  that  would  rather  suggest  a  solid,  inasmuch  as 
pomatums  usually  are  solid.  But  Dr.  Bedwood  applied  this 
term  to  the  fluid  class  of  preparations. 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  Doctor  has  passed  over  the 
most  simple,  the  most  natural,  and  the  most  correct  name  for 
these  fluid  glycerines.  When  we  dissolve  small  portions  of 
foreign  substances  in  water,  we  call  the  resulting  fluids  waters, 
aqua.  A  little  oil  of  cinnamon  dissolved  in  water  constitutes 
cinnamon  water,  aqua  cinnamomi.  A  little  lime  dissolved  in 
water  we  call  lime  water,  aqua  calcis,  &c.  We  do  not  find  it 
necessary  to  increase  the  mystery  of  the  matter  by  talking  of  an 
"  aquate  of  lime,"  "  aquatum  calcis,"  "  aquatum  cinnamomi;" 
why  not,  therefore,  call  a  solution  of  aloes  in  glycerine  "  aloes 
glycerine," — Glycerinum  Aloe's — or  a  solution  of  tannin  in 
glycerine  Glycerinum  Tannicum  ?  Such  a  nomenclature  would 
be  too  simple  and  obvious  for  confusion,  and  the  whole  series  of 
medicated  glycerines  would  lie  together  wkh  the  simple  solvent 
at  their  head. 
And  with  regard  to  the  solid  series — plasma  and  its  com- 
pounds— I  cannot  help  thinking  they  had  better  continue  to  be 
called  by  the  name  under  which  they  were  introduced.  As  god- 
father to  the  interesting  stranger,  I  may  perhaps  be  somewhat 
partial ;  but  I  think  the  name  both  euphonious  and  descriptive  : 
it  implies  something  to  be  spread  ;  it  is  not  more  arbitrary  than 
others  we  employ  with  great  convenience,  such  as  "  tinctura  " 
and  "  emplastrum,"  and  it  serves  to  discriminate  peremptorily 
between  the  solid  and  the  fluid  forms  of  the  glycerine  applica- 
tions. 
If,  then,  these  preparations  are  honored  with  places  in  the 
new  Pharmacopoeia,  I  hope  they  will  appear  under  the  easily- 
recognized  names  of  "glycerina"  anduplasmae. — Lon.  Ohem. 
News,  Oct.  5,  1865. 
