Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 51

Pil. Col. c. Hyoscy 4 doz.

Pil. Hydrarg. 3 doz.

Pil. Ipecac. c.u.m Scilla 5 doz.

Pil. Quiniae 6 doz.

Pil. Sapon. Co. 6 doz.

_Medical Stores._ Lint 10 oz.

Tow 1 lb.

Adhesive Plaster 3 yds.

Male Syringe 1 Male Syringe Gla.s.s 1 Female Syringe 1 Phials (a.s.sorted) 2 doz.

Phial corks 6 doz.

Sponges 3 Bed-pan 1 Paper of Pins 1 Hernia Truss, 36 in., reversible 1 Paper of Pill Boxes 1 Gallipots 6 Leg and Arm Bandages 6 Calico 3 yds.

Flannel Bandages, 7 yds. long, 6 in. wide 2 Flannel 2 yds.

Triangular Bandages, base 48 in., sides 33 in. each 2 Minim Measures 2 1 oz. Measures 1 2 oz. Measures 1 Set of Splints 1 Waterproof sheeting 4 yds.

Oiled Silk 1 yd.

Enema Syringe and Stomach Pump 1 Box of Small Scales and Weights 1 Wedgwood Mortar and Pestle 1 Wedgwood Funnel 1 Spatulas 2 Authorised Book of Directions for Medicine Chests 1 British Pharmacopia 1

One set only of these articles required, irrespective of number of pa.s.sengers.

N.B.--Only one set of instruments required, without regard to the number of surgeons, pa.s.sengers, or the length of the voyage.

_Instruments._

I { 1 Tenaculum.

n { 1 Artery Forceps.

{ 1 Operating ditto.

P { 1 Finger Knife.

o { 1 Curve Bistoury, Probe Point.

c { 1 Curve Bistoury, Spear Point.

k { 2 Probes.

e { 1 Silver Director.

t { 1 Caustic Case.

{ 1 Scissors.

C { 1 Spatula.

a { 12 Needles.

s { 1 Skein Ligature Silk.

e { 3 Lancets.

1 Amputating Saw.

2 Amputating Knives.

1 Bone Forceps.

3 Tooth Forceps.

1 Skull Forceps.

1 Trephine.

1 Elevator.

1 Hey's Saw.

1 Trephine Brush.

2 Scalpels.

1 Hernia Knife.

2 Trocars and Canulas.

1 Aneurism Needle.

1 Hernia Director.

1 Tourniquet.

2 Silver Catheters (Nos. 4 and 8).

4 Elastic Gum Catheters (Nos. 3, 5, and 7).

1 Clinical Thermometer.

1 Hypodermic Syringe.

1 dozen charged Tubes for Vaccination.

1 Set of Midwifery Instruments.

=MEER'SCHAUM.= _Syn._ Ec.u.mE DE MER, L. A native silicate of magnesia. It has a sp. gr. ranging between 26 to 34; is readily acted on by acids, and fuses before a powerful blowpipe into a white enamel. The finest qualities are found in Greece and Turkey. Its princ.i.p.al application is to the manufacture of tobacco-pipes. The Germans prepare their pipes for sale by soaking them in tallow, then in white wax, and, finally, by polishing them with shavegra.s.s. Genuine meerschaum pipes are distinguished from mock ones by the beautiful brown colour which they a.s.sume after being smoked for some time. Of late years some of the pipemakers have produced a composition clay pipe, which closely resembles meerschaum in appearance, and is "warranted to colour well." The composition, which is comparatively valueless, is made up into pipes of suitable patterns, which are frequently sold to the ignorant for "meerschaums." See CEMENTS, HYDRAULIC.

=ME'GRIM.= _Syn._ MEAGRIM, HEMICRANIA, L. A pain affecting one side of the head only, often periodic, like an ague, and generally of a nervous, hysterical, or bilious character. It is clavus when there is a strong pulsation, conveying the sensation of a nail piercing the part. See HEADACHE.

=MEG'RIMS.= _Syn._ MEAGRIMS, VERTIGO. In veterinary medicine this term is applied to horses which when at work reel, then stand for a minute dull and stupid, or fall to the ground, and lie partially insensible for a few minutes. "Horses subject to this affection should be driven with a breastplate or pipe collar, so as to prevent pressure on the veins carrying the blood from the head; the bowels should be kept in good order; an occasional laxative is advisable, and a course, either of a.r.s.enic or quinine, or of a.r.s.enic and iron." (Dun.)

=MEL'ANCHOLY.= See HYPOCHONDRIASIS and INSANITY.

=MELIS'SIC ALCOHOL.= A substance obtained by Brodie from beeswax. By oxidation it yields 'melissic acid.'

=MELLA'GO.= The old name for a medicine having the consistence of honey, with a somewhat sweetish taste. Mellago taraxaci is fluid extract of dandelion.

=MELTING-POINT.= The temperature at which solids a.s.sume the liquid form.

=MEN'STRUUM.= [L.] A solvent or dissolvent. The princ.i.p.al MENSTRUA employed in chemistry and pharmacy to extract the active principles of bodies by digestion, decoction, infusion, or maceration, are water, alcohol, oils, and solutions of the acids and alkalies.

=MERCU"RIAL BAL'SAM.= See OINTMENT OF NITRATE OF MERCURY.

=MERCU"RIAL DISEASE'.= _Syn._ MORBUS MERCURIALIS, HYDRARGYRIASIS, L. This results from the injudicious or excessive use of mercury, or exposure to the fumes of this metal. The common and leading symptoms are a disagreeable coppery taste; excessive salivation; sponginess, tumefaction, and ulceration of the gums; swollen tongue; loosening of the teeth; exfoliation of the jaws; remarkably offensive breath; debility; emaciation; ending (when not arrested) in death from exhaustion. Fever, cachexia, violent purging and griping, a species of eczema (ECZEMA MERCURIALE, LEPRA MERCURIALIS), and other forms of skin disease, are also phases of the same affection, the first of which occasionally proves fatal under the influence of sudden and violent physical exertion.

The treatment, in ordinary cases, may consist in free exposure to the open air, avoiding either heat or cold; the administration of saline aperients, as Epsom salts, phosphate of soda, &c.; the free use of lemon juice and water as a common drink; with weak gargles or washes of chloride of soda or chloride of lime to the gums, mouth, and throat. Severe cases often resist every variety of treatment, and instances are recorded in the medical journals in which the use of even small doses of mercurials, administered by the faculty, have, owing to the peculiar idiosyncrasy of the patients, been followed by the most horrible sufferings, terminating in death.

=MER'CURY.= Hg. _Syn._ QUICKSILVER, HYDRARGYRUM (B. P., Ph. L. E. and D.); MERCURE, VIF ARGENT, Fr.; QUECKSILBER, Ger. A remarkable metal, which has been known from a very early period. The Romans employed it as a medicine externally, as did the Arabs; but the Hindoos were probably the first to prescribe it internally.

_Sources._ The most important are the mines of Idria, in Carniola; Almaden, in New Castile; and New Almaden, in California, where it exists combined with sulphur, under the form of cinnabar. From this ore the pure metal is obtained by distilling it with lime or iron filings, in iron retorts, by which the sulphur it contains is seized and retained, while the mercury rises in the state of vapour, and is condensed in suitable receivers. Quicksilver is commonly imported in cylindrical iron bottles; containing 1/2 cwt. to 1 cwt. each. It is also imported in small quant.i.ties from China, contained in bamboo bottles holding about 20 lbs.

each.

_Prep._ Mercury, as imported, is usually sufficiently pure for medicinal purposes without any further preparation. Mere mechanical impurities, as floating dust, dirt, &c., may be got rid of by squeezing the metal through chamois leather or flannel, or by filtering it through a small hole in the apex of an inverted cone of paper. It can be further cleaned by shaking well with a little strong nitric acid, washing with distilled water, and drying by blotting paper, or filtering through warm chamois leather.

_Prop., &c._ Mercury, at all common temperatures, is a heavy liquid, possessing a nearly silver-white colour, and a brilliant metallic l.u.s.tre; solidifies (freezes) at -40 Fahr., and is then ductile, malleable, and tenacious; boils at 662 Fahr., and escapes in colourless transparent vapour, of great density; it also volatilises slowly at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere. The presence of minute quant.i.ties of lead and zinc greatly r.e.t.a.r.d its evaporation at its boiling heat. It unites with oxygen, chlorine, iodine, &c., forming numerous compounds. With the metals it unites to form AMALGAMS. The only acids which act directly on metallic mercury are the sulphuric and nitric, but for this purpose the former must be heated and concentrated. Nitric acid, however, even when dilute and in the cold, dissolves it freely. Pure mercury is unalterable in the air at ordinary temperatures. Sp. gr. 1359 at 60 Fahr.; about 14 when in the solid state.

_Uses, &c._ Mercury is applied to various purposes in the arts; as the amalgamation of gold and silver, 'wash gilding,' the silvering of looking-gla.s.ses, the manufacture of barometers and thermometers, and the preparation of several very valuable medicines. In its metallic state it appears to be inert when swallowed, unless it meets with much acidity in the alimentary ca.n.a.l, or is in a state of minute division; its compounds are, however, all of them more or less poisonous.

Mercury has been employed in one or other of its forms in almost _all_ diseases; but each of its numerous preparations is supposed to have some peculiarity of action of its own, combined with that common to all the compounds of this metal. The mercurials form, indeed, one of the most important cla.s.ses of the materia medica.

_Tests._ 1. _Metallic mercury_ is detected by its liquid condition and volatility; and, when in a finely divided or pulverulent state, by the microscope, or by staining a piece of copper white when the two are rubbed together.

Mercury, when present in combination, can be detected as under:

When intimately mixed with anhydrous sodium carbonate, and heated in a small test-tube, under a layer of the carbonate, decomposition ensues, and a crust of grey sublimate forms on the cooler portion of the tube. When examined by a lens this crust is seen to consist of minute metallic globules. By friction with a bright gla.s.s or iron rod these are united into globules, which are visible to the naked eye.