Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 80

2. Fenugreek seeds, 8 oz.; linseed oil, 1 quart; infuse a week, and strain. Once a highly popular emollient application in various local affections.

=Oil of Mu'dar.= _Syn._ OLEUM MUDARIS, L. From mudar bark (in coa.r.s.e powder), 1 dr.; warm olive oil, 1/4 pint; digest 24 hours and strain. Used as an application to cutaneous ulcers, the bites of venomous animals, &c., and as a friction in worms.

=Oil of O"pium.= _Syn._ ANODYNE OIL, OPIATED O.; OLEUM OPIATUM, L.

_Prep._ From opium (in powder), 1 dr.; olive oil, 2-1/2 fl. oz.; digest at a gentle heat, with frequent agitation, for 5 or 6 hours. The powder should be rubbed in a mortar with a few drops of the oil before adding the remainder. As a local anodyne. The above is the only reliable formula for this preparation. Others are extant, but whilst the products of several are much stronger, those from others have only 1-5th or 1-6th the strength.

=Oils, Ozonised.= (Dr Thompson.) _Syn._ OLEO OZONATA. _Prep._ Pa.s.s oxygen gas into the oil (cocoa nut, sunflower, cod-liver oil, &c.) until it will dissolve no more. Then expose for a considerable time in the direct rays of the sun. Used in phthisis.

=Oil of Pel'litory.= _Syn._ OLEUM PYRETHRI, L. From bruised pellitory root, as OIL OF BELLADONNA. Used as the last.

=Oil of Black Pep'per (by Infusion).= _Syn._ OLEUM PIPERIS INFUSUM, L.

From black pepper, in coa.r.s.e powder, as OIL OF CAPSIc.u.m. Stimulant and rubefacient; in frictions.

=Oil of Poison Oak.= _Syn._ OLEUM RHOIS TOXICODENDRI, L. From the leaves, as OIL OF BELLADONNA Externally; in paralysis, &c.

=Oil of Rhu'barb.= _Syn._ OLEUM RHEI, L. From rhubarb (in powder), 1 part; oil of almonds, 8 parts; digested together in a gentle heat for 4 hours, and strained, with expression. As an application to indolent ulcers, and as a friction over the abdomen in diarrha, English cholera, &c., or as a laxative when the stomach will not bear medicine.

=Oil of Ro"ses.= _Syn._ OLEUM ROSae, O. ROSACEUM, O. R. INFUSUM, O.

ROSATUM, L. _Prep._ From the fresh petals, pulled to pieces, crushed, and digested for 2 or 3 days in the sun, or a warm situation, in 4 times their weight of olive oil, and then pressed; the process being repeated with fresh roses. Ph. E. 1744 and P. Cod. are nearly similar. ALMOND, BEN, or OLIVE OIL, coloured with ALKANET, and scented with attar of roses, is now almost universally sold for it. Used for the hair.

=Oil of Rue.= _Syn._ OLEUM RUTae (INFUSUM), L. _Prep._ (P. Cod.) From fresh rue, bruised, as OIL OF CHAMOMILE. Reputed antispasmodic, emmenagogue, stimulant, and vermifuge. In frictions.

=Oil of St John's Wort.= _Syn._ OLEUM HYPERICI (Ph. L. 1746), O. H.

SIMPLEX, BALSAMUM H., L. From the flowers, 1 part; olive oil, 6 parts; digested together until the oil is well coloured. Antispasmodic, stimulant, and resolvent. A mixture of equal parts of RAPE OIL and GREEN ELDER OIL is usually sold for it.

=Oil of Scam'mony.= _Syn._ OLEUM SCAMMONII, O. PURGANS, L. _Prep._ (Van Mons.) From scammony (in powder), 1 dr.; hot oil of almonds, 3 fl. oz.; triturate together until cold, and the next day decant the clear portion.--_Dose_, 1/2 to 1 table-spoonful.

=Oil of Stramo"nium.= _Syn._ OLEUM STRAMONII, L. _Prep._ (P. Cod.) From the leaves of thorn apple or stramonium, as OIL OF BELLADONNA. Anodyne and discussive; as an application to painful tumours, joints, &c.

=Oil of Tobac'co (by Infusion).= _Syn._ OLEUM TABACI, O. T. INFUSUM, L.

From fresh tobacco leaves (bruised), like OIL OF CHAMOMILE. As an application in ringworm, irritable ulcers, pediculi, &c.; and as a friction in itch, neuralgia, painful indurations, &c. It must be used with extreme caution, as it is poisonous.

=Oil of Tooth'wort.= _Syn._ OLEUM SQUAMARIae, L. From the herb of _Lathraea squamaria_ (Linn.), as OIL OF ST JOHN'S WORT. Astringent and vulnerary.

This must not be confounded with another preparation sometimes called 'OIL OF TOOTHWORT' (OLEUM PLUMBAGINIS EUROPaeae),and which has been occasionally used in itch, as the latter is acrid and apt to cause much irritation.

=Oil of Worm'wood.= _Syn._ OLEUM ABSINTHII, L. From the fresh herb, as OIL OF LILIES. The P. Cod. and Ph. Wurtem. order only part of the herb to 8 parts of oil. Applied to the abdomen in dyspepsia, diarrha, heartburn, worms, &c. It is seldom used in this country.

=OILS (Mineral).= _Syn._ HYDROCARBON OILS. An important cla.s.s of liquids, consisting solely of carbon and hydrogen--the elements of ordinary coal-gas, and obtained by the distillation of coal, lignite, petroleum, and other bituminous substances. For the purposes of illumination, many of these oils are in most respects superior to the fixed or fat oils containing oxygen. They give a whiter and more brilliant light, and are produced at a much lower cost. The lamps in which they are burnt, when properly constructed, are less liable to get out of order than those adapted for the combustion of fat oils, and require less attention when in use. The experiments of Dr Frankland on the relative value of the ordinary illuminating agents[57] prove that the mineral oils are cheaper than all other portable illuminating agents in common use, and that they give, while burning, the largest amount of light with the least development of heat, and the smallest production of carbonic acid. With the oils adapted for burning in lamps other oils are produced. Some are very volatile and highly inflammable, and the safety of the burning oils depends on their proper extraction. These volatile liquids, when isolated, are used in the arts as subst.i.tutes for spirits of turpentine, as solvents for various substances, and to increase the illuminating power of coal-gas. Others are of a greasy nature, and are too heavy to be conveniently used in lamps.

These, however, are well adapted for lubricating fine machinery, and are extensively employed instead of sperm oil by the cotton manufacturers of Lancashire. When the more volatile ingredients are separated from the burning oils, the latter are perfectly safe. Most of the mineral burning oils now in use are, we believe, free from danger in this respect. (See _Tests_, _below_.)

[Footnote 57: See article ILLUMINATION.]

_Hist._ For many years the manufacture of burning oils by the distillation of bituminous schists has been extensively carried out on the Continent, but the discovery which formed the foundation of the modern manufacture was made nearly thirty years ago by our countryman, Mr James Young. This gentleman took the lease of a spring of petroleum in 1847, and after numerous experiments succeeded in obtaining two useful oils from the crude liquid; the one being adapted for lubricating machinery, and the other for burning in lamps. The almost total cessation of the flow of petroleum terminated the business after two years' working, and led Mr Young to inst.i.tute a series of experiments to try if petroleum could be produced artificially by the destructive distillation of coal. These experiments resulted in the discovery of an oil which Mr Young named 'Paraffin oil,'

as it had many of the chemical properties of the solid body of paraffin, discovered twenty years before by Reichenbach in beech-wood tar. Young's patent (dated Oct. 7, 1850) involved the slower distillation of coals, at a lower temperature than had hitherto been employed for the purpose, and this novelty in practice was followed by the novel result of a copious production of liquid hydrocarbons. The gas or cannel coals were found to yield the liquids in largest quant.i.ties, that variety known as Boghead coal or Torbane Hill[58] mineral being specially adapted for the patented process. (See PARAFFIN OIL, _below_.) Soon after Young's discovery native petroleum was brought from Rangoon, and purified by distillation, so as to produce oils very similar to the coal products. During the last few years, however, rich sources of petroleum have been discovered in North America, and from whence are imported the greater part of the vast quant.i.ties of petroleum oil (both for burning and lubricating purposes), together with the paraffin spirit, or naphtha, which are consumed in this country.

[Footnote 58: This species of coal is now exhausted.--ED.]

In the following table are given the quant.i.ties of these substances sent into England and Scotland during the year 1875:--

+---------+---------------+----------------+---------+-----------------+ Refined burning Lubricating Oil. Residuum. Petroleum Spirit. Oil. +---------+--------+------+----------------+---------+-------+---------+ Barrels. Cases. Barls. & Casks. Barrels. Cases. Barrels. London 169,762 3,250 2,511 1,000 ... 53,173 Liverpool 95,853 2,830 300 29,358 ... 30,913 Hull 20,226 8 ... ... ... ... Bristol 36,889 1,392 ... ... ... 17,203 Clyde and Leith 4,233 4 535 9,387 ... ... +---------+--------+------+----------------+---------+-------+---------+ Total 326,963 7,484 3,346 39,745 ... 101,289 +---------+--------+------+----------------+---------+-------+---------+

This amounts to about 17 millions of gallons. In 1874 it exceeded 20 millions of gallons, but the stock in hand at the end of 1874 was about 5 millions of gallons, and the end of 1875 was only 1-1/2 million. The difference was mainly due to overtrading in 1874, which brought refined petroleum to the lowest price yet known in England, viz. 7-3/4d. per gallon in December, 1874, and checked its subsequent importation.[59]

[Footnote 59: W. Matthieu Williams.]

_Tests, Precautions._ The Sanitary Commission of the 'Lancet' took as the limit of safety an oil that gave off inflammable vapour when heated to 130 Fahr., and this has been generally accepted by dealers. If an oil gives off inflammable vapours before being heated up to 130, it is considered unsafe for domestic use.

1. The plan for testing this, recommended in the 'Lancet,' is to heat a portion of the suspected oil in a gallipot placed in boiling water, ascertaining by a thermometer suspended in the oil the temperature at which it will take fire on the surface when a lighted wax vesta is applied to it. This is a troublesome and dangerous process, and has little practical value.

2. A rough-and-ready method of testing the inflammability of a sample is to pour a little out on a dry flat board, and try whether it can be ignited readily by a lighted paper. If it catches fire like turpentine or brandy, the oil is dangerous.

3. The following plan, proposed by Mr Tegetmeier, requires no scientific knowledge and no apparatus but what is to be found in every house, while it is sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes:--

"Take an earthenware dish, holding about half a pint (a breakfast cup will do), fill the cup full from a kettle of boiling water, pour this into an earthenware quart jug, then fill the same cup again with boiling water from the kettle, and pour it also into the quart jug, then fill the cup with cold water, put it into the jug, shake the jug to mix the hot and cold water, then pour the tepid water from the jug into the cup till the cup is half full, then pour about a table-spoonful of the oil to be tested on the tepid water in the cup, take the oil-can with the oil out of the room, then touch the surface of the oil in the cup with a lighted splinter of wood, or a match without sulphur. If the match causes a flash of flame to appear on the surface of the oil, the oil is below the standard of safety, and should not be used; if no flame appears, the oil is up to the standard. We may mention that in this trial no time should be lost after pouring the boiling water from the kettle, as the water may get too cold, but the whole may be gone through in from two to three minutes. It is well to have a saucer at hand, and if the oil should be a bad oil, and ignite with the match, place the saucer on the mouth of the cup, and the flame is extinguished. This trial should be done by daylight, and at a distance from a fire, and the directions must be followed exactly in the order as given above."

4. Provided that the oils to be examined have been produced by careful fractional distillation, their relative volatility, as indicated by their specific gravity, shows to a great extent the facility with which they ignite. The lightest oils are more volatile and more easily inflamed than those which are heavier. Oils much under 800 inflame directly a lighted match is thrown into them, whereas oils at about 815 to 823 (if unmixed products) cannot be set on fire in this manner. The specific gravity test cannot, however, be depended on to determine the inflaming point of any commercial oil. A heavy oil, badly rectified, may contain a proportion of very volatile vapour, and have a low inflaming point; whereas a much lighter oil may be perfectly safe, from its having the more volatile portions carefully removed.

5. (Van der Weyde.) The oil to be tested is placed in a graduated tube closed at one end; the open end is then closed with the finger, and is then placed mouth downwards in a vessel of water that is heated from 43--44 C. The vapour from the portion volatilised at this temperature then collects in the upper part of this tube, and expels a corresponding quant.i.ty of oil. See PETROLEUM.

In Great Britain petroleum is defined by Act of Parliament as being any oil which gives off all inflammable vapour at a temperature less than 100 F.

To prevent accidents with paraffin or petroleum lamps, the following precautions ought to be observed:--

The lamps should be filled and trimmed by daylight.

They should never be overfilled; the oil should not be allowed to come into contact with the metal work of the burner.

Any portion of oil spilled on the outside of the lamp should be carefully wiped away.

When not in use the wick should be turned down into the wick-holder.

? The princ.i.p.al products noticed below rank high among the numerous varieties of mineral oil now in the market, but there are doubtless many others equally good and safe. Their properties are described in accordance with the results obtained by Mr W. B. Tegetmeier, who has devoted much time to the examination of the mineral oils:--

=Oil, Al'bert.i.te.= From 'Albert.i.te,' a l.u.s.trous black mineral found in New Brunswick. A sample was shown in the Colonial Department of the International Exhibition of 1862, but the oil has not yet appeared in the English market.

_Prop._ Odour very slight; illuminating power high; boiling point 338 Fahr., or 126 above that of water.

=Oil, American.= See PETROLEUM OIL (_below_).

=Oil, Apyroec'tic.= _Syn._ NON-EXPLOSIVE OIL. A burning oil, introduced by F. Tall, of Hull, and prepared, we believe, from American petroleum.

_Prop._ Slightly coloured; perfectly limpid; odour slight, but not perceivable during combustion. The most remarkable property of this oil is that, in spite of its limpidity, the point at which it gives off inflammable vapour is 180 Fahr., or 80 above the requirements of the Petroleum Act.

=Oil, Bel'montine.= From Rangoon tar, or Burmese petroleum, by distillation; superheated steam being employed as the heating agent.

_Prop._ Colourless; odour not unpleasant; sp. gr. 847; but although so heavy, the oil is altogether free from viscosity, and will rise rapidly in a comparatively long wick; inflaming point 134 Fahr.; burns with an exceedingly white light, and possesses a very high illuminating power.

_Obs._ The distillation of the Rangoon tar is carried on by Price's Patent Candle Company under a patent. Besides the above lamp oil, several beautiful and useful products are obtained. At first there comes over a very volatile liquid, termed SHERWOOD OIL, used as a detergent for removing grease from fabrics, cleaning gloves, &c.; then comes the BELMONTINE OIL, already noticed; then two lubricating oils, the one light and the other heavy; and, last of all, when the temperature is considerably elevated, the beautiful white, translucent solid known as BELMONTINE, distils over. This last is a kind of paraffin, and is used for making ornamental candles.