Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 72

=BANA'NA= (na'- or -nah'-). [Nat.] The _mu'sa sapien'tum_ (Linn.), a species of plantain; also its fruit. The Banana contains about 27 per cent. of solid matter, and has nearly the same nutritive value as rice. It is largely consumed in the tropics, where the common allowance for a labourer is 6-1/2 lbs. of the fresh fruit or 2 lbs. of the dry meal, with a quarter of a pound of salt meat or fish. It is sometimes fried in slices and often made into preserves.

_Composition of the Pulp of Ripe Bananas_ (CORENWINDER).

Nitrogenous matter 4820 Sugar, pectose, organic acid, and traces of starch 19657 Fatty matter 0632 Cellulose 0200 Saline matter 0791 Water 73900 ------- 100000

See PLANTAIN.

=BANCOUL, NUTS OF.= This nut is the seed of a tree belonging to the _Euphorbiaciae_, of which two or three species occur in Ceylon, Cochin-China, New Caledonia, Bourbon, &c. It is composed of a hard and woody endocarp, and of an oily kernel, containing:--

Water 5000 Oil 62175 Nitrogenous matter 22653 Non-nitrogenous matter 6827 Mineral matter 3345 ------- 100000 Nitrogen 3625%

This cake, after expression of the oil, contains 9 per cent. of nitrogen, and 4 per cent. of phosphoric acid, and is consequently of high value as a manure. The expressed oil is purgative, but as a lamp-oil it is superior to colza. Unfortunately the kernel forms only 33 per cent. of the entire weight of the nut. Hence, before it can become an article of commerce, it must be decorticated at the place of its birth. (Corenwinder.)

=BAND'AGE= (aje). _Syn._ DELIGA'TIO, FAS"CIA, LIGA'MEN, LIGATU"RA, VINCTU"RA, L.; BANDAGE, BANDE, Fr.; BINDE, VERBAND, Ger. In _surgery_, the fillet, roller, or cloths, used to support parts, to exert pressure on them, or to retain dressings in their proper places.

Bandages are usually formed of long narrow slips of calico or linen, and, occasionally, of flannel, which are generally made into a roll (ROLLER) of moderate size, so as to be the more conveniently handled and applied. They are either SIMPLE, as the cir'cular, the spiral, or the unit'ing bandage; or COMPOUND, as the T-bandage, suspen'sory b., &c.

The application of bandages, as in the dressing of wounds, ulcers, &c., though of such frequent occurrence, is often very carelessly and badly done. The form and nature of the part, and the object in view, should always receive consideration; as should also the condition of the patient after their application--whether of repose, exercise, or labour. Ordinary ingenuity will supply the rest. The safest, simplest, and most effective means of fastening them is, in most cases, furnished by a common needle and thread or cotton.

=Bandage, Mus'tard.= A woollen roller soaked in a mixture of the best flour of mustard and warm water, of the consistence of fresh cream, the excess of moisture being expelled by gentle pressure.--Used to envelope the body, or a limb, by repeatedly folding it round the part; in the cold stages of cholera, and in other cases requiring an energetic stimulant.

Other medicaments, particularly those of a stimulating and anodyne character, are sometimes applied in the same manner. See EMBROCATIONS, LOTIONS, POULTICES, &c.

=BANDAN'A.= [Ind.] _Syn._ BANDAN'NA. A handkerchief, originally from the East Indies, having white spots on a red, blue, or other dark ground. In _calico-printing_, a 'discharge style' in imitation of the Indian bandanas. The fabric, many folds thick, is placed between leaden plates having the pattern cut out of them; hydraulic pressure is then applied, and a clear solution of chloride of lime forced through, followed by a stream of pure water.

=BAND'OLINE= (-lin; -lene). See FIXATURE.

=BANE.= Poison; anything deleterious or destructive; a word often found joined to another, in the popular and vulgar names of plants and disease, to denote their character; as BANE'-BERRY, the herb Christopher; BANE'-WORT, deadly-nightshade; SHEEP'S BANE, the rot; &c.

=BANG, Bangue= (bang'). [Nat.] See HEMP, INDIAN.

=BAN'IAN= (ban'-yan). The _fi'cus In'dicus_ (Linn.), or Indian fig. The fruit and young branches yield one species of gum-lac; and both the juice and bark are used medicinally.

Among sailors, BANIAN' DAYS are those on which butcher's meat is not served up at dinner.

=BANN'OCK= (-uk). In Scotland and the northern counties of England, a flat round cake made of oat, rye, or barley meal, baked on an iron plate over the fire, or on the hot hearth.

=BARBS.= _Syn._ LAMPAS, SKEW. This occurs in horses from two to four years old, and arises from a little inflammation of the ridges that pa.s.s along the palate, above and behind the incisor teeth, occasionally preventing the animal from eating and setting up slight fever. The best treatment is to scarify the enlarged ridges freely with a lancet or penknife, and to give for a time bran mashes, soaked grain, and other soft food.

=BAR'BERRY.= _Syn._ PEP'PERIDGE-BUSH, Th.o.r.n.y BOX'-TREE*; BER'BERIS, B.

VULGA"RIS (Linn.), L.; EPINE-VINETTE, VINETTIER, Fr.; BERBERITZE, Ger. A perennial bush or shrub common in woods and hedges. Berries (BAR'BERRIES, PEP'PERIDGES), gratefully acid, cooling, and astringent; used in pastry, but require, according to their degree of ripeness, from one half their weight to an equal weight of sugar. Both bark and berries were formerly esteemed in jaundice, biliary flukes, &c. The crushed berries with water form a refreshing fever-drink. The root dyes a fugitive yellow. See BERBERINE, JAMS, PRESERVES, &c.

=BAREGE= (barege, bar-razhe'). [Fr.] A light woollen fabric so named from having been first made in the valley of Bareges. Of late years Paris has become celebrated for its bareges; but these are generally woven with the 'warp' of silk, and the 'woof' of wool. In the common imitations of the shops, the 'warp' is generally of cotton.

=BAREGINE= (baregine). See GLAIRINE.

=BARIL'LA.= [Eng., Ger., L., Sp.] _Syn._ SO'Dae CAR'BONAS VENA'LE, L.; BARIG"LIA, BARIL'LOR, Sp., Lev.; BARILLE, SOUDE, Fr. The alkaline residuum of the combustion of salsola, salicornia, chenopodium, and other species of the order Chenopodiaceae. These plants, which are cultivated on the sea-coast for the purpose, are cut down when ripe, dried, and burned in heaps, on iron bars laid across pits dug in the earth. The alkali and saline matter contained in them is thus fused, and flows into the cavity below, forming, when cold, a hard grey or bluish porous ma.s.s which is BARILLA.

_Comp._ Carbonate, sulphate, chloride, and sulphide of sodium, carbonate and sulphate of calcium, alumina, silica, oxide of iron, and imperfectly consumed carbonaceous matter, with a little iodine and bromine. The proportion of soda varies in different varieties:--

ALICANT' BARILLA; obtained chiefly from several species of _salso'la_ and from _chenopo'dium setig'erum_ (-tij'-), &c.; contains from 25% to 40% of carbonate of soda. (Guibourt.)

CANA"RY B.; from _salso'la ka'li_. (Loudon.) _French barillas_:--

_a._ NARBONNE' B., SALICOR; from _salicor'nia ann'ua_ or _herba'cea_; contains 14% to 15% of carbonate of soda.

_b._ B. OF AIGUEMORTES, BLANQUETTE; from mixed plants; contains 3% to 8% of carbonate of soda. (Guibourt.)

_c._ NOR'MANDY B., N. SODA; from _fuci_.

SIC'ILY BARILLA (sis'-). Princ.i.p.ally from _salso'la sati'va_; furnishes 55% of carbonate of soda. (Fee.)

Good barilla, on the average, contains about 20% of real or available alkali, chiefly under the form of carbonate, besides sulphates, muriates, &c.

_a.s.say._ See ALKALIMETRY.

_Uses, &c._ Barilla is chiefly used in the manufacture of soap and gla.s.s; but the gross quant.i.ty imported, though annually increasing, only reached 54,608 _cwt._ in 1856; whilst the exports of soda in the same year reached to about 1,500,000 _cwt._, and in 1859 to above 2,000,000 _cwt._ This enormous quant.i.ty was chiefly furnished by our home manufactories.

Barilla is chiefly imported from Spain, Sicily, Teneriffe, and the Levant; but since the introduction of Le Blanc's process for obtaining soda from common salt, its importance and value has considerably lessened. See KELP, SODA, &c.

=BARIUM.= Ba. A metallic radical or element, of which baryta is the chief oxide, and somewhat extensively distributed. First obtained in 1808 by Sir H. Davy. Prepared from baryta by strongly heating it in an iron tube, through which the vapour of pota.s.sium is conveyed; the reduced barium being subsequently extracted from the mixed residuum by quicksilver, which is afterwards driven off in a small green-gla.s.s retort, in a vapour of mineral naphtha.

_Prop., &c._ Greyish-white, approaching silver in colour and l.u.s.tre; decomposes water, and gradually oxidises in the air, with the formation of the ordinary oxide (BARYTA). It is malleable, fusible under a red heat; burns in contact with air with a deep red light, and has the sp. gr. 470.

_Salts._ Barium forms numerous salts, which are all either colourless or white, except a few, whose acids are coloured, as the chromate, manganate, &c. Some of them are soluble in water; one or two only are soluble in alcohol, and that very sparingly; and (with the exception of the sulphate) they are all extremely poisonous. They may be prepared by saturating solutions of the acids with either baryta-water, or carbonate of barium; and some of them may be prepared by double decomposition.

The various soluble barium salts are known by the following reactions, and they are all (except the sulphate) soluble either in water or in dilute hydrochloric acid, except the nitrate and chloride, which are not soluble in aqueous solutions of their respective acids. Their solutions give an immediate heavy white precipitate with dilute sulphuric acid, and with solutions of the sulphates, which is insoluble in dilute acids and solutions of the alkalies and of the salts of ammonia, that with a solution of sulphate of lime being very sensitive, and characteristic:--Hydrofluosilicic acid gives a very characteristic colourless crystalline and quickly subsiding precipitate, only slightly soluble in hydrochloric acid and nitric acid; alcohol, in equal volume, being added, so hastens and completes the reaction, that the filtrate is unaffected by sulphuric acid:--Chromate of pota.s.sium gives a bright yellow precipitate in neutral solutions, soluble in hydrochloric acid and in nitric acid, but insoluble in acetic acid:--Caustic pota.s.sa or soda (when quite free from carbonate), and caustic ammonia, cause no precipitate, except in highly concentrated solutions:--Alkaline carbonates give a heavy white precipitate with baryta-water or a solution of baryta, and which is all but insoluble in water, and freely soluble in dilute hydrochloric acid:--Heated with proof spirit, or pyroxilic spirit, the barium salts give a greenish-yellow tinge to the flame:--The barium salts, and particularly the chloride, when exposed on a platinum wire to the inner flame of the blowpipe, colour the outer flame yellowish-green:--Insoluble sulphate of barium may be mixed with powdered charcoal, and exposed for a short time to a full red heat, when sulphide of barium will be formed, which is freely soluble in water, and which, after being neutralised with hydrochloric acid, or acetic acid, will yield a solution suitable to the application of the usual tests. The carbonate, and the salts of barium with the organic acids, are all convertible into pure baryta by exposure to a bright red heat.

Baryta is distinguished from lime and from magnesia by its great solubility in hot water, and by the entire insolubility of its sulphate; from strontia, by being precipitated by hydrofluosilicic acid, and by not giving a red colour to the flame of alcohol; from alumina, by its causticity and alkaline reaction, and by not being precipitated from its solution in water by ammonium sulphydrate.

_Pois., &c._ The sulphate, owing to its insolubility, is the only salt of barium which is not poisonous.--_Symp._ Nausea, vomiting, pains in the head, ringing in the ears, vertigo, and intermitting cramps and convulsions; the respiration is frequently suspended for several moments, and the pupil is generally dilated. The symptoms, however, often vary, and are not very distinctive.--_Treatm., Ant., &c._ Vomiting, followed by copious draughts of water soured with sulphuric acid, or sulphate of soda (Glauber-salt) or sulphate of magnesia (Epsom-salt), dissolved in a large quant.i.ty of water. When carbonate of barium has been swallowed, a mixture of one of the above sulphates and weak vinegar should be taken after the vomiting, in order that a soluble barium salt may be first formed, on which the alkaline sulphate will act more readily. Subsequent irritation may be soothed by opium or morphia, and antiphlogistics.

=Barium, Ac'etate of.= Ba(C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}). _Syn._ BARY'Tae ACE'TAS, L.

_Prep._ From dilute sulphuric acid, neutralised with carbonate of barium, and the solution evaporated and crystallised. Very soluble in water; insoluble, or nearly so, in rectified spirit.--_Uses, Dose, &c._ Same as the chloride. It is seldom employed.

=Barium, a.r.s.e"niate of.= Ba_{3}(PO_{4})_{2}. _Syn._ BARY'Tae a.r.s.e"NIAS, L. _Prep._ A solution of chloride of barium is added to another of a.r.s.eniate of pota.s.sium or sodium, and the precipitate collected, washed, and dried. By dissolving this salt in a solution of a.r.s.enic acid, and crystallising, BINa.r.s.e"NIATE OF BARIUM is obtained. Has been recommended in certain skin diseases, and in phthisis complicated with scrofula.--_Dose_, 1/16 to 1/4 gr.

=Barium, Ar'senite of.= Ba(AsO_{2})_{2}. _Syn._ BARY'Tae AR'SENIS, L. Very slightly soluble.--_Use, &c._ As the last.

=Barium, Bromide of.= BaBr_{2}. _Syn._ BA"RII BROMI'DUM, L.; BROMURE DE BARYUM, &c., Fr. _Prep._ Boil a solution of protobromide of iron with moist carbonate of barium, in slight excess; filter, evaporate to dryness, and heat the residuum to redness. By careful evaporation of its aqueous solution it may be obtained in crystals. It is soluble in both alcohol and water, and its physiological properties resemble those of iodide of barium.

=Barium, Carbonate of.= BaCO_{3}. _Syn._ CARBONATE OF BARY'TA; BARY'Tae CAR'BONAS, L.; CARBONATE DE BARYTE, &c., Fr.; KOHLENSAURES, BARYT, &c., Ger. A heavy white ma.s.s or powder, very nearly insoluble in water, and decomposed by nearly all the acids. It is found in the crude state abundantly in nature, but can only be obtained absolutely pure by adding an alkaline carbonate to a solution of chloride of barium, or by saturating the hydrate with carbonic anhydride, and in either case washing and drying the precipitate. Native carbonate of barium (_witherite_) is ordered in the pharmacopias, and is sufficiently pure for making the barium salts, the only purpose to which it is therein applied.

_Uses._ In _pharmacy_, &c., chiefly to prepare barium salts. In _chemistry_, to separate certain metallic oxides when occurring together in solutions. In the _arts_, as a base for certain delicate colours, as an ingredient in plate-gla.s.s, in the manufacture of beet sugar, &c. It is not used in medicine. It is extremely poisonous.

=Barium, Bisulphide.= This substance may be obtained as a fine yellow-coloured product by shaking a solution of barium chloride with a mixture of ammonium sulphide and carbon disulphide. It is insoluble in alcohol, soluble in water, and rapidly dissolved by slightly acidulated water.

=Barium, Chloride of.= BaCl_{2}.2Aq. _Syn._ CHLORIDE OF BARIUM; BARII CHLORIDUM, L.; CHLORURE DE BARYUM, CHLORHYDRATE DE BARYTE, &c., Fr.; SALZSaURE SCHWERERDE, CHLORBARIUM, Ger. Neutralise a hot dilute solution of hydrochloric acid with carbonate of barium, evaporate down, and crystallise. Sulphide of barium can be subst.i.tuted for the carbonate. If required chemically pure, gaseous hydrochloric acid is transmitted through a concentrated solution of common or impure chloride of barium, as long as a precipitate forms; the resulting crystalline powder, which is nearly the whole of the chloride of barium present, is collected on a filter, and, after draining, is washed repeatedly with small quant.i.ties of pure hydrochloric acid, until the washings, diluted with water, and precipitated with sulphuric acid, give a filtrate which, upon evaporation in a platinum capsule or a watch-gla.s.s, leaves no residue; the last traces of acid having been removed by a little alcohol applied in a like manner, the powder is at once dried, and then carefully preserved from the air.--Used in a.n.a.lysis.