MEDICAL ZOOLOGY,

AND

Mineralogy»

OR
ILLUSTRATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS

ANIMALS AND MINERALS

EMPLOYED IN MEDICINE,
AND OF THE

PREPARATIONS DERIVED FROM THEM:
AN ACCOUNT OF
ANIMAL AND MINERAL POISONS:

WITH FIGURES COLOURED FROM NATURE.

BY

>
JOHN STEPHENSON, M.D. E.RS.

AUTHOR OF “ MEDICAL BOTANY.”

LONDON:
JOHN WILSON, PRINCES STREET, SOHO.

1832,

LONDON:
PRINTED BY DIGGENS AND JONES, LEICESTER STREFT.

Bs ie

SS OE ae Rae” > MAMET SINT CP LT Pant Sage PNET OPP ae?

DEDICATION.

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE
HENRY LORD BROUGHAM AND VAUX,

BARON BROUGHAM,

OF BROUGHAM, IN THE COUNTY OF WESTMORELAND,

LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF GREAT BRITAIN.

AN early and intimate acquaintance with that portion
of our country (Westmoreland), which will in future
years derive an additional degree of celebrity from the
name of “ Brougham,” by enabling me to bear testi-
mony to the virtues which adorn your Lordship’s
private life, must plead, both with your Lordship and
the public, for my presumption in gracing this work
with a name so illustrious.

It is not to your Lordship as a Statesman that I
dedicate the following pages; I presume not to praise

or even properly to appreciate that transcendent genius,

LV. DEDICATION.

which has dispersed the bigotry of ages and raised your
Lordship to your present rank in society: my studies,
while they have incapacitated me from making the
just distinctions between your Lordship and many of
your predecessors, enable me to form a just estimate of
that combination of talents which have rendered your
Lordship an object of equal admiration to the Politician
and the Philosopher.

To the Patron of Science and the Friend of Man-
kind, I inscribe this work, in the fullest confidence
that the fame of your Lordship will last as long as the
glories of England shall remain the subjects of history
or tradition.

JOHN STEPHENSON.

Lonpon, March, 1832.

NC

apie

De, tae

PREFACE.

Tue useful and powerful aid which the modern practice

of medicine has received from many substances in the —

Animal and Mineral Kingdom, is a fact too well known
to require elucidation: and that no publication has
hitherto appeared in this country on a subject so gene-
rally useful, has excited the surprise of all who are
acquainted with medicine as a science.

The Author, in presenting to the public this Work,
which may be considered as a continuation of a former
one by Mr. Churchill and himself, trusts that in some
measure he has succeeded in accomplishing what has
been so long desired. The reader will likewise find that
it renders complete the works which others have written
on the subject of Medical Botany.

To the account of each Animal and Mineral substance
are appended the characters of the genus and species to
which they belong, to this is added the English, provin-
cial and foreign names; a copious list of synonymes ;
physical, chemical, and medical properties and uses.

The medical reader will find every substance retained in

modern practice has been fully and, the Author would

VI PREFACE.

fain hope, accurately described. An account of all the
most important Animal and Mineral Poisons was required
to render the work complete; these have been added,
with the same attention to authorities, as will be found
in other parts of the work.

Many of the Lithographic Illustrations are from ori-
ginal drawings made expressly for the work, and several
of them represent species never given before. To the
account of most of those minerals that assume regular
forms, the figures of the primitive, and to some of the
most important, the secondary forms are annexed: the
time necessary to delineate them by geometrical projec-
tion, could not be given, and that errors in some of the
figures, (owing to the carelessness or ignorance of the
artists) will be observed there can be nodoubt; but the
Author trusts that all who know the difficulty of pro-
curing an artist who, in delineating a subject, can unite
facility of execution with scientific knowledge, will make
due allowance for any trifling inaccuracy which arises
from a cause over which he had no control.

The Author cannot conclude this short address with-
out acknowledging the ready access that has been
afforded him to the magnificent collection ‘of Minerals
and other objects of Natural History, in the British
Museum. To Tuos. Beir, Esq. F.R.S. of New Broad
Street, who kindly favoured him with several rare spe-
cimens of Poisonous Serpents, he returns his most sin-
cere thanks.

Moschiws Moschifercevs.

Viverra Cveta.

London,libleshed, by Soh

Wilson, Princes Street: Soho, Jangyt,"483/,

a ceey PE St:

MEDICAL ZOOLOGY

MINERALOGY.

bit Aud
~ ~

PART THE ‘ANIMAL KINGDOM.

Crass I—MAMMALIA.

Vertebrated animals, with red and warm blood,
breathing by means of lungs, viviparous, and suckling
their young with milk formed in their breasts or
mamme.

*

I.

MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS.
Thibetian Musk.

—_— ———.

Order Pecora, Lin. Ruminantia, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Jncisors ?; canines ’—é; molars §—&=

34. Canines wanting altogether in the females ;
superior canines projecting from the mouth in the
males; ears long, pointed; body slender; no horns,
or antlers ; feet with hoofs ; taz very short.

ne

9 MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS.

Spec. Cuar. Fur of a grey brown; hair coarse; a
sac or follicle before the prepuce filled with an unc-
tuous musky substance ; seze of the roebuck.

Moschus ecapreolus; Gesner, Quadr. 695. Animal moschiferum; Raii Hist,
Quadr, 127. Johnston, Quadr.t. 29. Schroeck, Hist. Moschi, i.t.1. Capra
moschi; Aldrov. 743. Tragus moschiferus; Klein, Quadr. 18. Le Musc;
Buffon, Hist. Nat. xii. 361. and Suppl. vi. 221. t. 29. Moschus moschiferus ;
Syst. Nat. Gmelin, i.172. Shaw, Zool, ii, 249, t. 171, Thibetian Musk ;
Pennant, Hist. Quadr, 1.124.

Le Musc, Fr.; Jl Muschio, It.; El Almizcle, Sp; Das Bisamthier, Ger. 5
Desmerdyret, Dan.; Desmansdock, Swed.; Kabarga, Rush. ; Meshk, Arab. ;
Xe, Chin.

Tue valuable and powerful aromatic substance from which this ani-
mal takes its name, was long known and highly prized as an article
of the materia medica, before any certain account of the animal
itself had been obtained by naturalists. Resident in the remote
parts of Asia, and inhabiting the wildest and most elevated regions,
it was considered only as an object of the chase, and confounded
with the different species of deer and antelopes, with which in
manners and habit it is so nearly allied. It appears to have been
unknown to the ancients; and although the drug which this animal
yields was employed from time immemorial, no notice of the
species to which it belongs existed, till Abuzied Serassi, an Arabian
author, described it as a deer with horns. Serapion, who flourished
about the end of the eighth century, was the first who introduced
a knowledge of the animal into western Europe. Avicenna,
Gesner, Aldrovandus, and others followed; but Grew gave the
first satisfactory description.

The Thibetian Musk resembles the roe-buck in form but has no
horns, and scarcely any tail. It measures about three fect four inches
in length, and weighs from twenty-five to thirty pounds. It is some-
what more than two feet in height, with the hind considerably
longer than the fore legs ; which circumstance enables it to make
prodigious leaps. The eyes are destitute of a lachrymal sinus ; they

-are large with a rufous brown iris; the ears are three inches in
length; pointed, erect, like those of the rabbit, furnished internally

MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS, 2S

with long white hairs, blended with others of a greyish tinge, and,
externally, with hairs of a reddish black, mixed with grey. The
upper jaw, in the male, is provided with two very long canine
teeth, projecting from the mouth, curved inwards, and sharp on
the inner side; at the angle of the gape are two tufts of stiff hair.
The fur is coarser than that of the stag, varying at different seasons
of the year, and different periods of life. The prevailing colour of
the hair on the body is dark brown, cinereous at their origin, with
brown, ferruginous, or blackish tips, presenting different hues, ac-
cording to the position in which the creature is viewed. The
hoofs are deeply cloven, slender and black; the succentorial ones
are likewise very long, serving the animal to grasp the edges of
rocks, in climbing or descending, in the same manner as the
Chamois. In the male, behind the naval and before the prepuce,
there is situated an oval bag, fiat on one side and convex on the
other, about three inches long and two broad, projecting, with a
very small orifice, beset with short hairs. In the young animal, it
is empty; but, in the full-grown individual, it contains from one
to two drachms of a soft unctuous brown substance, of the most
powerful and penetrating smell, which is the genuine musk. The
female has two mammee; is smaller than the male, and not only
wants the long projecting canine teeth, or tusks, but the follicle.
Le Peyronie has given in the Receuil de |’Acadamie des Sciences,
an anatomical description of the Musk Deer, made probably from
the individual in the menagerie at Versailles. The drawing, on the
annexed plate, was made from a specimen in the British Museum ;
and, Figs. 1. and 2, are intended to represent different views of
the musk bag, from Buffon.

The Musk is an inhabitant of the alpine tracts of Central Asia,
particularly those which divide Thibet from India, where it is
called Kustwra. It is also found in the kingdoms of Bontan and
Tonquin, in several of the Chinese provinces, in Chinese Tartary,
and even some portionsof Russian Tartary, as about the lake Baikal,
and the rivers Jenesi and Argun, from lat. 60° to 45°, but seldom
so far south, except driven by great falls of snow to seek for food
in more temperate climates. Its favourite haunts are the tops of
mountains covered with extensive forests of pine trees, where it
delights to roam in places of the most difficult access, springing

4 MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS.

from rock to rock with great agility, and, when pursued, taking
refuge in the highest and most inaccessible summits. It lives
retired and solitary, except when large flocks collect, in order to
change their residence, being driven southward by the approaching
cold. During this migration the peasants lie in wait for them,
and either take them in snares, or kill them with bludgeons and
arrows. Though timid and gentle in their wild state, they are
never reconciled to domestication, and pine and die in confine-
ment. Daubenton, however, mentions one which he saw at
Versailles, in 1772, where it lived three years. They feed on roots,
and the tender branches of shrubs and trees, and are particularly
fond of lichens, arbutus, rhodedendron, and wortle-berry plants,

The flesh is eaten by the natives notwithstanding its strong
flavour of musk, and the skins are manufactured into bonnets and
winter dresses, by the Tungusians and the Russians ; but the animal
is chiefly hunted for the sake of the perfume. It is chiefly in the
rutting season that the bag of the animal becomes filled with musk,
when it diffuses a very strong and penetrating odour. At that
period, irritated by its abundance, the creature rubs itself against
rocks and trees, and thus occasionally ruptures the bag, and the
musk escapes from it. The musk thus ejected is carefully gathered,
from the places where it occurs, as it possesses in a very eminent
degree, all the peculiar qualities of the musk; that which is taken
from the bag, not being always mature.

According to Tavernier, the best and greatest quantity of musk
comes from the kingdom of Bontan, whence it is carried for sale
to Patna, in Bengal. After killing the animal, the peasants cut
off the bag, which is about the size of a pigeon’s egg, and is situ-
ated nearer the organs of generation than the navel. As soon as
the bag is cut away, a small hollow reed is inserted into it, that
the musk may not suffer, which it would be apt to do from want
of air, and the whole is tied round with a sinew of the animal.

Musk is brought to this country from China, in caddies, which
contain from twenty to sixty and an hundred ounces each. The
Tibetian is considered by far the best, but an inferior sort is im-
ported from Brasil, and a still worse from Russia. The best is
that which is in the natural follicle, or pod, which is a small round
bladder, of a brownish colour, lined with a very thin membrane,

I I

MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS. >

and covered externally with coarse hairs. As it is a very high
priced article, it is frequently adulterated by a mixture of dried
blood and asphaltum; and sometimes the bag is punctured in
several places, and lead, sand, and other heavy matters introduced.
The presence of dried blood may be suspected, by its emitting as
it inflames, a foetid smoke; and asphaltum is discovered by its
melting, and running before it inflames if thrown. on a hot iron ;
whereas genuine musk inflames without running and leaves only
charcoal.

Musk, when pure, appears in small lumps or grains, of a deep
brown colour, resembling coagulated blood; feels unctuous to the
touch; has a strong, peculiar, aromatic, diffusible odour; and a
bitterish sub-acrid taste. It is a most powerful and durable per-
fume, and a few grains of it will yield an odour for years, without
any sensible diminution in weight or power. So powerful, indeed,
is the smell of musk, when fresh taken from the animal, or from
quantities put up by the merchants for sale, that it has been known
to occasion hemorrhagies from the nose, eyes, and ears, of those
who have imprudently inhaled its vapours ; and we are assured by
Chardin, that whenever he was engaged in making purchases of
musk, he always found it necessary to cover his face with several
folds of a handkerchief, in order to be sufficiently secure against
the sudden effects of the perfume. The odour of this substance
is most agreeably developed when mixed with certain other per-
fumes, as civet, ambergris, lavender, &c. Musk yields part of its
active matter to water, by infusion; alcohol, takes up most of its
active parts, though the odour is only discovered upon dilution,
and sulphuric ether dissolves it almost completely. The watery
infusions are decomposed by the oxymuriate of mercury, sulphate
of iron, nitrate of silver, and the infusion of yellow bark. Musk,
as Dr. Duncan justly observes, is seldom met with in commerce
in a perfectly genuine state, but always more or less sophisticated ;
hence, the great diversity of the results of its chemical analysis,
From the very sensible ammonaical odour which it emits, it has
been concluded that it is a resinous body combined with a volatile
oil and mucilaginous extractive matter. M. Nysten} (Dict. de
Med.) states it to consist principally of a volatile oil, a resin, and
adipocere ; but I do not know whether he has arrived at this

6 MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS,

conclusion from his own experiments. Thieman,* a Prussian
chemist, has given a very minute analysis both of the Tonquin and
Siberian musk. In 100 parts of the former he got carbonate of
ammonia, 10; wax, 9; gluten, 50; albumen and membranes, 30;
muriate and carbonate of soda, 1; with traces of potass; but he
was nof able to procure any essential oil.

Musk is not confined solely to the animal we have been
describing, but exists, under various modifications, in several
. others. It is found in small quantity in the Cape Gennett (Viverra
Genetta, L.), and the odoriferous substance yielded by the Civet, is
in many respects analogous to musk. The flesh of some animals,
as the Pecari, or Mexican Hog (Sus tajassu), and of the Musk Ox,
(Bos moschatus) has a strong flavour of musk. Man himself, under
certain circumstances, gives outa smell of musk: Haller remarked
it in the perspiration; Merat perceived it in the bile; and
Cartheuser observed the analogy between some productions of musk
and the odorous part of urine. A great variety of plants, differing
widely from each other: in their botanical characters, smell power-
fully of musk. Among these are Centaurea moschata, Adoxa mos-
chatellina, Aster argophyllus, Mimulus moschatus,and many others.

MepicaL Properties anD Usres.—As a medicine, musk is
heldin high estimation in the eastern countries, and has now been
introduced in pretty general use among European practitioners, in
the treatment of the greater number of spasmodic affections, and
also in diseases of debility, The Greeks and Romans were not
acquainted with musk, even as a perfume; the Arabian writers
iirst mention it about the eighth century, and its properties as a
medicine were not known before the time of Aétius. With respect
to its medical virtues, it is a powerful stimulant and antispasmodic,
promoting the secretions, raising the pulse without heating the
body, relieving spasm, and increasing the energy of the brain and
neryous system. By some practitioners it has been most highly
extolled as a very powerful agent for relieving the low delirium,
subsultus tendinum, hiccough, and other symptoms of a spasmodic
nature, which supervene on the more advanced stages of continued
and exanthematous fevers. It is, however, principally employed

* Berlini.che Jahrbuch der Pharmacie, 1803, p. 100,

gt aes, oe ha Mh SE POR Sharad Eats Bre oat ates ee tet te

PLL GR IE OO EE TOE EE

a

PSF GOT RR ANIC IP Ee, OE OER Me Fo St

wie Bice a ee a A 3f

VIVERRA CIVETTA. 7

as an antispasmodic, in various convulsive diseases, especially in
hysteria, epilepsy, tetanus, and as a stimulant in retrocedent gout.
In cholera, it is given with the view of checking vomiting. Com-
bined with ammonia, it has been celebrated for its power of
arresting the progress of gangrene, and in this form. the late
Mr. White of Manchester administered it with great advantage
in sloughing phagedenic ulcers, and in sphacelus, particularly in
elderly people. Tt is much employed by the Hindoo physicians,
as an antidote to hydrophobia; and if we are to believe a paper
inserted in the Philosophical Transactions for 1745, by Reid, no
other remedy is employed at Tonquin than musk, against the bite
of a mad dog. In the Tonquin specific it is combined with
cinnabar, and is exhibited in large doses, frequently repeated ; but
Alibert* mentions having seen it given in hydrophobia without
effect. Hillary says in these cases it acts as a sudorific, and Gmelin +

regarded it as a specific antidote. Its dose is from five grains to

half a drachm, repeated every five or six hours, in the form of a

bolus. To children it has becn recommended by Dr. Murray, under

the form of enema, as a remedy.in the convulsions arising from the
irritation of dentition, Dr. Duncan says the best preparation is
the tincture.

Orr. Prep.—Mistura Moschi, L. Tinctura Moschi, D.

VIVERRA CIVETTA.
African Civet, or Civet Cat.

Order Ferx, Lin. Carnasters, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. IJncisors $; canines t+—4; molars $—$—=
40. From four to six molars on each side in each
jaw; head long ; muzzle pointed ; tongue bristling with
papille ; feet pentadactyle; claws semiretractile ; a
pouch under the anus, containing a thick and very
strong scented liquor.

* Matere Medicale, v. ii. 550.
+ Diss. de specifico antidoto novo adversus morsu canis rabidi, Tub. 1750.

8 VIVERRA CIVETTA.

#

Spec. Cuar. TZail with four or five annuli, brown
towards the tip ; fur grey with brown or black stripes
and spots ; a mane along the dorsal line.

Civettas Clusius, cur. post. 57. Felis Zibethi; Gesn, Quadr, 836. Animal
Zibethi; Aldrov. 340, La Civette; Buffon, Hist. Nat. ix. 353, t. 34. Viverra

civetta; Shaw, Zool. i. t. 95. Syst. Nat. Gmelin, 1. 80.
La civette, Fr.; Zibet, It.; Zibetto, Sp, and Port, ; Die Zibetikatze. Ger.

Tuis animal, which is remarkable for the production of the
perfume which bears its name, is rather more than two feet in
length, exclusive of the tail, which is about fourteen inches. The
ground colour of the body is a brownish grey, marked with
numerous transverse interrupted blackish or dusky bands, narrow
and parallel with each other on the shoulders, larger on the body
and on the thighs, and which are sometimes so much approximated
and curved as to form eye-like spots, like those of the panther.
The tail is marked with four or five rings of a blackish brown
colour, and its extremity for about six inches, is entirely black.
The hair is coarse, and stands up along the back so as to forma
kind of mane, which may be raised or depressed at pleasure.
The body is thickish ; the claws half retractile ; the ears short and
rounded, and the nose sharp and black at the tip. The legs are
black ; the upper lip and sides of the neck nearly white. A large
patch of black surrounds each eye, and passes from it to the angle
of the mouth, and two or three bands of the same colour pass.
obliquely from the base of each ear, and end at the throat and
shoulders. The tongue is very analagous to that of the common
cat, being furnished with many small elevated and pointed papille.
In addition to the six incisors and two canines, which are common
to the whole of the true carnivora, it has on each side and in each
jaw six molars, one of which is strong and adapted for lacerating
flesh, while the others are more or less of the ordinary form. The
most distinctive character, however, of the Civit is the organization
of the bag containing its peculiar scent. It opens by a narrow
cleft, situated between the extremity of the rectum and the parts
of generation, in both sexes. This cleft, says Baron Cuvier,

VIVERRA CIVETTA. 9

conducts into two cavities, which might each of them contain an
almond. Their external surface is slightly covered with fine hair,
and pierced with many holes, each of which conducts into an oval
follicle, of very slight depth ; the concave surface of which is again
covered with innumerable pores. The odoriferous substance
comes from these pores. It fills the follicle, and when this is
compressed, it proceeds from it something, in form, like vermicelli,
and enters the larger bag. All these follicles are enveloped by a
membranous tunic, which receives many of the sanguineous
vessels ; and this tunic, in its turn, is covered by a muscle, which
arises from the pubis, and has the power of compressing all the
follicles, and with them the entire bag, to which they are attached.
By means of this compression, the animal gets rid of the super-
fluous part of its perfume. Besides this odoriferous matter, there
is another secreted, which assumes the form of stiff silken threads,
and is mingled with the first. There is also in the Civit, a small
hole on each side of the anus, from which a blackish and very foetid
matter issues.—F ig. 1, Plate I. represents the skull of the Civet.
The Civit inhabits Africa, and several parts of Asia, where it is
very prolific ; yet in more temperate regions, though it lives, and
apparently enjoys perfect health, it will not breed. In its natural
habit the Civet closely resembles the fox, subsisting on birds, and
the smaller quadrupeds, which it takes by surprise, and sometimes
commits depredations among poultry, when it will steal unper-
ceived into a farm-yard. In the East and in many parts of Northern
Africa, great numbers of them are kept in a state of domestication
for the purpose of obtaining their perfume, which is much esteemed,
and bears a high price. Buffon affirms that, in Holland, the Civet
is put into a long wooden cage, so narrow that the creature can
not turn itself round. This cage being opened by a small door
behind, a spoon or spatula is introduced into the orifice of the
pouch, carefully scraped, and its contents put into a proper vessel.
This operation is repeated two or three times a-week ; the quantity
procured at once is from two scruples to a drachm; and the
animal is said to produce most after being teazed or irritated.
Genuine civet is of a yellowish or brownish colour, of an unctu-
ous consistency, anda strong smell, far from agreeable when undi-

10 VIVERRA ZIBETIAs

luted, but highly fragrant when mixed in very small portions with
other perfumes. Its taste is bitterish and subacrid; it unites
readily with both the volatile and fixed oils ; it is sparingly soluble
in water and alcohol, but impregnates these fluids strongly with
its odour. .M. Boutron-Chalard states, that in an unexceptionably
good civet, he found free ammonia, stearine, elaine, mucus, resin,
volatile oil, yellow coloring matter, carbonate and phosphate of
lime, and oxide of iron.* If paper be rubbed with civet, and it
will bear writing on afterwards, it is considered genuine.

Civet is principally imported from India and Africa into
Europe, by the way of Alexandria and Venice. The Dutch civet
is said to be generally less adulterated than that which is brought
either from India or the Levant ; and its average value in Holland,
may be stated at fifty shillings the ounce.

MepicaL Prorertizs AND Usrs,—This substance agrees with
musk in its medical virtues, and was formerly administered in the
greater number of spasmodic diseases, especially in epilepsy, hys-
teria, colic, and even as a remedy against barrenness. <“‘ Si vir
ante concubitum, glandem Zibetto inungat, cum odore illius uterus
delectetur, citius eum semen excipere, plerique docent,”’+ It is
now very rarely, if ever, employed in medical practice ; while musk,
ambergris, and other drugs, have considerably diminished its repu-

tation as a perfume.

VIVERRA ZIBETTA.— The Zibet.

Sprc..CHar.—Fur grey ; legs transversely spotted with
brown ; throat white, with two black bands on each
side ; no mane; tail long, with eight or nine rings.

Viverra Zibetta; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, 1. Shaw, Zool. i. 389. Zibet; Buffon, Hist.
Nat. ix. p. 316, t. 31.

Tus animal inhabits Sumatra, and has generally been con-

founded with the preceding species. It is distinguished by having
0 ee a.
* Journal de Pharmacie, for 1924, vol. x. p. 538.
+ Plater Prax. tom, i. p. 489.

Corvus [i laphies.

London, Lubloshed; by John Wilson, Lporvees Street Sova Jam, 1, 1834,

‘
:

CERVUS ELAPHUS. 11

four black bands on the side of the neck, while the Civet has only
three ; the tail is marked with eight or nine rings; there is a white
spot under the eye, and the muzzle is grey. The bag which con-
tains the odoriferous substance is in most respects similar to that
of the Civet.

VIVERRA RASSE.— Javanese Civet.

Spec. Cuar.—Fur yellowish grey; neck obscurely
banded with black lines; feet brown.

Viverra Resse ; Horf. Java, vi. t.2.

Tue Rasse is found in the mountainous forests of Java, where it
preys on birds and the smaller quadrupeds. The odoriferous sub-
stance; the dedes of the Javanese, or Jilet of the Malays, is
collected periodically, in the same manner as that obtained from
the Civet, already described. This substance, which, according to
Dr. Horsfield, agrees with the civet afforded by the /. civetta and
Ziletta, in colour, consistence, and odour, is a very favorite
perfume among the Javanese, and is applied both to their dresses,
and by means of various unguents and mixtures of flowers, to
their persons.

ftps” i.

CERVUS ELAPHUS.
Stag, Hart, or Red-Deer.

Order. Pecora, Zin. Ruminantia, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Incisors ?; canines $—8& or i—i; molars
$—s—=32 or 34. Canines, when they exist, com-

12 CERVUS ELAPHUS.

pressed and bent back; head long, terminated by a
muzzle; eyes large ; pupils elongated transversely ;
a lachrymal sinus in most ; tongue soft ; body slender ;
four inguinal mamme ; horns solid, deciduous, pal-
mated, branched, or simple, in the males ; females,
with one exception, without horns.

Spec. Cuar. Rufous brown; a pale disk on the but-
tocks; horns with three anterior antlers, round, and

recurved.

EaAadgos; Arist. Hist, Animal, ii. c. 7. 18, Cervus; Plinii, lib viii, ¢. 32.
Gesner, Quadr. 326. Cervus nobilis, (Hirsch) ; Klein, Quadr, 23. Red Deer;
Raii Sny. Quadr. 84; Johnston, Quadr. 82. t. 32,35. Cervus Elaphus; Syst;
Nat. Gmelin, 175. Buffon, Hist. Nat. vi. 63. t. 19. Stag or Red Deer; Pen-
nant, Quadr.i. 114, Br. Zool. i.34. Shaw, Zool, ii. 276. t. 177.

Le cerf; fem. biche ; Fr.; Cervo; fem. cerva, It.; Ed ciervo ; fem. la cierva,
Sp.; Der Hirsch, fem. die Hirschkuh, Ger., Olen, fem. Lan. Rus.; Bugu,
Tart.

Tue Stag varies, both in size and colour, in different countries ;
but its mean height is about three feet six inches at the shoulder,
and its usual colour reddish-brown above, and whitish beneath,
whence the name Red-Deer. In the summer, the upper part of
the body, flanks, and outside of the thighs, are fulvous-brown, a
blackish line running along the back, marked on each side with a
row of pale fulyous spots. In winter these parts are of a uniform
grey-brown ; at ali seasons the tail is pale buff, separated from the
brown by a blackish line. The head, the sides of the neck, under
parts of the body and legs are grey-brown, and a broad line of
brown passes down the face. All these colours become darker
with age, especially in the males. Individuals also occur, of a
very dark brown or nearly black, particularly in the Hartz Forest,
in Germany, where they are distinguished by the name of Brand-
hirsh, or burnt stag, from their colour. In Silesia, and in some
parts of America, it is generally of very large dimensions ; whereas
in China, Corsica, and some other parts of the world, diminutive

CERVUS ELAPHUS. 1S

varieties are said to be found, which, in bulk, scarcely exceed a
dog of ordinary size. The horns seldom exceed three feet in length,
and the number of branches, vary according to the age of the animal.
They have nohorns till they are above a year old, and those donot
branch till the third year, after which the branches increase in num-
ber every year. The usual number of branches on the horns ofa full
grown Stag, is six or seven ; but Baron Cuvier mentions one killed,
by the first King of Prussia, which had thirty-three on each horn,
In most cases the males only have horns; and after their sixth
year, when they arrive at maturity, they shed them annually, in
the spring. Those horns are soon reproduced in a soft tender
state, extremely vascular, and covered with a velvetty skin, which
gradually disappears as they increase in size ; till at length, in the
course of about ten weeks, they become hard, compact, and bony.
The eyes of this species are large, and the pupil is elongated trans-
versely ; the muzzle is very broad; the tongue is very soft, and
the ears are middle sized, and pointed. The female, or hind, is
gravid eight months, and generally brings forth one at a birth, in
April or May.

The Stag is a native of every country of Enrope, excepting
Lapland, and inhabits almost all the northern parts of America
and Asia. In many parts of Britain, where it formerly occured
in profusion, its numbers have been much reduced by the progress
of civilization, or it has been replaced by the fallow-deer, whose
venison is of a superior flavour, and whose dispositions are more
placid and tractable. The Red-Deer, however, may still be found
in the moors, bordering on Cornwall and Devonshire, in the New
Forest, Hampshire, in the neighbourhood of the lakes, about
Ullswater, in Cumberland, in various districts in the Highlands of
Scotland, and on the Kerry mountains in Ireland.

This species is justly considered the most beautiful of the deer
kind. The elegance of his form, says the eloquent Buffon, the
lightness of his motions, the strength of his limbs, and the branch-
ing horns with which his head is decorated, conspire to give him a
high rank among quadrupeds, and to render him worthy of the
admiration of mankind. He has a fine eye, an acute sense of
smell, and an excellent ear. When listening, he raises his head,

14 CERVUS ELAPHUS.

erects his ears, and receives the sound from a great distance,
Before entering a coppice, or other half-covered retirement, he
stops to look round him on all sides, and scents the wind, to
discover if any object be near that might disturb him. In general
he is less affraid of men than of dogs; and he is never suspicious,
or has recourse to the arts of concealment, but in proportion to
the molestation which he has experienced. He eats slowly, and
has a choice in his aliments ; and, after his stomach is full, he lies
down, and ruminates at leisure, but with more difficulty than the
ox, on account of his longer neck. In winter and spring he dis-
penses with drink; but, during the parching heats of summer, he
frequents the brooks, marshes, and fountains ; and, in autumn, he
searches everywhere for water with which to bathe and refresh
his body. On account of his fatness, he then swims more easily
than at any other time. He leaps still more nimbly than he
swims; and, when pursued, can readily clear a hedge or pale six
feet high. His food varies according to the season; for, in autumn,
he searches for the buds of green shrubs, the flowers of broom or
heath, the leaves of bramble, &c. ; during the snows of winter, he
feeds on the bark and moss of trees; in mild weather, he browses
in the corn fields ; in early spring, he goes in quest of the catkins
of willows, trembling poplar, and hazel, the flowers and buds of
the cornel, &c. ; in summer, when he has great choice, he prefers
rye to all other grain, and the black-berry bearing alder (Rhamnus
frangula), to all other wood. He crops the yew, and swallows
the viper with impunity; and, in the Hebrides, he has been ob-
served to eat submarine plants.

The horns of animals appear in general to consist almost entirely
of indurated albumen ; but those of the Stag are composed prin-
cipally of gelatin and phosphate of lime. It is for the sake of the
gelatin which they afford by decoction in water, that they have
been received into the materia medica. The horns are freed from
their external coat, and the internal white part is rasped down for
use. They are inodorous, insipid, flexible, of a pale yellowish
white colour; and contain 27 parts of gelatin in 100 parts. The
shavings of other bones are sometimes substituted in their
stead, especially those of the calf, and the sheep; these, however,

CERVUS ELAPHUS. $5

may be distinguished by their greater brittleness. When burnt
to wisteness in the open air, they yield the cornu ustwm, or burnt
hartshorn; of the former editions of the Dublin Pharmacopceia.
During the combustion, the gelatin of the horn is decomposed,
and the phosphate of lime, which is the product of the process,
remains ; but the powder usually sold under the name of burnt
hartshorn, for polishing silver, and some other useful purposes,
is prepared from the bones of various animals. When _harts-
horn is exposed to heat, in close vessels, a large quantity of the
carbonate of ammonia is disengaged, along with the other products
that are usually obtained from the destructive distillation of animal
matters, an empyreumatic oil, and carburetted hydrogen ; ‘a por-
tion of carbonaceous matter remaining along with the earthy
matter of the horns. Ammonia, both in a liquid and solid state,
is still obtained from bones and other animal substances; but the
horns of the Stag were formerly so much used for this purpose,
that it was commonly called Salt or Spirit of Hartshorn.
Mepicat Properties anp Usrs.—Hartshorn shavings boiled
in a proper quantity of water, afford, when the decoction cools, a
transparent colourless jelly, which, rendered grateful by orange
juice, sugar, and a little wine, is used in diarrhoea and dysentery,
as a demulcent and as a light nutritious article of diet for the sick.
Burnt hartshorn, which was formerly introduced into medical
practice as an antacid in the diarrhma of children connected with
imperfect digestion and the formation of acid in the stomach, and
as a remedy in molities, ossium, and ricets, is a substance
apparently altogether inert; but the finely levigated powder is
sometimes employed as a dentrifice. The volatile liquor, or
spirit of hortshorn, is given internally, in a dose from ten to
twenty drops, diluted with water, as a powerful stimulant in
hysteria, gout of the stomach, and spasms, or in languors and
faintness, and sometimes as an antacid. Externally, it is applied
to the nostrils in syncope and asphyxia, and mixed with oil or
with soap linament as an embrocation in chronic rheumatism and
cynanche tonsillaris, and to parts affected with deep-seated in-
flammation, The oil, which rises in the distillation of volatile
liquor of hartshorn, purified by repeated distillations, forms the

16 .CERVUS ELAPHUS,

rectified oil, or oleuwm animale, of the old dispensatories. It may
be given to the quantity of twenty or thirty drops, and is regarded
as stimulant, antispasmodic, anodyne, and sudorific. Hoffman
asserts that it procures a calm sleep and gentle diaphoresis, without
heating the body or being followed by languor and debility ; that
given in a dose from ten to twenty drops or more, on an empty
stomach, six hours before the accession of an intermittent, it has,
like opium, had the effect of either shortening and mitigating the
paroxysm, or of wholly preventing it; that it is likewise a very
valuable remedy in epilepsy, hysteria, and all convulsive affections,
especially when given immediately before the usual time of the
attack, and preceded by proper evacuations. It is, however,
scarcely ever administered internally, in modern practice. Exter-
nally, it is occasionally applied by friction, as a stimulant in para-
lysis, and to relieve the pain in cramp and chronic rheumatism.

In the gall-bladder of the Stag and other ruminantia are occa-
sionally found biliary concretions, or lexoars, to which many virtues
have been foolishly ascribed, but which have long since been deser-
vedly expunged from the list of the materia medica,

The flesh of the Stag is held in great estimation, and affords a
delicious, nutritive, and wholesome article of food. It varies
according to the age and sex of the individual: in the young
or fawn state, the flesh is tender, nourishing, and gelatinous ; but
by no means so savoury as that of the full grown animal, known
under the denomination of venison. The best season for killing
it isin the month of August; for in the rutting season, September
and October, the Stags become lean, and its flesh rank, tough,
and disagreeable, Like that of other animals, the flesh is improved
by castration. The flesh of the female is at all times inferior in
flavour to that of the male.

Orr. Prerp.—Cornu Ustum, L. D. Liquor Volatilis Cornu
Cervini, D, Oleum Cornu Cervini Rectificatum, D.

er

Os. yves, yar: Marr.

; om 29 z , 7 pay 78 /
LLIVOAt Lut WS PROM, UY e/O}M A) WE OTU, ft VISCHES 1

v4
Jun, 4, 1884

of.

OVIS ARIES. . 17

II].
OVIS ARIES.

Common, or Domestic Sheep.

Order Pecora, Lin. Ruminantia, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Incisors 2; canines 3—3; molars §—3=32.
Horns common to both sexes, sometimes wanting in
the female, thick, angular, wrinkled transversely,
pale colored, turned laterally in a spiral form; ears
small; /egs slender ; hair of two kinds; tail more or

less short; two mamme.

Spec. Cuar. Horns very strong, arched backwards.
and curved downwards and towards the point; general
color fawn, more or less brown.

Ovis; Plinii, lib. viii.c.47, Gesner Quadr.771. RaiiSyn. Quadr.73. Widden
Schaaf; Klein. Quadr.13. La Brebis, Buffon, Hist. Nat.tom. v.p.1. Ovis
Aries; Pennant, Quadr. i, p 37. Shaw, Zool. ii. p. 385. Brebis, Fr.;

" Pecore, It.; Pecora; Ganado Lanar, Sp.; Agnez, Russ.; Elg. Arab.;
Barah, Pers.

No particular description of the Sheep, an animal known to every
one, seems to be required. The horns, common to both sexes,
are sometimes wanting in the females. The body is covered with
two kinds of hair; the one hard and close, the other soft and
woolly. The sheep is nowhere found wild, we therefore know
nothing of its habits and manners in a state of nature ; for in every
country in Europe these animals are all private property ; even in
the mountainous wilds of Asia, Africa, and America, they are still
under the guidance of the shepherds and their dogs. It is a gre-
garious animal, and is found in almost every corner of the globe,
prefering dry open plains, and moderately elevated and warm
c

18 ’ OVIS ARIES.

grassy or heathy pastures. It is averse to moist ground, marshy
meadows, and is said to require less water than most ruminating
animuls. Though naturally inoffensive and timid, it does not
appear to be that inanimate creature described by Buffon, who
represents it as devoid of every art of self-preservation, destitute of
courage, deprived of every instinctive faculty; as, in short, the
most stupid and contemptible of all quadrupeds. The female goes
with young about five months, and produces one, sometimes two,
rarely three at a birth. This animal exists in perfection chiefly in
Europe and some of the temperate tracts of Asia. When trans-
ported into very warm climates, it looses its peculiar covering and
appears coated with hair ; it is likewise less prolific, and no longer
retains the same flavour. Thus the African or Guinea sheep is
clad in hair ; they have long limbs, pendulous ears, anda kind of
mane on the back. The Syrian, Egyptian, Persian, and Barbary
sheep has the wool coarse, the ears pendulous, and the tail very
long, broad, and remarkably fat. Another singular variety, again,
termed the fat-rumped, or Tartarian sheep, is characterised by the
want of tail, and the presence of two large cushions of suet on the
hinder part which covers the rump. The Asiatic breeds have
some of them the broad tail of the African Sheep, very long legs,
pendant ears, and a very short fleece. The Astracan breed is
distinguished by its fine spirally curled wool, The Circassian
Sheep has the tail of such length as to trail upon the ground, and
the other Asiatic varieties are distinguished by the number of their
horns, which vary from four to six. The Wallachian or Cretan
breed is chiefly distinguished by its large, upright, curiously twisted
horns, and its long shaggy fleece. America, India, and China, also
possess particular breeds, but it is in Europe that, at the present
day, the most useful varieties are found. Of these, the Merino
sheep of Spain, here figured, holds the first place among the
European varieties. It has spiral horns, lengthened outwards,
and affords wool of a quality much finer than any of the other
breeds. The fleece upon the Merino sheep weighs upon an
average from three to five pounds. Its colour is unlike that of any
other breed; on the surface it is of a dark brown, approaching
almost to black, which is produced by dust adhering to the greasy

aT aE Li eT SEY ee SOLE A Be PR OR LEE TS RS Fe Oe ROS EEL Oy RON ote ET EE Le NE aE en eT et Bins SMS RAT EEE

OVIS ARIES. 19

properties of its pile, and forms a striking contrast with the rich
white colour below.

The varieties of sheep spread over the island of Great Britain
are so numerous that it is almost impossible to enumerate and
describe them. They may be divided into the breeds which have
horns and those that are without that appendage. Of the hornless
kind we have the old and new Leicester, Dartmore, Hereford or
Ryeland, the South-down, the Cheviot, and the Shetland sheep ;
and of the horned kind we have the Exmoor, Dorsetshire, and
Heath or Mountain sheep.

The primitive source of the domestic sheep is supposed by some
naturalists to be the Musmon of Pliny and Gesner, Outs ammon of
Linné, Moufion of Buffon, Wild Sheep of Pennant, and Argali of
Shaw, while others regard it as a distinct species. It chiefly inha-
bits the mountainous districts of Asia and Greece, and it also
occurs, though somewhat modified, in the islands of Candia,
Corsica, and Sardinia. Its general size is that of a small fallow-
deer ; its colour greyish ferruginous brown, with some white on
the face and legs, and beneath the throat are two pendant hairy
dewlaps. The tail is remarkably short ; but the horns, in the full
grown animal, are extremely large, placed on the top of the head,
standing close at their base, rising first upwards then bending down,
and twisting outwards as in the common ram; and the body is
covered with hair instead of wool.

There is hardly any part of this animal that is not serviceable
to man. Ofthe fleece we make our cloths; the skins, when pro-
perly prepared, are in great request by saddlers, bookbinders,
glovers, and other artisans ; the intestines are formed into strings
for musical instruments ; the flesh affords a wholesome and nutri-
tious food, and the fat or suet is employed medicinally. Suet is
freed from the cellular membrane in which it occurs by melting it
by a gentle heat, and then pressing it through a linen cloth.
When cold it becomes concrete, has all the properties of animal
fat, and differs from lard chiefly in its consistency. Both these
varieties of fat consist almost entirely of two distinct oily sub-
stances which have been termed stearine and elaine, and when
converted into soap, undergo the same changes as fixed oils yield-

20 OVIS ARIES.

ing margaric and oleic acids, and the mild principle of oils called
glycerine. By distillation it affords an acid, called by Thenard,
the sebacic acid.

Menicat aNnp Dieretic Prorerties.—Suet is emollient ; and is
sometimes prescribed internally, boiled in milk, so as to form a
sort of emulsion, in chronic diarrhcea and disentery, arising from
the presence of acrid or irritating matters in the intestinal canal.
Externally it is employed as an emollient for relaxing those parts
to which it is applied; but its principal use is to give consistence
to ointments and plasters. Indeed, this and hog’s lard are almost
the only unctuous substances now retained in the British Pharma-
copeias for similar purposes, although formerly more than twenty
different fats entered some lists of the materia medica. Each
particular fat was then supposed to possess peculiar properties ;
but for this there is probably no foundation; even these retained
are now less employed than before, as it has been ascertained that
a proper consistence may be more certainly obtained by determined
proportions of wax and oil; but as these articles are more ex-
pensive, lard and suet are often substituted for them in the com-
position of ointments and other pharmaceutical preparations.

Mutton affords a very nourishing and wholesome aliment, less
stimulant and less nutritive than beef, and in general not so easily
digested. “ Tup mutton, caro arietis” says Dr. R. Pearson, in
his Practical Synopsis of the Materia Alimentaria, “‘ has such a
strong smell and disagreeable taste, and is besides so exceedingly
tough and difficultly digested, that it is never eaten but by those
who cannot afford to purchase mutton of a better quality. Ewe
mutton, caro ovis femelle, if it be more than between two or three
years old, is likewise tough and coarse. Wedder mutton, caro
vervecina, or the flesh of the castrated animal, is more esteemed,
and is by far the most palatable and digestible. Lamb, caro agnina,
being less heating and less dense, is better suited to weak stomachs;
but this applies only to the flesh of lambs that have not been
robbed of their blood by repeated bleeding, or reared by the hand
with milk adulterated with chalk, in order to make the meat
appear white. Such practices to render the food pleasing to the
eye, at the expence of its alimentary properties, cannot be too

a PE
eS

Ds eee Ne

TD SOE PPR. sate cua ait 3

. “he pre =
i eta

jiber

cy

(
USE

CASTOR FIBER. 21

much reprobated. Ewe’s milk, lac ovillum, is thick and heavy ;
it abounds in cream, and contains but a small proportion of whey,
and is scarcely ever used either in the way of diet or medicine.
Mutton broth, jus vervecinum, is often taken, but not very pro-
perly, by delicate and weak persons. It is strong, and does not
sit very well upon the stomach. Broth made of sheep’s trotters,
decoctum pede vervecinorum, is administered inthe form of enema
in abrations and ulcerations of the intestinal canal, and in other
cases in which nourishment cannot be given by the mouth.”
Orr. Pree.—Sevum preeparatum, L.

IV.
CASTOR FIBER,
Common Beaver.

Order Guires, Lin. Ropentia, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar.—Jnceisors 2 ; canines 8—8 ; molars 4—4=20.
Molars with flat crowns, and transverse or sinuous
and complicated ridges of enamel; ¢oes five on each
foot, the anterior short and close, the posterior longer
and palmated; ¢az/ broad, thick, flattened horizontally,
of an oval form, naked, and covered with scales.

Spec. Cuar.—Fur consisting of two sorts of hair, one
coarse and brownish, the other downy, more or less
grey ; tad flat, oval, and naked; length about two feet.

Kaorwp; Arist. Hist. lib. viii.c.5. Diosc. ii.26. Oppian,i.308. Fiber; Plinii,
lib. viii. ¢. 30. Agricola, An. Subs. 482. Belon, Aquat. 25. Castor; Gesner,
Quadr. 309. Castor sive Fiber; Raii, Syn. Quadr.209. Castor Fiber; Syst.
Nat. Gmelin, 124. Klein, Quadr.91. Shaw Zool. ii. 30. t.128. Le Castor,
ou le Bievre 5 Buffon, Hist. Nat. viii. 282. t.36. Beaver; Pennant, Quadr.
ii. 114, Br. Zool, i. t. 9.

Bievre ; Castor, Fr.; Bivaro; Castoro,It.; Bilaro ; Castor, Sp.; Der Bieber ;
Kastor, Ger.; Bever, Dut.; Bever, Dan.

D

22 CASTOR FIBER,

In respect of external physiognomy and habit, this animal may be
compared to the badger ; but it is rather larger, and uniformly of
a reddish brown colour. The usual length of the Beaver is about
two feet ten inches, exclusive of the tail, which is oval, nearly 4
foot in length, covered with hexagonal scales, and compressed hori.
zontally, but somewhat conyex on its upper surface ; it is destitute
of hair, except at the base, and can be moved vertically and late.
‘rally with considerable force, but the creature usually drags it after
him. The hair of the Beaver is fine, smooth, glossy, and most
commonly of a chesnut colour, with a shorter downy grey fur
beneath, varying sometimes to black. The colour, however, of the
Beaver is subject to considerable variations; thus M, Geoffroy
remarks that the Beaver of France is generally of an olivaceous
yellow; and white, black spotted with white, and cream-coloured
varieties, have also been noticed. The feet are five-toed; those
behind being furnished with webs, and adapted to swimming;
but the animal in walking places on the ground only the toes
of the fore-feet, while it rests the entire sole of the hinder. The
eyes are small, with a round pupil, and the ears short and hairy,
According to M. F. Cuvier, the conch of the ear is simple, and
closes when the animal dives; so do the nostrils. In the same
pouch with the organs of generation and anus, are situated two
pair of glands, of an oblong shape; the two upper are filled with
a fatty substance, whilst the two others contain each about two
ounces of an oily viscid matter, inclosed in membranous cells,
which is the officinal castor. The antients entertained an opinion
that the drug called castor was lodged in the testicles of the male,
and that the animal, when hard pressed by the hunters, would bite
them off, and leave them to his pursuers ;

Eunuchum ipse facit, cupiens evadere damno
Testiculorum: adeo medicatum intelligit inguen.
Juvenal, sat. xii. v. 34.

Beavers are found in most of the northern parts of Europe,
Asia, and America, abounding most in cold regions, and becoming
less common towards the south. At present, they are met with
in the greatest numbers in North America, especially in Canada,

CASTOR FIBER. 23

where the hunting of these animals, and collecting their furs,
forms a very important object of commercial trafic. In an-
tient times the beaver was a more general inhabitant of Europe
than it is at present, particularly in the vicinity of some
of the larger rivers, as the Rhine, the Rhone, and the Danube,
where they are now comparatively scarce, and in Britain they
have been wholly extirpated for many centuries. That the Beaver
was once indigenous to different parts of Britain, particularly Wales
and Scotland, is certain, upon the credit of the most authentic
records; and the fact of its having been one of the native qua-
drupeds of Scotland, has received the most ample confirmation
from the occurrence of the fossil remains of the animal in Perth-
shire and Berwickshire.* The earliest written authority we have
of the existence, in former times, of the Beaver in Wales, is con-
tained in a remarkable document of the ninth century,—the Laws
of Howel the Good, where the price of the Beaver’s skin is esti-
mated at no less than 120 pence. The latest account of this sub-
ject is contained in the “ Itinerarium’”’ of Sylvester Giraldus,{ who
travelled through Wales in 1188, or about 300 years after the
date of Howel Dha. He gives a brief history of their manners ;
and adds that, in his time, the Beaver, distinguished by the
descriptive and appropriate title of Llosdlydan, or “ broad tail,”
was only found on the confines of the river Teivi, in Cardiganshire.
In their natural state, they subsist entirely on vegetable food, such
as roots, young wood, and the bark of trees ; they are very partial
to the roots of the Magnolia glauca, which in America is known
by the names of white laurel, swamp sassafrass, and Beaver tree ;
the poplar, aspin, and birch, are the favourite food of the European
beavers, During summer, when these are to be obtained in great
abundance, the beavers pass that season in wandering about the mea-
dows and thickets that border the lakes and rivers which abound in
North America. On the approach of winter, they quit their roaming

* See an interesting paper on the Beavers of Scotland, by Mr. Patrick Neill, in the
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. i. p.177.

+ Leges Wallice, by Dr. Wotton, book iii. § 11, 12.

{ Jtinerarium Cambria, lib. ii. cap. 3.

24 CASTOR FIBER.

way of life, form themselves into companies, and, instructed by
instinct, begin to provide for the wants of the season, and set
about constructing those habitations which have so long excited the
wonder and admiration of mankind.*

Beavers are hunted in the winter season, both for their fur, and
for the castor, which is not peculiar to the male, as once supposed,
but is found in both sexes. When the animal is taken, the follicles
are cut off entire, and dried either by exposure to the sun, or in
smoke, The castor is at first of the consistence of syrup, but soon
becomes solid, viscid, and even dry and friable. That which
comes from Russia is the most valuable, and sells at a much higher
price than what is imported from America. The membranous
pouches of the Russian castor are larger than those of Canada,
dry, of a roundish or pyramidal form, very heavy, and appearing
when cut of a deep liver colour. The pouch which constitutes the
Canadian castor is about the size of an hen’s egg, or rather larger,
dry, thin, of a reddish-brown colour, and covered externally witha
very tough corrugated membrane. The goodness of the castor is de-
termined by its sensible qualities ; when it has been long kept it be-
comes black, insipid, inodorous, or very soft, and is rendered unfit
for medicinal purposes. It is said to be sometimes counterfeited
in this country, by a mixture of galbanum, ammoniacum, and other
resinous substances, with a little real castor, artificially interspersed
with membranes, and stuffed into the scrotum of a goat. ‘ Qui-
conque,” says M. Fee, “a vendu castoreum ne peut se laisser
abuser par cette fraude grossiére.t+

Castor hasa strong, pungent, disagreable smell, and a sub-acrid,
bitterish, nauseous taste. It is usually dry, solid, of a reddish-
brown colour externally, feels unctuous, and is mixed internally
with whitish membranes. The active matter of castor is dissolved
by ether, alcohol, proof spirit, and partially by water. According

* For a more detailed account of the natural history and habits of the Beaver, the
reader may consult Buffon’s Natural History of Quadrupeds, Du Pratz’s History
of Louisiana. Cartwright’s Journal of Transactions, &c, on the Coast of
Labrador, and Hearne’s Journey to the Northern Ocean,

+ Cours d’ Histoire Naturelle Pharmaceutique, i. p. 96.

CASTOR FIBER. 25

to MM. Bouillon la Grange and Laugier, it consists of a mucilage,
a bitter extract, aresin, an essential oil, in which its peculiar smell
appears to reside, and a flaky crystalline matter, much resembling
the adipocere of biliary calculi.* M. Bizio discovered a new prin-
ciple in castor, to which he has given the name of castorine.t

MeEpicaL ProrerTIES AND Uses.—Castor has generally been
regarded as a powerful antispasmodic and emmenagogue, and has
been found useful in most cases requiring such remedies, when
given in doses from ten to thirty grains. It has been styled also,
without sufficient foundation, an aphrodisiac, and has been sup-
posed to possess a sedative power; but Dr. Cullen says, he had
never perceived this, excepting where such effects might be im-
puted to its removing the spasmodic affections which interrupted
sleep. Sydenham used to prescribe it, in small quantities, joined
with sal succini, in hysteria; and Whytt and others in the same
cases, combined with opium. Pliny informs us that, in his days,
the best castor was brought to Rome from Galatia and Africa, and
that it was considered as a useful medicine in soothing and procuring
sleep, and in tetanus.{ Celsus prescribed castor combined with pep-
per in cases of tetanus. At the present day it is employed in all
spasmodic diseases, in epilepsy, hooping cough, asthma, hysteria, in
suppressed menstruation, in flatulent colic, and in typhus. By Stahl,
and some other celebrated practitioners, the virtues of castor have
been doubted. Experience, however, has shewn that its medicinal
powers are considerable, though less important than they have
generally been supposed. The American savages are said to
obtain an oil from the tail of the beaver, which they apply as a
topical remedy for different complaints. The flesh is seldom eaten,
though fat and delicate to appearance, it is extremely bitter and
unpalatable.

Orr. Prep.—Tinctura Castorei.—L. E. D.

* Dict. Scienc. Nat. vii. 466.
+ Giorno de Fisica, vii. 174.
t Hist. Nat. lib. xxxii. cap. 3, p. 394.

26 ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS.

v.
ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS.

Common Ornithorynchus.

Order Paumata, Bhon. Eventara, Cuv. Tribe Mo-
NOTREMA, Geoff.

Gen. Cuar.—ZJncisors 3; canines '—s ; molars 3—3—=
8. Molars fibrous, fixed only in the gum; body
covered with hairs, anteriorly terminated by a broad,
depressed duck-like beak; /egs four, pentadactyle,
palmated, with a spur on the hind ones in the male ;
anterior legs with the palmated membrane projecting
beyond the claws, which are straight; /inder legs
with acute curved claws, produced beyond the pal-
mate membrane.

Spec. Cuar. Beak and legs black; anterior claws
linear, obtuse ; fur reddish-brown above, paler below;
extreme length 23 inches.

Ornithorynchus fuscus ; Peron et Lesseur, Voy. Teras Austr. Atlas, t.34. Leach.

Zool. Miscel. ii. t. 111. Ornithorynchus Paradoxus ; var, rufus ; Blumenbach,
Handbuch der Naturgeschichte,p,128; Id. Abbild, Nat. Hist. Gengenst,t.41,

Tus extraordinary animal, which unites the bill of a duck with
the limbs of a quadruped, has lately been discovered to be pol-
sonous, by means of a spur, which is attached to the hinder legs
of the male, and is capable of inflicting very dangerous, if not fatal,
wounds. The body is covered with a very thick soft fur, and is of
a dark brown colour above, and somewhat paler or ferruginous
beneath. The hair is of two sorts; that which is found on most
parts of the body, particularly on the sides and abdomen,
is fine and silky, while the hair covering the tail is stronger, resem-

‘sy
NS

gheets »
— PEERS

or ahead

London Lubiosid by Joh Wilson. Proves Str n0 Sohal, 4, ICH

PII Le ie RE

hae 5

ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS. 27

bling bristles, and more distinctly clavate at its extremity. The
head is flattish and rather small; but what distinguishes the Orni-
thorynchus from all other quadrupeds is the anomalous form of its
jaws, which resemble the broad flat bill of a duck, and are covered
in the same way with a soft membrane, plentifully supplied with
nerves for the purpose of tasting, and also like it, serrated at their
lateral edges; round the base is a broad, flat, irregular membrane
or flap, somewhat deeper or wider below than above. The length
of the upper mandible, including the flap, is about three inches ;
that of the lower bill and flap, only two. The nostrils are small,
elliptical, and situated about a quarter of an inch from the tip of
the bill, and are about the eighth of an inch distant from each
other. The teeth are placed towards the lower part. of the mouth,
and consist of simple cartilaginous fibres, flat at the crown, not
planted in alveoli, but simply attached to the gum; the tongue is
short, and furnished with papillz, and two aculeated horny points.
The length of the whole animal from the tip of the bill to the extremity
of the tail is nearly two feet. The tail is broad, flat, tapering, obtuse,
about six inches in length, and is colored similar to that of the body.
The eyes are situated in the upper and anterior part of the head,
close to the flap; the eye-balls are small, and placed deep inthe orbits.
There is no external ear, but the auditory foramina are placed imme-
diately behind the eyes, and are covered with short hairs. The legs
are very short, terminated by a broad web, which in the fore feet
extends beyond the claws, and can by that means be folded up like
afan. Both feet are furnished with five strong horny claws; on
the hinder ones longer, curved, acute, and projecting beyond the
palmate membrane._ The organs of generation are not visible exter-
nally, and in common with the rest of the tribe the animal has but
one opening.

“On the heel of the hinder feet,” says Dr. Knox, “there
appears externally a spwr, much resembling that found in the
common dunghill cock. It is strong, semitransparent, and
pointed; and there is evidently an aperture at the point, or rather
on its convex surface, and sloped as if a small piece had been cut
out of it, without shortening the spur. Through this a delicate

28 ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOKXUS.

black body, like a bristle projects ; it seems of a horny consistence ;
though a strong magnifying glass was used, it did not appear to be
hollow. On removing the integuments carefully, the spur is found
to rest by its base on a flat bone, placed longitudinally over the
tarsal bones, and situated between the lower extremity of the tibia
(to which it is attached) and the tarsal bone corresponding to the
inner toe. Its principal connection, however, is at the astragalus.
In this way two joints are formed; viz. one between the bone on
which the spur rests and the other bones of the tarsus, and the
other between the spur itself andthe bone. The motion in both
these joints is inwards towards the tail, and this is the direction
which the spur assumes, and the only one in which it can possibly
wound. If a longitudinal section be made of the spur, it will be
found to contain a comparatively large membranous canal, gradually
increasing as we proceed towards the base ; this membranous canal
is contained in the centre of the spur, which, immediately around it,
has a whiter appearance than the more external portions, but has
no resemblance to bone, as some estimable authors have stated.

“As the membranous duct approaches the base of the spur, it
becomes very strong, as if semi-cartalaginous tunics were super-
added to it; just as it quits the spur to enter the sole of the foot,
the duct makes a sudden turn, and is much contracted; it next
expands a little, and at this point its parieties show so as to give it
the appearance of a bulb or gland, an appearance which together
with the deep situation of the sac in the hollow of the foot, led
M. de. Blainville to consider it as the poison-gland itself, and which
evidently has been the cause of the singular errors relative to
the anatomy ofthe spur. When this bulb is laid open, it is found
to be merely a continuation of the mucous canal, which has at
this point become greatly strengthened in its parieties, and as-
sumed an almost muscular appearance. In the hollow of the foot
the duct opens by a sudden turn into a comparatively large sac,
sugrounded and inclosed by strong ligaments, and tendinous parts,
connected with the small bones of the foot. From this sac or bag,
which in either foot contained a good deal of a brownish mucous
matter, arises the great duct leading to the poison-gland.

ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS. 29

« We may now trace this duct either from the sac towards the
gland, or vice versa. If the first plan be adopted, we perceive
that the duct enters the central sac by a small round orifice, and
next makes a very sudden turn to reach the superficial part of the
foot, and is soon found almost immediately under the integuments.
From this point it proceeds towards the gland, gradually decreas-
ing in strength of parieties, but increasing in diameter until it
terminates, or rather commences, in the poison-gland itself, situated
over and somewhat above the hip joints and loins. Throughout
its course the duct lies imbeded in loose cellular membranes, and
beneath the caudo-tibial muscle, which must be removed, in order
to have a perfect view of the duct, Is is rather difficult to state
the precise length of the duct from its origin in the poison-gland
to its passage into the small sac, situated in the hollow of the foot ;
for about eight-tenths of an inch its parieties are comparatively
thin, and its diameter sufficient to admit a common blow pipe.
The remainder of the duct, and the sudden turn it makes to pass
down into the centre of the foot and to reach the sac, have been
already described.

«The poison-gland itself is about an inch in length, and six-
tenths of an inch in breadth. It is a conglomerate gland, that is,
made up of small ones, imbeded in a tissue of different appear-
ance, and which is probably cellular. It lies longitudinally with
respect to the spine, immediately above the hip-joint, and close to
the os innominatum of the corresponding side. It advances but
little towards the loins; it covers many of the muscles which
rotate the thigh, and may readily be found by merely removing the
integuments, panniculus carnosus, and a small quantity of loose
cellular membrane lying over the os innominatum and hip-joint.

The functions of these parts may now be very readily under-
stood. The poisonous fluid secreted by the gland, is conveyed by
the long duct into the sac, situated deep in the hollow of the foot,
close to the heel. From this it is projected into the membranous
canal contained in the centre of the spur, and which, by an smelt
inexpressible error, has hitherto been mistaken fora bone. Along
this it will easily flow into the wound inflicted by the spur, passing

30 ORNITHORYNCHUS PARADOXUS.

through the small perforations, existing as well in the termination
of the membranous canal, as in the spur itself.””*

As there are no visible mammee, and as these organs have not
hitherto been observed, the Ornithorynchus is generally presumed
to be oviparous. This opinion, however, has been satisfactorily
proved to be erroneous, by the dissection of the animal lately made
by Professor Meckel.t He has demonstrated the existence of
mammary glands; hence it may be inferred that this animal is
viviparous, or brings forth live young, Two species, or varieties,
are noticed, one with pale,-reddish, and smooth fur, the other
characterized by dark-brown fur, flattened and crisped.—Fig, 1
exhibits the mammary glands; 2. the large poison-gland and
duct leading from it to the base of the foot, the membranous canal,
and the spur; 3. the same detached; 4. a section of the spur;
5. under side of the hind foot, exhibiting the spur.

The Ornithorynchus inhabits the rivers and marshes, in the
vicinity of Port Jackson, especially the river Nepean, on the eastern
coast of New Holland. It is called by the colonists, the water-mole,
and is supposed to subsist chiefly on worms and aquatic insects,

The poison when injected into the wound inflicted by the animal,
causes violent pain, inflammation, and swelling, but the conse-
quences are not generally fatal. In one case, related in a paper
read before the Linnean Society of London, by Sir John Jamieson,
who resided some time in New Holland, the arm swelled, the jaw
became locked, and the patient exhibited all the symptoms of per-
sons bitten by poisonous snakes. They yielded to the external
application of oil, and the internal use of ammonia, but the man
suffered acute pain, and did not recover the use of his arm in a
month. On examining the spur it was found to be hollow, and
on pressing it a quantity of venom was squirted out. For what
purpose the animal is supplied with this poison does not appear,
though probably it is for the means of defence.

*

* Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society, v. 6, p. 26,
+ Orntthoryneht Paradoxt Descriptio Anatomica, fol. Leipsic, 1826.

Bs a Wetec ty

Londen Lublisheds by Joh Wason, Binces Street Soho, Fue y4 2°43,

SUS SCROFA. 3]

aS

SUS SCROFA.
The Wild Hog.

Order. Bettum, Lin. Pacuypermara, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Lncisors = or ¢ 3 canines t—+ ; molars +—4
—=42 or 44. Canines very long and bent upwards ;
molars with tuberculated crowns; ¢oes four, fenced
with hoofs, on each foot, and of which only the
two intermediate ones touch the ground; snout
truncated, elongated, cartalaginous ; body covered

with bristles: teats twelve.

Spec. Cuar. Body bristled in front ; canines strong,
triangular, directed internally ; no protuberance under
the eyes; colour blackish grey in the wild animal,
but varying much in the domesticated races.

“Ys aypios; Arist. Hist. Anim. 1. ¢. 2. Kampos; Id. ii. c. 9. Il. v. c. 13-
Oppian Cyneg. ili. 304. Bus aypios; lian An. v, c. 45. Sus ferus, Aper;
Plinii, Hist. lib. viii.c.51. Sus agrestis, sive Aper, Wild Boar, or Swine ;
Raii Quadr.96. Wild Schwein; Klein, Quadr. 25. Aper; Gesner Quadr.
1039. Sus caudatus; Brisson, Quadr.75. Wog; Pennant, Brit. Zool. i. 41.
Id. Hist. Quadr.i.140. Le Sanglier; Buffon, Hist. Nat. vy. p. 176, t. 14.
Sus scrofa; Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmelin.i.217. Shaw. Zool, ii, t. 221.

Tuis is the origin of all the varieties of this useful quadruped.
It is a native of almost all the temperate parts of Europe and Asia,
and is also found in the north of Africa, but is not met with in
the arctic latitudes. From the concurrent testimony of many
respectable writers, it appears that the Hog was formerly indigenous
to this country; thus it is asserted by Fitz-Stephens, that the
vast forests which, in his time, grew on the north side of London,
was the retreat of stags, wild boars, and bulls.

The Wild Hog chiefly affects the hilly and wooded districts,

32 SUS SCROFA.

subsisting on roots, acorns, beech-mast, and various vegetable
substances, and will not refuse animal food when it comes in its
way, though it is not properly carnivorous. It varies much in size,
but is generally considerably smaller than the domestic hog. _ Its
colour, when full grown, is of a blackish grey, tinged with various
shades of yellowish brown, and sometimes quite black. In the
young state it is marked by alternate dusky and pale stripes,
disposed longitudinally on each side of the body, Beneath the
bristles there is a finer, and somewhat woolly hair. The chin,
legs, and tail are black ; the ears are short, rounded, erect, black ;
and the snout is rather longer, in proportion, than that of the
domestic breed. The principal difference, howeyer, is said to
consist in the superior size and length of the tusks, which are often
several inches long, and capable of inflicting the most severe and
fatal wounds. -The sketch here given was made from an individual
in the gardens of the Zoological Society, in the Regent’s Park,
which was presented to the society byhis late Majesty, King George
the Fourth.—Fig. 1. represents the skull of the common Hog,
2. The skull of the Babiroussa, or Indian Hog.

In consequence of domestication, the Hog varies very much
in colour, size, and shape. One of the most remarkable varieties
is characterized by solid or undivided hoofs, and is said to be
common in Sweden, especially in the neighbourhood of Upsal.
The large-eared variety is very common in France, Germany, and
England. The Polish and Russian Hogs are of a reddish colour,
and seldom attain to any considerable bulk; whereas the English
breed frequently acquires an extraordinary size, and sometimes
weighs 1200 lbs. The Chinese and Siamese breed, which is
smaller than the common sort, with short legs, and the belly
very large and pendulous, excels in the whiteness and delicacy of its
flesh.

The lard or fat, which is the officinal part of the Hog, is
obtained chiefly from the flank of the animal. For medicinal pur-
poses it is freed from the vessels and membranes by washing it in
water, and afterwards melting it, with the addition of a little water
to prevent the heat from rising too high. When cold it becomes
concrete; is inodorous, tasteless, and white. It is insoluble in

SUS SCROFA. 33

water, alcohol, and ether, but is decomposed by strong acids, the
nitric acid converting it into acetic and oxalic acids, according to
Gren, when distilled repeatedly from it. The alkalies form soaps
with it, and it combines with some of the earths and metallic
oxides, forming a series of saponaceous compounds. From the
experiments of M. Chevreul, it appears to consist of two prox-
imate principles, which can easily be separated from each other.
These principles have been named by him elain and stearin, the
former existing in the liquid state, and forming an oily looking
fluid at the common temperature, while the other exists in a solid
state under the same circumstance. The ultimate elements of fat,
are carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.

Mepicau AND Dietetic Properties.—Lard is sometimes used
infrictions as an emollient, and forms the basis of various ointments.
It is compounded by the perfumer into pomatums, and tinged with
a little turmeric and scented, it forms the ‘‘ genuine bear’s grease,”
so much extolled for promoting the growth of hair! The flesh of
the castrated animal, or pork, is highly nutritious, but on account
of the fat, with which it abounds, it is not very easily digested.
It is stimulant and savory, and affords a strong aliment, suited to
persons who lead an active and laborious life. Pork, either boiled
or roasted, was the favourite food among the ancient athlete;
and was found of so nutritious a quality, according to Galen, that
those who intermitted the use of it but for one day, were sensible
the next of a material diminution of their vigour. ‘The too
frequent and long continued use of this meat,” says Dr. R. Pear-
son, “favours obesety, produces foulness of the stomach and bowels,
and occasions disorders of the skin.” This is said to be the case
with the inhabitants of Lima, who are much addicted to the use of
pork. The quality of pork, and swine’s flesh, varies remarkably
according to the kind of food on which the animal feeds. Thus,
in Corsica, where the hogs feed on chesnuts, and in Persia, where
they are often fed upon dates, their flesh is peculiarly good. This
is also the case in some of the tropical latitudes, where the hogs
are fattened with the sugar-cane. The flesh of the sucking-pig,
caro porcelli lactentis, is reckoned a great delicacy ; it is very
nourishing ; but by reason of the quantity of fat and gelatine, it is

34 PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS.,

not very readily dissolved in the stomach, and is therefore by no
means a proper food for weak and sickly persons. Bacon, caro
suilla vel porcina salita et infumata, is a coarse and heavy food,
only fit to be taken in considerable quantity by robust and labour-
ing people. When it constitutes a principal part of the daily diet,
it brings on the scurvy and other cachectic disorders.

Orr. Prer.—Adeps preparata, L. D.

BB bi

PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS.
Great-headed Cachalot, or Great Spermaceti Whale.

Order Crete, Lin. Crracea, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Head very large; inferior teeth 18 to 23
on each side of the jaw; upper jaw broad, elevated,
without teeth, or with these short and concealed in
the gum ; /ower jaw elongated, narrow, corresponding
to a furrow in the upper, and armed with thick and
conical teeth entering into corresponding cavities in
the upper jaw; speracular orifices united at the upper
part of the snout; @ dorsal fin in some species, a
simple eminence in others; cartalaginous cavities in
the upper part of the head, filled with an oily matter.

Spec. Cuar. Lower teeth 20 to 23 on each side,
recurved and pointed at the extremity ; small conical
teeth concealed in the upper gums; ¢ai/ narrow and
conical; back convex, with the rudiments of a fin;
upper part of the body blackish or slate blue ; length
45 to 60 feet.

Grand Cachalot; Bonnat. Ency. Meth. art. Cetologie, t. 6. f. 1 andt. 7. f. 2,
Cachalot macrocephale; La Cepede, p. 166. Physeter macrocephalus; Lin.
Syst. Gmelin. i. 227. Shaw Zool. ii. t, 228.

Cachalot, Fr.; Potfisch, Cas-chelott, Ger. ; Kaskelot, Nor.

Linted tu Chiimandd,

Chad aw ol Athog- :

Lhysuer mocrocphains.

London Liblushed by Joh Wibson, Trences' Street; Soho, Lebruary 1 (3/8, I.

Re eR Oe TE AT, Oe ee ORE ee Ee en Ore

ee a ee, ee a CO ee

pict biad den Ot Sede +

iw aciatbgdilnte aniine

ee eet Tee TL castbesnembaseliebed

Pi

ip ts 9:
ay ns

*

whi &
o's

;
4
a
j
3
.
‘
‘
.
7
’
4
}
P

PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS. ‘ 2

Tue Chacolots or Spermaceti Whales are furnished with teeth
only in the lower jaw, and are remarkable for the size of their head,
which in some species is equal to the half, and in others to the
third, of the whole animal. They belong to the last order of the
class Mammalia, in most of the modern systems of Zoology, espe-
cially in those of Linneus, Blumenbach, and Cuvier; while, in the
writings of the older naturalists, they have been regarded as an order
of fishes. They differ from fishes in the structure of their atlantal
extremities, by their mode of breathing, and by their producing
young alive and suckling them by means of teats. Eight species
of this tribe have been distinguished, all of which afford the fatty
substance improperly called spermaceti, which is contained in cartila-
ginous cavities in the bones of the head, where it is held in solution
byan oil, which is generally expressed. The Physeter macrocephalus
is a very large animal, growing to the length of nearly sixty feet, and
measuring thirty feet in circumference at the thickest part of the
head, The head is of prodigious size, and may be said to exceed
the rest of the body in magnitude. It has been compared to an
immense box, rounded and obtuse at one end, and rising into a
slight convexity at the neck. The back is more or less convex,
and near its middle there are the rudiments of a fin, which is
short, directed backwards, and truncated at the end. The upper
part of the body is of blackish or slate-blue colour, sometimes
spotted with white, and the belly is greyish or white. The mouth is
wide; the upper jaw much broader than the under, which is long and
narrow, fitting as it were into a longitudinal fissure or groove in
the upper. The lower jaw is furnished on each side with a row of
conical teeth, recurved and pointed at the extremity. On each
side of the upper jaw, is a row of holes for receiving the teeth of
the lower jaw, and the intervals between these cavities are filled up
with the rudiments of teeth, just appearing a little beyond the gum.
The eyes are small, furnished with eyelids, and situated at a great
distance from the snout. The external orifices of the auditory
passages are scarcely perceptible. The tongue is of a square form,
and of a livid red colour, and below the snout is the principal
cavity that contains the spermaceti. The spiracle, or blow-hole,
which appears externally simple, is double within ; it is about six

36 PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS.

inches in diameter, and placed just about the end of the snout.
Both the pectoral fins and tail are comparatively small, and the
lobes of the latter are long and pointed, and have a waving margin.
The genital organs are enveloped in a sheath, and the penis of the
male is sometimes eight feet in length.

The great Spermaceti Whale swims swiftly, and pursues with
great eagerness the Squalus Carcharias, or white shark. It also
feeds on the lump-fish, dog-fish, the Sepia octopodia, and other
marine productions. It is found most commonly in the Green-
land seas, and about Dayis’s Straits, in North America; but has
occasionally been seen in the German Ocean, and the British
Channel. A considerable number of them were cast on shore
on the coast of Lower Brittany, in France, in the year 1784.

This species yields a considerable quantity of spermaceti, for
which chiefly it is taken, though its flesh, skin, tongue, and intes-
tines are eaten by the Greenlanders. The flesh is of a pale red,
like that of pork, and the tongue is esteemed a great delicacy when
roasted, The blubber is about five or six inches thick on the
back; but the animal is not very productive of oil.

The spermaceti, or cetine, as it is called by Chevreul, is con-
tained in numerous cartalaginous cavities in the upper part of the
head. When fresh, and in its natural receptacle, it is semi-fluid,
and has a yellowish unctuous appearance, but concretes when
exposed to the air in opaque masses. The oil, containing the sper-
maceti in a state of solution, is taken out of the cavities containing it
and brought home in barrels, for various domestic and medicinal
purposes. In this country, however, spermaceti undergoes a
particular process for its purification, The mass is put into hair
bags, and pressed between plates of iron, in a screw press, until it
becomes hard and brittle. It is then broken to pieces and thrown
into boiling water, where it melts, and the impurities rising to the
surface are skimmed off. After being cooled, and separated from
the water, it is put into fresh water in a large boiler, and a weak
ley of the potash of commerce added to it by degrees. This part
of the process is thrice repeated, after which the whole is poured
into coolers, where the spermaceti concretes into a semi-trans-
parent mass. Thus obtained it is a beautiful white, somewhat

PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS. 37]

brittle, unctuous substance, usually in small scales, has scarcely
any taste, and but little smell. Its specific gravity is 9.433. It
melts at 112°, burns with a clear flame when exposed to a higher
temperature, and is volatalized by heat, being at the same time
partially decomposed, It dissolves readily in hot alcohol, ether,
and oil of turpentine, but separates as the fluid cools. It is com-
pletely soluble in the fixed oils. It is insoluble in water, but can
be diffused in that fluid by means of the yolk of egg or mucilage.
It combines with the alkalies, forming soaps, which are not quite
so perfect as those prepared with the common fat. The weaker
acids do not act on it; but the strong sulphuric acid dissolves it,
forming a dark coloured, thick, soapy solution. When a mineral
acid is added to the soap which it forms with potass, a peculiar
fatty substance is precipitated, which is called cetic acid by
M. Chevreul. It was formerly supposed to be the basis of the
common biliary, calculi, but Chevreul shewed that it differs essen-
tially from this substance, which he has called chloresterine.

The highly esteemed odoriferous substance, so well known by
the name of amlergris, has been discovered in the intestines of the
Spermaceti Whale. It has been observed, that the Whales that
contain ambergris are always lean and sickly, yield but very little
oil, and seem almost torpid; but it is uncertain whether it is the
cause or effect of disease. Ambergris occurs in irregular shaped
masses, of various sizes, which have a compact texture, and an ash-
grey colour, marked with yellowish, brown, and white streaks. Its
specific gravity varies from 0.849 to 0.844, It is generally brittle,
feels unctuous, and if good adheres like wax to the edge of a
knife with which it is scraped. It has an agreeable smell, which
improves by keeping. Its taste is insipid; it melts when heated
at 144°; and at 212° is volatalized in the form of white vapour.
According to the analysis of Bouillon la Grange, 100 parts of am-
bergris contain 52.7 adipocere, 30.8 resin, 11.1 benzoic acid, and
5.4 charcoal. From more recent experiments it appears to con-
sist principally of a peculiar matter, which is called ambrein, by
Pelletier and Caventou; this substance bears a great resemblance
to chloresterine, and is obtained by digesting the ambergris in
alcohol, which deposits chrystals of ambrein as it cools,

E

38 PHYSETER TRUMPO.

MepicaL Properties AND Uses.—Spermaceti is used inter-
nally as a demulcent in catarrh, phthisis pulmonalis, diarrhoea and
dysentery ; and externally in ointments to wounds and excoriations
of the skin. Asan internal remedy it possesses no advantages over
the fixed oils, which as Dr. Pearson justly observes are more
readily united with water through the medium of alkalies and mu-
cilages, and are less liable to become rancid and nauseating by
keeping. Spermaceti is sometimes prescribed in the form of an
emulsion, diffused in water by means of the yolk of an egg, as a
vehicle for the tincture of opium to women in child-bed, when the
after-pains prove troublesome. It is principally employed in the
composition of ointments and cerates, which are applied as a
dressing to inflamed parts, and prove useful in a great measure by
excluding the air. Spermaceti readily dissolves caoutchoug, and
this property renders it useful as a lute, for stopping vessels in cer-
tain chemical operations. M. Fee says, in France, 'it is used in the
manufacture of bougies of great beauty, the more so, as by a process
little known, they are made transparent. It is given in a dose of
from 3ss. to ,iss. rubbed with sugar, or with an egg in emulsiou.

Ambergris has occasionally been employed in medicine, but as it
seems to possess very little efficacy, it is now very generally disused
in most parts of Europe. Dr. Swediaur took thirty grains of it
without perceiving any sensible effect. In Turkey, Persia, and the
East, it is used as an aphrodisiac, though its virtues in this respect
are perfectly imaginary. In this country, ambergris is principally
used in perfumery. A few drops of the alcoholic solution, or
essence as it is commonly called, mixed in minute quantity with
lavender water, tooth-powder, hair-powder, wash-balls, &c. adds
much to the fragrance of their scent.

Orr. Prep.—Ceratum simplex, E. Ceratum Cetacei, L.
Unguentum Cetacei, L. D.

PHYSETER TRUMPO.—Blunt-headed Cachalot.

Spec. Cuar.— Body irregularly conical, with a protu-
berance on the back; no dorsal fin. Teeth straight»
pointed.

Ss . se. ™

PHYSETER MICROPS. 39

Physe‘er Macrocephalus ; Var. F. Lin. Blunt-headed Cachalot; Pennant, Brit.
Paoli iii, p. 61. Cachalot Trumpo; La Cépede, p. 212. t. 10, f.2. Bonnat. Ency.
Meth. t. 8. f. 1.

Tne length of this species is about sixty feet, and its breadth about

fifteen. The head is of enormous size; the upper jaw is much

longer than the lower, round and obtuse at the snout, and about
eight feet deep, from crown to base. The lower jaw is about
ten feet long, very narrow, and having about eighteen teeth on
each side, all pointed outwards, The eye is small, and placed
many feet behind the snout, nearly in the middle of the breadth
of the upper jaw. The body is irregularly conical, with a promi-
nence on the back, and another on the belly just before the anus.

The swimming paws are proportionally larger than in the former

species; and the prevailing colour of the animal is of a blackish

grey.

This species yields a great quantity of spermaceti, and its blubber is
very productive of oil, of a finer quality than that of the common
Whale. It is found in the Greenland seas, and in those that wash
the shores of New England, and is occasionally seen on the coasts
of France and Britain.

PHYSETER MICROPS.—Small-eyed Cachalot.

Spec. Cuar. Dorsal fin long, erect, and pointed ;
teeth conical, pointed, and curved inwards.

Great-headed Cachalot; Pennant, Brit. Zool. iii. Cachalot Microps; Bonnatere,
Ency. Meth. Art. Cetologie, p. 16.

Tue small-eyed Cachalot, or black-headed Spermaceti Whale, is
described by La Cépede as one of the largest, most cruel, and
most dangerous inhabitants of the deep. The head is so monstrous
as to equal the whole length of the animal, independent of the
tail fin. The upper jaw is somewhat longer than the lower; and
the teeth, which appear in the latter, are conical, curved, and
hollow towards the roots. The eyes are extremely small, The

40 GALLUS SONNERATI.

- swimming paws are about four feet long. The dorsal fin is straight,
high, and pointed. The whole length of the animal exceeds sixty
feet, and the skin is of a black colour.

It inhabits the Arctic Ocean, and has occasionally appeared on
the northern coast of Scotland. Its flesh is esteemed as a great
delicacy by the Greenlanders, and it yields a great quantity of
spermaceti, but it is not very productive of oil.

Crass I.—AVES. (Birds.)

Vertebrated animals, with red and warm blood,
respiring by lungs, and the young of which are pro-
duced from eggs ; feet two; bil/horny ; body covered with
feathers, and provided with wings, by means of which
most of them are enabled to fly in the air.

VII.

GALLUS SONNERATI.
Jungle Cock, Wild Cock, or Indian Pheasant.

Order Gatun, Lin. Tem. GAiinaces, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Bill somewhat thick, with the base
smooth, convex above, slightly curved, and bent down
at the tip ; nostrils situated at the base, half covered
with an arched scale, and open; ears naked; head
surmounted by a crest or plume ; feet four-toed, gres-
sorial; anterior toes connected at the base by a
membrane ; tai/ compressed, and composed of fourteen
feathers ; ¢arst with a long and bent spur; wings
short.

7
Le :

,
Printed by CHallman he

, Gallis Sonne

” 7 ip ay pe n rn + a. ee7 wr /o0
Loxdon Lublushed by Jiha Vidson,Lrinces Streee, Soho, February 124834.

GALLUS SONNERATI. 4]

Spec. CHAR. Comb toothed; throat wattled beneath ;
cathers of the neck elongated, spotted with white,
black, and fulvous, with membranaceous tips ; throat,
breast, abdomen, and back, griseous lineated with
white; wing-coverts reddish-chesnut ; the quill and

tail feathers deep black.

Phasianus Gallus; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, 737. Phasianus Gallus, var a.; Lath. Ind.
Ornith. 625, 1. Wild Cock; Lath, Gen. Syst. 2, 2, 625, 1. Phasianus Indicus ;
Leach, Zool. Misc. ii. t.61; Shaw, Zool, xi.t. 12. Coq Sauvage; Sonnerat,
Voy. Orient. ii. p. 153, t. 94-95. Gallus Sonnerati, Tem.

Tuis magnificent bird, commonly called the Jungle Cock, is a native
of India, where it occurs in great abundance, in woods and forests.
From this species it is that Sonnerat has asserted all our domestic
fowls have originated; but as this opinion is not supported by
evidence, and as the points of difference are very distinct, many
naturalists of the present day, and among others Dr. Leach, dissent
entirely from the generally received opinion. M. Temminck unhe-
sitatingly denies the possibility of such an origin, and considers
them as derived from more than a single stock, and that difference
in point of form and plumage is independent of climate or accident.
It is from the Javan Cock, of Latham, (Gallus Bankiva, Tem.)
principally, that this celebrated ornithologist thinks our common
domestic fowl has been obtained.

The Jungle Fowl of Sonnerat is somewhat smaller than our
domestic cock; it has the beak horn-coloured, the comb notched,
and the wattles similar to ours, in colour of a lighter or deeper red,
but the bare space about the eyes, and on the throat, is larger in
this species ; the feathers on the head and neck become longer as
they approach the body. They are remarkably distinguished from
every other species of cock, in the size and flatness of the quills of
these feathers, forming a white stripe throughout the whole length
of the feather to the tip, where it becomes expanded into a round
film of a cartilaginous structure, very delicate, and highly polished.
The feathers of the back of the tail-coverts are long, narrow, of a
brownish black, marked with lighter spots of the same colour, and

F

\

42 GALLUS SONNERATI.

a broad white stripe in the course of the sterm; the under parts
and thighs blackish, with a greenish hue; the primaries dull
black ; the secondaries black with a shade of green; the lesser and
middle wing-coverts have their stems flattened, and expand at the
tip, like the neck-feathers, but more thick and solid; these films
are of a bright red colour; the tail-coverts are deep violet, very
long, and arched on each plane of the tail, which consists of four-
teen feathers, black and glistening with green. The feet are
grey.

The female, which is smaller than the male, has neither comb
nor wattles, and the throat is covered with feathers, in both which
points it differs strikingly from our hens; the plumage of the under
parts resembles that of the cock, but the colours are duller; the
neck-feathers are not elongated, neither are they nor the wing-
coyerts furnished with the cartilaginous film observed inthe male ;
the upper parts are greyish, and more or less inclining to black, with
a streak of white extending along the stem of each feather. The
annexed figure of the male bird was made from a fine specimen in
the gardens of the Zoological Society ; that of the female is copied
from Sonnerat.

M. Temminck, who has written an admirable work on the
Gallinacea, seems disposed to conjecture that the present species
also inhabits some parts of South America. Acosta, who was the
provincial of the Jesuits in Peru and Hispaniola, notices the ex-
istence of wild fowls prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in those
countries; and Sonnini, during his travels in French Guiana,
often heard them crowing in the woods. Stedman likewise in-
forms us that, at Surinam, the common fowls are as good and
plenty as in our own country, but smaller, and their eggs differ in
shape, being more sharp-pointed. A smaller species of the dung-
hill kind, with rumpled inverted feathers, seems natural to Guiana,
being reared in the inland parts of the country by the Indians or
natives, :

The races or breeds of the common Domestic Cock (Phasianus
Gallus, Lin.; Gallus domesticus, Steph.), are exceedingly nume-
rous ; for, with the exception of the purely white individuals,
scarcely any two are alike. The Crested Cock has the head orna-

* GALLUS SONNERATI. 43

mented with a crest, in addition to the comb, which in colour,
often contrasts with the rest of the feathers: thus some birds are
white, with a black crest ; others black with a white crest ; or the
crest is black and orange, while the body is white, or varied with
several colours. This breed occurs in many parts of England, and
on the Continent, and is said to be less prolific than some others,
but to fatten more readily. In Egypt it is much in request for the
delicacy of its flesh. The Bantam and Turkish tribes are either
identical, or, at least, very nearly allied, both being of small di-
mensions, and attired in shewy plumage. The hen lays a great

number of eggs without sitting, and a dwarf variety, scarcely ~

larger than the common pigeon, occurs in many parts of Europe
and China, where it is reared on account of the fertility of the
female. The Dorking Cock, of Latham, which is common in
some parts of England, particularly about Dorking, in Surrey, is
somewhat larger than the ordinary sort, and has five toes, two of
which are placed behind. “ The Game-cock,” says a popular
writer, “ when in full plumage, and not mutilated for the purpose
of fighting, has a fine and animated appearance. His head, which
is small, is adorned with a spacious red comb and wattles ; his
eyes sparkle with fire ; and his whole demeanour bespeaks boldness
and freedom. The feathers on his neck are long, and fall grace~
fully on his body, which is firm, thick, and compact. His tail is
long and arched ; his legs are robust, and armed with sharp spurs,
with which he defends himself and attacks his adversary. When
surrounded by his females, his whole aspect is full of animation,
and he admits no competitor; but, on the approach of a rival,
rushes forward to instant combat, and either drives him from the
field, or perishes in the attempt. To render his blows still more
deadly, he is occasionally armed with an artificial spur, called a
gaffie. The origin of cock-fighting is lost in the periods of remote
antiquity ; yet even the polished Athenians allotted one day in the
year to this barbarous sport: the Romans seem to have borrowed
it from the Greeks, and the ancient Britons from the Romans.
So addicted was Henry VIII. to.this inhuman spectacle, that he
caused a commodious house to be built for its exhibition, and
which still retains the name of the Cock-pit ; and the practice was

44 GALLUS SONNERATI,

perversely promoted in our public schools. In China the rage for
eock-fighting is still more prevalent than in this country; and, in
Sumatra, a man will hazard, not only his property, but his wife
and children, on a favorite bird.”

The domestic hen breeds more freely in warm than in cold
climates. In this country and in France, if properly fed and
accommodated with cold water, gravel, and a warm situation, she
generally lays two eggs in the course of three days, and continues
to do so upwards of ten months. In the more northerly climates,
as in Greenland and Siberia, where they are kept as rarities, the
species do not breed, For mucb valuable information on the most
approved modes of managing domestic poultry, the reader may con..
sult the above-mentioned work of M. Temminck,and Parmentier’s
excellent observations, under the article Coq, in the Nouveau Dic-
tionnaire d’ Histoire Naturelle.

The egg consists of four distinct parts ; firstly, the calcareous in-
vestment or shel] ; secondly, the investing membrane ; thirdly, the
white or albumen; and fourthly, the yolk. The first of these, the
shell, or putamen of the older anatomists, is composed of the
carbonates of lime and magnesia, phosphate of lime, and animal _
matter. The investing membrane is albuminous, and possesses
no important qualities, but was once esteemed efficacious in ague.
The white, which consists of nearly pure albumen, is a viscid,
transparent, colourless liquid; inodorous, insipid, and particu-
larly distinguished by the property of coagulating when exposed
to a temperature of about 165° Farh., into a white, opaque,
tough, solid substance. Chlorine, iodine, alcohol, and many of
the acids, also cause its coagulation, especially the sulphuric, nitric,
and muriatic acids. The galvanic battery produces the same
effect ; and tannin, and several of the metallic salts, form insoluble
precipitates with it, as the nitrate of silver, nitro-muriates of gold
and tin, acetate of lead, and the bi-chloride of mercury, which is,
perhaps, the most delicate test of the presence of albumen in
animal fluids. Sulphuric acid has a very peculiar action on albu-
men. Dr. Hope, the able Professor of Chemistry in the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh, discovered, many years ago, that this acid
immediately coagulates albumen, like the other strong acids, when

GALLUS SONNERATI. 45

in a concentrated state, but dissolves it again when assisted by a
gentle heat, forming a solution of a very fine red colour, The
pure alkalies dissolve it, even when coagulated. In its natural or
uncoagulated state, the white of egg soon putrifies, unless it be
dried, when it assumes the appearance of horn, and may be kept
in this state for an indefinite time. It contains small portions of
free soda and sulphur, and hence it changes the vegetable blues to
a green colour, and blackens metallic silver. According to the
experiments of Dr. Bostock, white of egg consists of water 85.0,
albumen 1.2, in 100 parts; and besides shews traces of unco-
agulable matter 2.7, and salts 0.3, sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and
benzoic acid. The yolk, or vitellus, is that well known spherical
yellow mass, which occupies the centre of the albumen; it is
included in an extremely delicate membrane, which is apparently
without fibres, and is inelastic. In the common domestic fowl it
is inodorous, and has a bland sweetish oily taste. It mixes readily
with water, and forms a milky emulsion, which in Francé is
termed lait de poule, or hen’s milk. When heated it becomes
solid, and yields by expression a yellow insipid fixed oil, Its
principal constituents are water, oil, albumen, and gelatin; on the
presence of the albumen depends the solidity of the boiled yolk,
and the oil which it contains forms a saponaceous liquid when
mixed with potash. Eggs may be preserved for a considerable
length of time, by covering them with grease or immersing them in
lime water, which prevents the admission of air through the pores
of the shell. <A fresh egg is translucent, or semi-transparent, but
when it is opaque, or appears cloudy when placed between the eye
and the light, it must be rejected.

MepicaL Properties AND Uses.—The yolks of raw eggs are
said to be greatly laxative, and have been thought serviceable in
jaundice and obstructions of the liver. By the late Mr. White,
of Manchester, and Professor Hamilton, of Edinburgh they
have been highly extolled in the icterus of pregnant wo-
mne. In the form of emulsion, combined with mucilage and
syrup, they are sometimes employed as a demulcent in coughs,
hoarseness, and other pulmonary affections. Mixed with Rhenish,
or other light wine, and rendered grateful by the addition of lemon
juice and sugar, raw eggs are frequently prescribed in conva-

46 GALLUS SONNERATI.

lescencies and other cases of debility. The white of eggs, when
given in sufficient quantity, has been found to be the best antidote
for the poisonous preparations of copper and corrosive sublimate.
For this purpose it is recommended to diffuse the whites of eggs
in cold water, in the proportion of one dozen of eggs to two pints
of water, and administer a glassful of this mixture every ten
minutes. M. Orfila, to whom we are indebted for this important
discovery, found that when twenty-five or twenty-six grains of
verdigris were mixed with the white of six eggs, the poison, which,
if pure, would have killed a dog in three hours, did not cause death
for seven days, and had no effect at all for five days, although the
gullet was tied to prevent the mixture from being expelled.*
M. Peschier, in the Journal de Médicine, xxxvill. 77, states that
the white of one egg is required to render four grains of the poison
inert, Egg shells are antacid, and when burnt have sometimes
been used in medicine; but they differ in no respect from lime or
chalk. The yolk is used in pharmaceutical operations, for ren-
dering oils, camphor, and some other substances miscible with
water. From its coagulability albumen is of great use in clarifying
liquids ; when dried it becomes a brittle transparent glassy-like
substance, which, when spread thin upon substances, forms a
varnish, and is accordingly much employed by book-binders for
that purpose. It likewise possesses the property of rendering
leather supple, for which purpose a solution of whites of eggs in
water is used by leather-dressers ; and hence it has been proposed
to employ this solution in cases of contraction and rigidity of the
tendons. Whites of eggs beaten in a bason with a lump of alum
till they coagulate, form the alum curd of Riverius, and the
coagulum aluminis, or alum cataplasm, of former editions of the
London pharmacopeeia, used as an astringent application to the
eyes in chronic ophthalmia.

The ova of birds bear no inconsiderable analogy in alimentary
properties to the milk of the mammalia, and forms a mild nutritious
article of food, well suited to consumptive persons and debilitated
constitutions. The eggs of the different species of the gallinacea,
differ very little in alimentary properties ; but those of the common

* Toxicologie Generale, i, 540,

GALLUS SONNERATI. 47

domestic fowl, and the pheasant, are universally preferred for the
delicacy of their flavour. Eggs contain much nourishment in a
* small bulk, and, as Dr. Cullen justly remarks, a smaller quantity
of this than any other food will satisfy and occupy the digestive
powers of most men. According to Lieutaud, and other writers,
they are well adapted to those who are subject to acidities of the
prime viee: but they are said to favour the secretion of bile, and
so to disagree with those of a biliousttemperament. The solubility
of eggs depends much on their mode of preparation. To weak
stomachs, they should only be immersed in boiling water a few
minutes, so that the albumen be kept soft. Both the white
and yolk of egg are rendered less digestible to the generality of
stomachs when boiled to hardness. Eggs are distinguished by the
peculiar quality of singularly affecting some persons; even the
smallest quantity occasioning colic, febricula, heat, itching, and efflo-
rescence of the skin. Eggs should be eaten when quite fresh, for
when they approach to a putrescent state, they seem to be the
most active and noxious of all the putrid substances. Taken to
the quantity of even three or four grains, putrid egg has been
known to occasion violent diarrhoea and dysentery. The flesh of
the common domestic fowl affords a well known delicate and
wholesome food. It is less stimulating and more easy of
digestion than almost all animal substances ; but it affords at the
same time a less proportion of real nourishment. Broth made of
the young fowl or chicken is diluent and restorative, and affords a
very useful drink in cholera, diarrhoea, and other disorders of the
stomach and bowels.

The flesh of birds is in general wholesome, but the Pheasant of
the United States of America, is sometimes found to be poisonous,
during the winter and spring. The cause assigned for this noxious
quality is its feeding on the buds of the Kalmia latifolia, which is
one of the few shrubs that preserves its verdure throughout the
winter. Dr. Mease has published several cases which occurred
in 1791 and 1792, in Philadelphia, where individuals dining
on pheasants solely, were, in a few hours after, seized with giddi-
ness, violent flushings of heat and cold, sickness at stomach, and
repeated vomiting. These symptoms were soon succeeded by

48 GECKO LOBATUS.

delirium, weak pulse, and extreme debility, while some cases were
marked by the preservation of the senses, but a total inability to
articulate. They were generally relieved by emetics, diluents, and
mild stimulants.* In a case which occurred to Dr. Drake, also
in winter, vertigo, sickness at the stomach, with extreme languor
and exhaustion, suddenly attacked the patient; the pupils were
dilated, no pulse could be felt in the arms or temple, and excru-
ciating pain of the stomach, These symptoms were somewhat
relieved by an emetic; but tenesmus and griping remained for
some time, and the patient gradually recovered.

Crass ITT.—REPTILIA. Lepiiles.

Vertebrated atinals, with cold red blood, respiring
by lungs; Jody naked, or covered with scales.

IX.

GECKO LOBATUS.
The House Gecko.

Class AMpuisia, Lin. Order Saurta. Fam. Greco.
TIDE, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar.—Head and body depressed ; eyes large ;
tongue fleshy and not extensile; jaws furnished with
a row of very small and close-set teeth ; skin sha-~
greened above, with small scales or tubercles ; ¢az/
with circular folds; ¢oes five, widened along their
margins or at their extremity, generally furnished -
with transverse scales beneath.

eS ee ee Pe Da en Se a NEP PR Sa Te Re Be EN
* New York Medical Repository, v. ix. p. 168, and v. xliv- p. 147.

he

LL sustee

3

= ¢) eae

uo

dt

Gecko lobattes.

L » ¥ * ye . cv 2 a2 > *
Londen, lubiushed, by Sotery Vics ore tt ves SEP CE OF, Marohy t, 7537

oe eas,

ik coy eae
rate

% a

GECKO LOBATUS. 49

Spec. Cuar.—Body smooth, reddish grey, spotted with
brown; scales and tubercles very small; toes free ;
tail round.

Stellio Hasselquistii; Schn. Thecodactylus lobatus; Cuv. Gecko ascolobates ;
Merrem. Gecko lobatus; Geoffr. Rept. Egypt.t, 3.f. 5.

Tue Gecko lobatus, which several writers have described under
the name of Lacerta Gecko, and of L. Haxelquistiz, and which
Baron Cuvier has figured under the title of Gecko des Maisons,
or House Gecko, is a native of Egypt, and has long been celebrated
for the noxious fluid which it secretes. It ,is a small species,
measuring about five inches in length, from the point of the
muzzle to the extremity of the tail. The general colour is a very
pale reddish grey, spotted with brown. On the upper part of the
body there are generally observed three longitudinal rows of broad
round dots, one of which occupies the median line of the back ;
the two others are placed upon the sides. The plates which sur-
round the margin of the jaws and mouth are of a bright yellowish
green colour. The head is broad, somewhat triangular, much
swelled out across the ears, depressed, and covered on its upper
surface with small rounded prominent scales. The muzzle is
taper ; the eyes are very large and nocturnal ; the tongue is thick,
flat, and bifid at its tip, but not extensile, and the external opening
of the ear is very apparent ; the mouth is wide, and the jaws are
furnished with a row of very small teeth. The body is long,
slender, somewhat depressed, and covered with very minute round
verrucose scales, irregularly disposed upon the head, the back, and
the legs, but forming on the tail regular transyerse rings. The
tail is long and cylindrical, tapering, and equal in length to the
rest of the body. The legs are rather long, and the feet have each
five nearly equal toes; at the extremity of each toe is a circular
expansion, which is divided in the middle to receive a small
crooked claw. All the toes are covered on their inferior surface
with small transverse imbricated scales, concealing glandular
pores, from which exhudes a very poisonous fluid.

50 GECKO LOBATUS.

From the peculiar structure of their feet some of the species of
this genus are enabled to attach themselves to the smoothest sur-
faces ; ‘and a very curious structure has been detected in the foot
of this animal, by Sir Everard Home. It occurred to this gentle-
man, that this must be done by a contrivance like that of the
Echineis remora, or sucking fish. Having procured from the late
Sir Joseph Banks, a large specimen of the common Gecko,
(Lacerta Gecko, Lin.), he was enabled to ascertain the peculiar
mechanism by which the feet of the animal can lay hold of a
smooth surface. This species, like the G. lobatus, has five toes,
and at the end of each, except the thumb, is a very sharp curved
claw. On the under surface of each claw are sixteen transverse
slits, leading to as many cavities, or pockets, whose depth is nearly
equal to the length of the slit which forms the orifice; they all
open forwards, and the external edge of each opening is serrated
hike a small-toothed comb. A large oval muscle covers the claw
of each toe, and from the tendons of these large muscles two sets
of smaller muscles originate, one pair of which is lost upon the
posterior surface of each of the cavities that lie immediately over
them. The large muscles draw down the claws, and necessarily
stretch the small muscles. When the small muscles contract, they
open the orifices of the cavities and turn down their serrated edge
upon the surface on which the animal stands, By this means
vacua are formed, and the animal adheres to the surface by the pres-
sure of the atmosphere.* Fig. 1, represents the under surface of one
of the toes of the common or Egyptian Gecko of the natural size ;
fig. 2, is a toe dissected, to shew the appearance of the pockets on
its under surface, and the small muscles by which they are drawn
open; the parts being highly magnified.

The House Gecko is found in the different countries which
border the Mediterranean Sea, to the south-east, particularly in
Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Barbary, from whence it is supposed to
have spread through various parts of the south of Europe. In
Egypt it is named Alow-Burs (father of the leprosy) because the
inhabitants pretend that it causes this disease, by poisoning with

* See Philosophical Transactions, 1816, p. 149.

ones, ae
a

a
va

Of

aT
ia

SDL BERL LI OK PBL? 6 VPP PALA ZE IDO + Shc? Pp, are. :
AST AF ae 4 ORG PPP PALS 2 S"PORORL STM OSPLYS BOYD VEY DOPY SD Ip, htm

bile“ 2? or had S°PLPVEID ?

yy “es 5 ery : ; apa ;
a \h Py sg) ) 304 { DOKL} 4 EP RORY
SY ees PRIA LoD NY Hip FN)
4 3

g >

ie

Sty er
RYH

4,9
VHA Ny)

Wh
A) \))

“es 4 * ‘0s 44% 4\¢ . POV
Be?) SK He SE i a) OD

5

SCINCUS OFFICINALIS. 51

its feet all kinds of provisions over which it passes. Hasselquist,
in 1750, saw a woman and a girl at the point of death, in conse-
quence of having eaten some cheese, over which this reptile had
dropt its poison. ‘ Once,” says he, “at Cairo, I had an oppor-
tunity of observing how acrid the. exhalations of the toes of this
animal are, as it ran over the hand of a man who endeavoured to
catch it; there immediately arose little pustules ‘over all those
parts the animal had touched; these were red, inflamed, and
smarted a little, greatly resembling those occasioned by the stinging
of nettles.”* The Gecko is driven from the kitchens at Cairo by
means of garlic, to which it has a great aversion. Sparman men-
tions a Gecko which he saw at the Cape of Good Hope, which
was regarded as exceedingly venomous; and Bontius speaks of
an East Indian species, which is employed by the natives
of Java to poison their arrows. He tells us that the venom
of this hideous reptile is so dangerous that if the part affected be
not immediately excised or burnt, death will ensue in a few hours.
Its urine is also said to be one of the most corrosive poisons ; and
its blood and saliva are regarded as equally deadly.

x
SCINCUS OFFICINALIS,
Officinal Scink.

—__-—

Order Sauria, Brong. Cuv.—Family Scixcip&.

Gen. Cuar. Body long, covered with elliptical or
rounded imbricated scales ; tongue fleshy, little exten-
sile, and slightly cleft; jaws with small close-set teeth,
and two rows on the palate ; feet with five toes, free
and unguiculated.

* Hasselquist’s Voyages and Travels in the Levant, p. 219.
4 yag

52 SCINCUS OFFICINALIS.

Spec. Cuar. Body silvery yellow, with transverse
blackish bands ; mwzz/e short and pointed ; ¢a¢/ com-
pressed at the tip ; margin of the does serrated.

Scincus; Raii Quadr.271; Aldrov. Quadr. Ovip. 658. Lacerta Scincus; Lin.
Syst. Gmelin, i. 1077. Le Scinque Ordinaire @ Egypt; Daud. iy. p. 130. Le
Scinque; Lacep. Quadr. Ovip.i. p. 373, t. 23. Officinal Scink; Shaw, Zool,
iii. t. 79. Scincus Officinalis; Laur. Amph. 55, n. 87; Geoffr. Rept. Egypt.
suppl. t.2, f. 8.

——E

Tue Officinal Scink has been long celebrated as a medicine among
eastern nations, and once obtained a place in the British pharmaco-
peias. It is a small animal, seldom exceeding six inches in length,
‘and is of a pale yellowish grey colour. The head is somewhat
flattened and covered above with a few plates; the muzzle is
conical, not pointed, but rounded at the end. The body is elon-
gated and rather thick, entirely covered with round imbricated
shining scales, and marked with several broad transverse blackish
bands. The tail is of moderate length, thick at its base, pointed,
compressed at the tip, and covered with scales similar to those on
the body. The feet are slender, rather short, about of an equal
length, furnished each with five long thin separate toes, serrated on
their outer edge, terminating in a flat and pointed claw.—Fig. 1
exhibits the under side of the head; 2, the upper side of the same.

This species of Scink is found in Nubia, Abyssinia, and Egypt,
from whence it used formerly to be brought to Europe by way of
Venice and Marseilles. In its manners it is perfectly harmless ;
and so active in its motions, that it hides itself in the sand in an
instant. It is so numerous in some parts of the East that Mr.
Bruce says he saw several thousands of them at once in the great
court of the Temple of the Sun, at Balbec. The ground, the walls,
and scattered stones of these ruinous buildings were covered with
them. According to this author, in Arabia it is named El Adda,
and in Abyssinnia Ahab,

MepicAL Properties AND Usrs.—The Scink is one of those
medicines which we owe to the superstition of former ages. The
virtues for which its flesh has been extolled are extremely nume-

SCINCUS OFFICINALIS. 53

rous; but it has been principally recommended as a restorative,
and as a remedy in elephantiasis, lepra, and other cutaneous dis-
eases. In consequence of its reputed alexipharmic powers it
entered as an ingredient into the old compound preparations which
went under the names of Theriaca Andromachi, and Confectio
Damocratis. ‘For a long time,” says Mr. Griffith, “the Scink
has been regarded as a remedy against certain maladies. Before
this it was extolled by Pliny as a specific for the wounds caused by
poisoned arrows; subsequently it has been vaunted as an aphro-
disiac, and quackery or ignorance has placed it in the rank of those
medicaments which merit the distinguished honeur of being
employed to reanimate the exhausted powers and to rekindle the
fires of love, when exhausted by the frosts of age or at the expense
of debauchery. Its flesh has been administered as depurative,
excitant, anthelmintic, analeptic, anti-cancerous, sialagogue, and
antispasmodic. Notwithstanding this confused mass of medical
properties, thus put together without discrimination, as if to form
the vade mecum of some empiric, now appears completely ridicu-
lous, yet even at the present day, in many countries, fables are still
published respecting the success of this remedy. In spite, however,
of the discredit into which it has fallen among the faculty in gene-
ral, it does not appear to be totally devoid of efficacy in some
complaints.”*

There is a large species of Scink, (Lacerta occidua, Shaw.) called
the Galley-wasp, in Jamaica and the Antilles, where it is common,
whose bite is believed—without sufficient evidence—to be ex-
tremely venomous, and causes immediate death.

* Animal Kingdom, vol. ix. p, 323.

54 CROTALUS DURISSUS.

ras
CROTALUS DURISSUS.
Lozenge-Spotted Rattle-Snake.

Class and Order AMpHIBIA SERPENTES, Lin. | Order
Oputpta. Family SERPENTES, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar.—Head broad, triangular, and flattened ;
with a hollow behind the nostrils. Scales carinated.
Shields entire on the belly and under the tail.
Upper maxillary bones destitute of common teeth,
supporting only the poison fangs on each side. Tuil
with a rattle, formed of hollow, moveable, and
sonorous cups.

* Scales on the head similar to those on the back.

Spec. Cuar.— Body brown,with blackish lozenge-shaped
spots, bordered with pale yellowish-white on the back ;
neck with blackish lines; dedly yellowish-white,
and not spotted; rings of the ratéle from 1 to 14,
deep brown.

Caudisona Durissa; Laurenti, Spec. Med. p.93. Le Durissus; La Cepede Hist.
Nat. des Serpens, p.423. Teutlacouphitz; Seba, Mus. 2. t.95, f.2. Crotalus
Durissus ; Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmelin, i. 1081; Shaw, Zool. iii. t. 89.

Titi the discovery of America the formidable reptiles compre-
hended under this genus, celebrated for the danger which accom-
panies their bite, and the peculiar appendages to their tail, were
unknown to Europeans, and from that period to the present day
they have attracted the particular attention of naturalists. For-
tunately the species are not very widely distributed, and those are
all provided with a rattle, whence they derive their name, the noise
of which gives warning of their proximity to those who may acci-
dentally come within their haunts. They swarm in the less
inhabited parts of the New World, but it has been observed that
in proportion as the country is peopled the snakes decrease in

>
vy
hol ‘
“VASO

44

2 Of |

fs

DP)
SY

, ?

SDL)

*SV2S :

SD

Lp

é

CROTALUS DURISSUS. 55

numbers, and they are now almost extirpated in the neighbourhood
of large towns. None are said to be found farther north than the
mountains near Lake Champlain, but they infest South America
even as far as Brasil. Rattle-snakes delight in woods and lofty
hills, especially where the strata are rocky or chalky. There are at
least three well characterised species, viz., Crotalus durissus,
C. horridus, C. miliarius ; and a fourth, C. cascabella, has lately
been discovered by M. Spix, in Brasil.

The species here represented inhabits the warmer parts of North
America, as far as the 45th degree of latitude. It is from
four to six feet in length, and the thickness of a man’s
arm. The general colour is of a deep brown above, and marked
along the back with a row of dark brown or nearly black lozenge-
shaped spots, bordered with pale brownish yellow. On the upper
part of the neck are three or four blackish lines. The head is large
and flat, of a triangular shape, and covered with scales similar to
those on the back; but those on the muzzle, and those which
coyer the eyes, are larger, and in theform of plates. The rostrum
is obtuse and truncated; and there is a small rounded fosset
behind each nostril. The scales of the back are carinated, of an
oblong oval form ; those of the lateral row, immediately above the
abdominal scuta, broader and somewhat rhomboidal. The shields
are entire on the belly and below the vent. The opening of the
mouth is wide, and in the upper jaw, on each side, is armed with
crooked teeth, which diminish in size in proportion as they recede
from the muzzle. The eyes are large, exceedingly brilliant, and
furnished with a nictitating membrane. The tail is rather thick,
and furnished with a dark brown coloured rattle.

To Thomas Bell, Esq. F.R.S., New Broad Street, I am in-
debted for the fine specimen from which the drawing on the an-
nexed plate was made, and who, with the frank liberality that cha-
racterises a mind ardent in the pursuit and advancement of science,
has allowed me the use of his splendid collection of this department
of natural history.—Fig. 1 exhibits the under side of the head;
2, the upper side of the head; 3, a section of the rattle.

From a paper published many years ago, in the Philosophical
Transactions, by Dr, Tyson, on the anatomy of the Rattle-snake,

56 CROTALUS DURISSUS.

it appears that its internal structure, in almost all respects, resem-
bles the viper. The following is Dr. Shaw’s abstract from the
account given by Tyson of the more important anatomical pecu-
liarities of that reptile.

‘The wind-pipe, as in the viper, as soon as it enters the lungs,
consists of semi-annular cartilages, which being joined at both
ends to the membrane of the lungs, constitute a free or open
channel, thus immediately transmitting the air to the vesicles of
these organs which are of very great length, beginning near the
throat, and running down three feet in length. The upper part of
them, for the distance of about a foot from their origin, is com-
posed of small vesiculze or cells, as in the lungs of the frog; and
which, from the frequent branchings of the blood-vessels, appear
of a florid red ; this part tapers proportionally to the body; the
lowest part of it near the heart being moderately blown, is about
five inches and a half in circumference; a little lower, for the space
of about four inches, the cells gradually disappear, so that they
seem at last to form only reticular compages of vavule conniventes
in the inside of the membrane of the lungs; the greatest circum-
ference here is about six inches; the remaining part of the organ
is merely a large bladder, without any cellular subdivisions, and
consists of a strong transparent membrane the circumference of
which, when inflated, is about eight inches and a half. The lungs
in the water-newt, and some other animals, are divided into two
large lobes, without cellular subdivisions; in the frogs, crocodiles,
&c. of two lobes with cellular divisions, while in the rattle-snake
and viper, both these kinds of structure are comprised, the anterior
part of the organ being filled with numerous vesicular subdivisions,
while the remaining part is mere lengthened bladder.

‘The cesophagus, or gullet, was two feet three inches in length,
and marked by two distinct enlargements of very great size, so as
to represent two preparatory stomachs as it were; nor was the
real or proper stomach capable of so much distention as these ;
the length of the true stomach or third enlargement, was nearly
similar to that of the second enlargement of the cesophagus ; it was
much thicker than that part, and resembled in its structure that of
the viper. From the pylorus the duct straightened again for about

CROTALUS DURISSUS. 57

half an inch, and then formed a large intestine, the weaved ridges
of its external coat presenting a curious and pleasing spectacle.
The intestine, after some small windings, terminated in the rectum,
which was of much smaller diameter. In the promiscuous food
which serpents take in, which they always swallow whole, and in
which there are always some parts unfit for digestion, and which
must therefore be returned, the cesophagus here being very long,
nature has provided the above-mentioned swellings or enlargements
of that part where they may be respited during the efforts made
use of by the animal for that purpose, till collecting its force, it
gives them as it were another and another lift, and at length ejects
them ; and if what is confidently affirmed be true, that, on occa-
sion of danger, they receive their young into their mouths, there
are fit places for receiving them.

“The heart was placed near the bottom or base of the trachea,
on the right side of it; its length was an inch and a half, and its
figure rather flat than round, encompassed by the pericardium.
It had only one ventricle, the valves being small and fleshy, and
the inside of the ventricle distinguished by four or five cross
furrows.

‘A little below the heart lay the liver, which was about an inch
wide in the largest part, and seemed divided on one side by the
vena cava into two lobes of an equal length ; that on the left side
being about ten inches, and that on the right a foot long. Its
colour was a brown red, and its use, no doubt, the secreting of the
gall, which was contained in a bladder, seated at some distance
below it.

‘« The fat in this animal was very plentiful, and the membrane
to which it adhered seemed to be the omentum, which encompassed
all the parts contained in the lower belly, and was joined to both
sides of the ribs, running from thence to the rectum, and forming
a bag which enveloped the parts there, but was free, and not con-
joined towards the belly. There was no diaphragm, or separation
between the heart and lungs, and the abdominal viscera.

“ The kidneys, which lay towards the back on each side of the
spine, were not very firmly conjoined, and were about seven inches
in length, that on the right side somewhat exceeding that on the

G

58 CROTALUS DURISSUS.

Jeft ; each was about an inch in diameter, and though forming one
continued body, yet plainly distinguishable into several smaller
kidneys, to the number of fifteen.

« The tongue was in all respects like that of the viper, being
composed of two long and round bodies, contiguous, and joined
together from the root, to half its length: this part may be
retracted or darted out at the will of the animal ; that part which
is thrown out being of a black colour, while the remainder or
sheathed portion is red.

« The teeth are of two sorts, viz. the smaller, which are seated
in each jaw, and serve for catching and retaining the food; and,
secondly, the fangs, or poisonous teeth, which kill the prey, and
are placed without the upper jaw. Of the first sort of teeth are
two rows on each side, viz. five in a row of the inward less than
the outward, there being twenty in all. In the upper jaw there
are only sixteen, viz. five on each side, placed backward, and six
before. These do no harm, which was known of old to mounte-
banks, who, to give proof of the efficacy of their antidotes, would
suffer themselves to be bitten by vipers, but first took care to spoil
them of their fangs. The fangs are placed without the upper jaw,
towards the fore part of the mouth, not fastened in the maxillz as
the other teeth. The fangs were not to be perceived on first
opening the mouth, lying concealed under a strong membrane, or
sheath ; but at pleasure the animal can raise them, as a cat or lion
does its claws. These fangs were hooked and bent, like the tusks
of the babyrousa, but some of the smaller ones were bent at right
angles; on each side we meet with about six or seven of. these.
In all these teeth was a pretty large foramen, or hole, towards the
root of it, and towards the point was a plainly visible large slit,
sloping like the cut of a pen, the part from the slit being perfectly
hollow; and on pressing gently with the finger on the side of the
gum, the poison, which was of a yellowish colour, was readily
perceived to issue from the hollow of the tooth through the slit.”

The rattle, which occurs as an appendage to the tail, is com-
posed of a number of semitransparent rings, received upon each
other, the first only being firmly attached to the last caudal ver-
tebra, whilst the others are very moveable upon one another. The

4

CROTALUS DURISSUS. 59

first formed cup of the rattle is connected directly with the scales
on the back, and, by the intervention of a row of small scales, with
the shields on the belly. Each cup consists of two quadrangular
pyramids, which are joined together by their points and flattened
laterally ; that nearest the tail is much the largest, hollow within
and convex externally, whilst that which is towards the tip is
nearly flat, and receives upon it the hollow pyramid of the next
ring, the base of the former making a projection, over which the
second ring cannot slip; in this mode the larger pyramid, which
is somewhat of an oval shape, with its long axis from above down-
wards, is seen, except at the tip of the rattle where both are visible,
and shew the formation of each ring, and the shape of the last
caudal vertebra, upon which each is formed as upon a mould.
The number of cups found in a rattle depend upon the age of the
snake, and these are said sometimes to amount to twenty or thirty ;
their usual number, however, is from five to fourteen. When the
reptile moves its body, the cups of the rattle likewise moving upon
one another, make a noise, which has been compared, though not
very correctly, to the folding of dried parchment. ‘This noise is
distinctly audible at the distance of twenty or thirty feet, but as
the cups consist merely of dried matter, which in the dry season is
brought into a condition to make a noise when the animal moves,
so in like manner, under the influence of external circumstances,
the rattle in the wet season is soft and mute.

The Rattle-snakes are slow inactive creatures, and seldom attack
a man unless molested; but this is often done unguardedly by
treading on their haunts. They usually rest twisted in a spiral
form, in places which are clear of grass and wood, where they lay
wait for such ill-fated animals as chance to prowl within their reach.
Their bite is almost uniformly fatal, even to the Jargest animals ;
and the latter frequently evince such an instinctive dread of them,
that, according to M. Bose, it is almost impossible to compel a
horse or dog-to advance towards them. Their food consists prin-
cipally of the smaller quadrupeds, such as squirrels, rabbits, rats,
hares, and small birds. If was long believed, and the notion is
still popularly current in America, that they possessed the power
of charming, as it is commonly called, or fascinating their victims,

t

60 CROTALUS DURISSUS.

which were thought to be so completely under the influence of
their glance as to precipitate themselves of their own accord into
the open throat of theirenemy. In a memoir on the supposed
fascinating power of the Rattle-snake by Dr. Barton, Professor of
Natural History in the University of Pennsylvania, this is, however,
contended to be nothing more than the fluttering of old birds in
defence of their young, when they perceive the snake lying in wait
for prey, and which are themselves caught, as well as their young,
by the Rattle-snake, unless they save themselves by a timely
retreat. _

The Rattle-snake is a viviparous animal; producing its young
in the month of June, generally about twelve in number, and
which by September acquire the length of twelve inches. It is
said to protect its young in the same manner as the common viper,
namely, by receiving them into its mouth and swallowing them.
Like most other reptiles, the Rattle-snakes retire during winter
into holes, in which they remain in a torpid state until the return
of spring, when they creep out of their hiding places in a weak
and languid state, Their flesh is eaten by the Indians, who also
apply their fat to various medicinal or superstitious uses.

The animal when provoked to bite rolls itself up in a spiral form,
and shaking its rattle, gives the warning alarm, before it darts out.
If the unfortunate victim removes from it, it elongates itself gently,
and creeps in a right line, keeping its rattles raised, and shaking
them from time to time. If it is provoked again it stops and
resumes its spiral figure; it moves its rattles with rapidity, its
head and neck become flattened, its cheeks swell, its lips contract;
its jaws widely separated allow the formidable fangs to appear ; its
eyes become red as flame, it darts out repeatedly its long and forked
tongue, its whole body swells with rage, rising and falling like a
pair of bellows; it threats, but it never springs forward unless
sure of its aim.

The bite of the Rattle-snake generally proves fatal, but its
effects vary greatly according to the health and size of the animal,
and consequently the greater or less intensity of the poison.
Laurenti says that when one has been bitten by a Crotalus, the
entire body is swelled, the tongue becomes prodigiously enlarged,

CROTALUS DURISSUS. 61

the mouth is parched, and an inextinguishable thirst takes place ;
the edges of the wound become gangrened, and at the end of five
or six minutes the victim dies in frightful agony. The poison is
secreted by a gland of considerable size, situated beneath the eye,
the excretory duct of which terminates on each side at the base of
the long tubular fang in the upper jaw, which is concealed when
the animal is at rest in a fold of the gum, but is capable of being
raised instantaneously when the animal is irritated, and about to
inflict the fatal wound.

Opportunities of tracing the symptoms produced by the bite of
poisonous snakes, and ascertaining their local effects upon the
human body when the bite proves fatal, in this country, are ex-
tremely rare. In the Philosophical Transactions for 1810, Sir
Everard Home has given an interesting case of a man who was
bitten by a Rattle-snake, of which the following is an abstract.
Thomas Soper, a spare man, about twenty-six years of age, whilst
teazing a Rattle-snake with a foot rule, dropped it into the cage,
and incautiously opening the door to remove it, the snake imme-
diately darted at the hand, and bit him once on the thumb and
a second time on the fore-finger. This happened about half-past
two o’clock, October 17, 1809. He went immediately to a che-
mist in the neighbourhood, who, imagining him to be intoxicated,
from his language and behaviour, gave him a dose of jalap, and
made some trifling application to the bites, but the hand at this
time had not swelled. In about half an hour the swelling had
extended half way up the fore-arm, and he was admitted into St.
George’s Hospital. The skin on the back of the hand was very
tense, and the part very painful. At four o’clock the swelling had
extended to the elbow; and at half-past four it had reached half
way up the arm, and the pain had extended to the axilla; the
skin was cold, pulse quick, conversation incoherent, and he com-
plained of sickness. Forty drops of ammonia and thirty drops of
ether were given in an ounce of camphor mixture, but did not
remain on his stomach; the wounds were bathed with aqua
ammoniz pure, and the extremity had compresses wetted with
camphorated spirits applied to them; in two hours after, the
ammonia and ether were repeated and retained, and the same

H

62 CROTALUS DURISSUS.

medicine was given three times in the course of that evening ; at
a quarter after nine the pain had become excessive, and he was
attacked with fainting fits every fifteen minutes ; in the course of
the night his pulse became very quick, and he began to talk indis-
tinetly ; the medicine was given every hour. On the following day
the pulse had risen to 132, and was very feeble ; the swelling had
not extended beyond the shoulder into the neck, but there was a
fullness down the side, and blood extravasated in the cellular mem-
brane, as low as the loins on the right side; the hand and arm
very cold, painful when pressed, and vesicated just above the elbow
on the inside of the arm; the warmth of the body had returned,
but the patient was very low; and as there was recurrence of
vomiting, so that the stomach could not retain even brandy, two
grains of opium were ordered to be taken every four hours; the
faintings still recurred ; the vesications and red spots continued to
increase in size.

The opium was left off on the following day (October 19), and
he was ordered to take as much wine and brandy as could be got
down. Two days after he was occasionally delirious, and the irri-
tability of the stomach continued, so that the brandy and jelly only
were retained. On the 22nd, his pulse having become full and
strong, wine was ordered instead of brandy. Six days after a slough
formed on the arm, and he was attacked with diarrhea. On the
29th his pulse became quick and feeble, and an abscess on the
outside of the elbow being opened, discharged half a pint of a
reddish brown pus, mixed with sloughs of cellular membrane ; bark
was ordered, but given up the next day, in consequence of the
recurrence of the diarrhea. He continued gradually to sink,
vomiting still continued, mortification took place in the axilla, and
he died in the afternoon of the 4th of November, eighteen days
after being bitten. On dissection, the body externally was found
natural, with the exception of the arm that had been bitten. The
wounds made by the fangs were healed; the lungs were healthy ;
the cavities of the heart contained coagulated blood; the cardiac
portion of the stomach was moderately dilated with fluid; while
the pyloric portion was much contracted, the internal membrane
had its vessels gorged with blood. The intestines and liver were

CROTALUS DURISSUS. 63

healthy. The vessels of the brain were turgid, and water effused
in it. Such is the account of Sir E. Home’s case; but in ordi-
nary cases, where the bite is inflicted by a healthy snake, the local
irritation is so sudden and so violent, and its effect on the general
system so great, that a person will die in a few hours.

Dr. Brickell mentions, that he saw a fight between a dog and a
Rattle-snake, in which, after two bites, the dog died in less than
half an hour, as did also the snake, which had bitten itself in the
second encounter. Capt. Hall, in the Philosophical Transactions,
relates that a dog which was exposed to the bite of a Rattle-snake
died in fifteen seconds ; a second dog was destroyed in two hours ;
and a third died after three hours. After four days he had a dog
bitten by the same snake, and it died in thirty seconds; another was
destroyed in four minutes. Three days after, a frog was killed by the
same snake in two, and a fowl in three minutes. And some time
after, the animal having bitten itself died in twelve minutes.

In the treatment of poisoning by the Rattle-snake, and other
“yenomous serpents, the first object is, if the case has been seen
at a sufficiently early period, to prevent the passage of the virus
from the wounded part towards the centre of circulation. For
this purpose, a ligature should be applied between the situation of
the injury and the heart; but the most certain mode of removing
the poison consists in the excision of the bitten part. The wound
should be immediately sucked with all the power the mouth is
capable of exerting; and the suction should be persisted in for a
considerable length of time, together with scarification to the full
depth of the wound. The practice of sucking out poisons is of
great antiquity, and if it be done very early will, in many cases, be
attended with the most beneficial results. The Psylli of Africa,
and the Mersi of Italy, were celebrated for curing the bites of
poisonous animals, by sucking the wounds ; and we are informed
that the Indians of North America practice the same treatment at
this day. If the bite be inflicted on a part upon which a ligature
cannot be applied, the wounded portion should be destroyed with
caustic or the actual cautery. The caustic which Fontana recom-
mends, was potass ; but the liquid caustics are commonly preferred,
especially the mineral acids, because their action is quicker, and

64 CROTALUS HORRIDUS.

they penetrate more readily to the bottom of the wound. From
the experiments of Dr. Barry, Professor Mangili, and others, it
appears that the application of cupping-glasses, as prescribed by
Celsus, is a remedy which may prove extremely useful in all cases
of bites inflicted by venomous animals.

With respect to the general measures, experience has shewn
that medicines of a stimulating nature are best calculated to
remoye the powerfully depressing influence that is exerted over the
nervous and circulating systems, by this class of animal poisons.
The volatile alkali, spiritus ammonie succinatus, sulphuric ether,
and oleum terebinthine, are the remedies usually employed. Of
these the liquid ammonia, administered internally, in the dose of
from fifteen to twenty drops, every two hours, is generally regarded
as having the best title to the character of a specific for the bites
of venomous serpents. In South. America, where venomous
snakes are very numerous, the expressed juice of the Mikania
guaco, a plant described and figured by Humboldt, is generally
esteemed as the best remedy for the bites of poisonous serpents,
The roots of Polygala Senega, Aristolochia serpentaria, anguicida,
and longifolia, Prenanthes alla, and the bark of the tulip-tree, are
also recommended.*

CROTALUS HORRIDUS.— Banded Rattle-snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body brown, with transverse irregular
blackish bands; extremity of the ¢az/ black ; length
five feet.

C.Horridus, Lin.; Catesby, Carol.iit. 41; Shaw Zool, iii, t, 88.

Tue Boiguira, or banded Rattle-snake, inhabits various parts of
America, and is found from four to six feet in length. It may be
distinguished from the preceding species by the different disposition

* The Crotalus rhombifer of Boie, and C. cascavella, Spix, Serp. Brasil.
t. 24, appear to be varieties of the present species.

CROTALUS MILIARIS. 65

of its colours, being of a yellowish-brown, marked throughout its
whole length with transverse irregular blackish bands. The under
parts are of a paler colour, and spotted with numerous dusky
variations or freckles. It is named lotcininga by Piso and Mar-
grave. The Mexicans, according to Hernandez, call it tewhtlacot
zauhgui, which signifies queen of serpents; the Portuguese of
Brasil call it cascavella, and the natives designate it under the
terms Loiguira and Loicininga. The bite is considered more fatal
than that of the former species.

CROTALUS MILIARIS.—Mihary Rattle-snake.
* H[ead covered with shields.

Spec. Cuar. Body greyish-brown, with a red line
along the back, interrupted by a series of black spots,
bordered with white; sedes and under parts with
smaller spots ; /ength two feet.

Vipera Caudisona Americana minor; Catesby, Carod, ii. t. 42. Crotalophorus
Miliaris ; Gray.

Tue upper part of the head is covered with broad scales, placed in
four rows; the back is of a greyish-brown ¢olour, marked with a
longitudinal stripe of red, which is broken by several small spots,
edged with white; the sides and belly spotted with black. This
species has been described by Catesby under the name of the viper
of Louisiana; its small size and its colour prevent its being readily
seen, and its rattle can hardly be heard, even when held in the
hand; and persons are thus exposed to walk or even to sit upon it.
In the United States this serpent is considered as more dangerous
than the durissus. According to M. Lebeau, ammonia is the
remedy which is employed as an antidote to its bite with the
greatest success.

66 VIPERA BERUS.

XID.

VIPERA BERUS. «~-
Common Viper, or Adder.

Gen. Cuar.—Scales on the head rough or granulated ;
plates under the tail divided ; neck narrow ; poisonous
fangs in the upper jaw.

Spec. Cuar.—Body brown, with a black zigzag line
along the back, and a row of black spots on each side ;
belly slate-coloured ; length two feet.

EX'S; Arist. Hist. An. lib. iii. c. 1. Vipera, Virg. Georg. iii. 417 ; Plin,
Hist. lib. x. c. 423; Gesner, Serp. 71; Raii, Syn. Quadr. 285. Coluber
Berus; Lin. Syst.i, 337 ; Shaw, Zool, iii, t. 101, Viper; Pennant, Br. Zool.
iii. p. 36, t.5. Berus subrufus; Laurenti, 97, t.2, f.1. La Vipre Commune ;

La Cepede, Hist. des Serp. ii. t.1.
Le Vipre, Fr.; La Vibora, Sp.; Die Europdische Natter, Otter, Ger.; Smea;
Echidna, Russ.; Otterflauge ; Hugg-orm, Dan.; Hugg-orm, Swed.

So celebrated for poison have the bites of some serpents been, that
in the earlier ages they were held sacred as the ministers of divine
wrath; and in more enlightened times the figure of a viper was
added to the busts of eminent physicians, as an acknowledgment
of that skill which could avert the dangers apprehended from the
wounds inflicted by these reptiles. Fortunately for the inhabi-
tants of this country we possess but few venomous animals; and
these even. but rarely occasion serious injury, and still seldomer
those fatal consequences which so often succeed similar accidents
in hot climates.

The Viper is found in all the woody, mountainous, and stony
districts of the temperate parts of Europe. It is common on the
borders of dry coppices, on heaths, and in dry sandy situations
exposed to the sun, and occurs throughout the whole of France,

] pera Bevws.

a
r as TO IL pat Tee 2) On, Sot So 7 pte OF fil fhe 3
LondonLiubished ty jot Wisonlroncté ret Voheharthh, 163)

F
c

VIPERA BERUS. 67

Italy, Spain, the British Isles, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Russia,
and even as far northward as Siberia and Norway. A variety
has been described, by M. Paulet, which has very recently mul-
tiplied to an alarming extent, in the forest of Fontainbleau, where
it was known under the name of aspic, or asp.

The general colour is brown, with a slight tinge of ash-grey or
red, but it varies from pale ferruginous-yellow to a deep brown
or black. Along the back runs a chain or series of confluent
rhomboidal spots, extending in a straight line from the back of the
head to the extremity of the tail, and a stripe on each side of dusky .
roundish or subtriangular spots. The head is broad and bulges
out behind, which distinguishes it from the common ringed snake
(Coluber natrix, Lin.), and is marked above with a large divided
somewhat heart-shaped black mark, or spot. The space between
the eyes is covered with two large plates, and on the muzzle are
several smaller ones. The opening of the mouth is wide, the
tongue forked, soft, flexible, and capable of great extension, the
edges of the jaws covered with large scales, barred or variegated
with black and light grey, or whitish marks. The dorsal scales are
oval, carinated, imbricate; inferior lateral ones subangular and
plain. The under surface of the body is ochreous, or dusky
tinged with blue. The abdominal scuta vary in number from 142
to 148; the pairs under the tail from 30 to40. The usual length
of the animal is about two feet, though individuals are sometimes
found of much greater Jength, measuring nearly three feet. The
fangs of the viper, like those of most other poisonous serpents, are
situated on each side of the anterior part of the upper jaw, and are
two in number, with a few very small ones behind, apparently in-
tended by nature to supply the place of the former when lost
either by age or accident. They are curved, hollow, about a
quarter of an inch in length, lying flat in the gum when the mouth
is closed, and raised by muscles so as to project and become per-
pendicular with the jaw when the animal is about to bite. The
apparatus by which the poison is secreted consists of a gland be-
hind each orbit, and of a membranous sac at the lateral and anterior
part of the upper jaw, seldom containing more than three or four
drops of a yellowish liquid, which is conveyed thence by an excre-

68 VIPERA BERUS.

tory duct to the cavity of the tooth which communicates with that
of the sac, and terminates near the tip in a small aperture, by which
the poison is expelled into the wound made by the tooth. The
poisonous fluid is propelled into the hollow of the curved fang by
a small constrictor muscle, which, however, never expels at once
the whole of the contents of the sac.

As this species is subject to great differences in colour, depend-
ing on age, sex, or climate, it has been multiplied into the follow-
ing species, which Dr. Leach, in the third volume of his Zoo-.
logical Miscellany, has reduced to the rank of varieties :

1. Black Viper, Coluber Prester, Lin, Syst. Nat. i. 377.
Colour nearly black.

2. Blue-lellied Viper, Rey. Revett Sheppard, Lin. Trans, vii.
p. 56. In this the back is more tinged with brown than usual,
and the belly is of a rich shining blueish-black colour, somewhat
resembling that of polished steel.

3. Red Viper, Rey. Thos. Racket, Lin. Trans. xii. p. 349. This
is supposed to be the Coluber Chersea, of Linneus. Above, it is
of a bright red colour, and is characterized by a heart-shaped mark
on the head, and a dark spot near the extremity of the tail. It is
extremely rare in this country, but has been found on Cranborne
Chase, in Dorsetshire, where it is known to the gamekeepers under
the name of “red viper.” It has likewise been found by the Rev.
Revett Sheppard, in the parish of Levington, and other places in
the county of Suffolk, in arid waste situations.

The two varieties figured on the accompanying plate were taken
in the neighbourhood of Harrow on the Hill, near London, last
autumn.

This reptile is viviparous, pairing in May, and producing from
twelve to twenty-five young at a birth, towards the close of sum-
mer. It feeds on insects, lizards, frogs, and mice. It retires into
holes in the earth, where it becomes torpid during winter, and,
like all other snakes, can support, without any material suffering,
a fast of many months.

The poison of the Viper is a yellow liquid, inodorous, insipid,
and when applied to the tongue occasions numbness. It has the
appearance of oil, before the microscope, but it unites readily with

VIPERA BERUS. 69

water. It produces no change in vegetable blues. When exposed
to the open air the watery part gradually evaporates, and a yellowish-
brown substance remains, which has the appearance of gum-arabic.,
In this state it feels viscid between the teeth; it dissolves readily
in water, but not in alcohol; and alcohol throws it down in a
white powder from water. Neither acids nor alkalies have much
effect upon it. It does not unite with volatile oils nor the sul-
phuret of potass. When heated it does not melt, but swells, and
does not inflame till it becomes black. These properties are simi-
lar to those of gum, and from the observations of Dr. Russel there
is reason to belive that the poisonous juices of other serpents are
analogous in their properties to those of the Viper.

The activity of the poison of the Viper depends on a variety of
circumstances, but it is most hurtful when mixed with the blood.
If the mouth be not excoriated, it may be swallowed in consider-
able quantity without causing any serious injury. A pupil of
Professor Mangili swallowed the whole poison of four Vipers, and
that of six was given to a blackbird with no other effect than that
of slight and transcient stupor. It appears to be most active in hot
climates, in the middle of summer, the period when the animal is
most vigorous and active. Its comparative effects upon various ani- ,
mals appear to be regulated by the size of the animal bitten. Small
birds and quadrupeds die immediately when they are bitten by a
Viper, but to an adult person the bite seldom proves fatal.

The local symptoms which follow the bite of a Viper, are an
acute pain, in the part wounded, with a swelling, at first red, but
afterwards livid, which by degrees spreads rapidly over the neigh-
bouring parts, andeven affects the viscera, and internal organs.
A sanious fluid is sometimes discharged from the wound, around
which phlyctene arise, similar to those of a burn. After a short
time the pain abates considerably, the inflammatory tendency
changes into a doughy, or cedematous softness, the part grows livid,
and the skin exhibits large livid spots, like those of grangrene.
The general symptoms generally come on within forty minutes
after the injury; the patient is troubled with anxiety, prostration
of strength, tendency to fainting, bilious vomiting, diarrheea, some-
times convulsions, quick, small, irregular pulse, difficult breathing,

re

70 VIPERA BERUS.

cold perspiration, vertigo, and injury of the mental faculties. These
symptoms are sometimes attended with an universal yellowness of
the skin, and an excruciating pain about the navel.

The first step to be taken after receiving the bite of a Viper, is
to apply a ligature very tight around the wounded limb, above the
bitten part. Sucking out the poison from the wound, the appli-
cation of caustics, and scarifying the parts already swollen, that the
effused serum may escape, and the matter be discharged as soon
as it is formed, are the means that have been recommended by
most modern writers. Sir Astley Cooper, in lecturing upon com-
parative anatomy, was exhibiting to his pupils the effect of cold
artificially produced upon a Viper. He held the animal in his
hand, stiff, and apparently lifeless ; but while engaged in explaining
the subject, the warmth of his hand revived the benumbed powers
of the Viper, who erected his head and bit him upon the hand.
Mr. Fox, the dentist, being present, instantly applied a ligature
around the wrist, and no other symptoms occurred than a slight
blackening of the back of the hand, from an effusion of blood
under the skin. Olive oil, externally applied, was formerly ex-
tolled as a remedy, but the numerous trials of that medicine, in
France, by Hunaud and Geoffroy, have robbed it of all its celebrity.
The internal remedies consist of powerful diaphoretics and stimu-
lants, particularly ammonia. From fifteen to twenty drops of
sal volatile may be taken every two hours, in a cup of warm whey,
the patient remaining in bed warmly covered, and every means
taken to produce and encourage perspiration, By these means
the poison will, in the first instance, be prevented from entering
the circulation, or its noxious qualities destroyed by the chemical
action of the caustic; and, lastly, the effects of the poison that
has entered the constitution will be counteracted.

Mepicat Properties aND Uses.—The flesh of the Viper was
formerly held in high estimation as a restorative. ‘‘ This idea,”
says Dr. Shaw, “ seems to have originated from the animal casting
its skin, like other snakes, and thus appearing as it were in a state
of renovated youth; and the snake being made the emblem of
health, and consecrated to Esculapius, must have depended on the
same idea. The ancients used the flesh of the viper in leprous and

“OAT

ae

yl by.

é
eN7

VIPERA CERASTES. 7a

other cases. The Greek physician Craterus, mentioned so often
by Cicero, in his Epistles to Atticus, cured, as Porphyrius relates,
a miserable slave whose skin in a strange manner fell off from his
bones, by advising him to feed on Viper’s flesh, in the manner of
fish. Antonius Musa, physician to Octavius Cesar (Augustus), is
said by Pliny to have ordered the eating of vipers in the case of
otherwise incurable ulcers, which by this method were quickly
healed. Galen says, that those who are afflicted with elephantiasis
are wonderfully relieved by eating viper’s flesh dressed like eels;
and relates very remarkable cures of this disease performed by
viper wine. Aretceus, who probably lived about the same time
with Galen, and who of all the ancients has most accurately
described the above disorder, commends, as Craterus did, the
eating of vipers instead of fish in the same diseases. In France
and Italy, the broth, jelly, and flesh is much esteemed as a resto-
rative medicine,

XII.

VIPERA CERASTES.

Horned Viper, or Cerastes.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale yellowish or greyish, with
distant subovate transverse brown spots ; male with
a pointed and solid horn on each eyelid ; length two

feet.

Cerastes ex Lybia; Aldrov. Serp. p. 175. Coluber Cerastes; Lin. Syst. Nat.
p. 376; Ellis, Phil. Trans. vi t. 47. f.1; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 385, t. 10.
Coluber Cornutus ; Hasselg. Act. Ups. 1750. Cerastes; Bruce, Trav. vii.
p- 292, t. 40. Coluber Egypticus; La Cepede. Vipera Cerastes ; Geoffr. Rept.
Egypt. t. 6, f. 3.

La Vipre Ceraste, Fr.; Die Gehornte, Ger.

By the kind liberality of Mr. Bell, New Broad Street, City, I am, °
in the Medical Zoology, enabled to present the reader with a correct

72 VIPERA CERASTES.

figure of this interesting animal. The Cerastes, which grows to
the length of two feet or more, is readily distinguished by a pair of
corneous quadrangular curved processes, situated immediately
above each eye, and pointing forwards; these processes, or horns,
as Dr. Shaw justly observes, have nothing analagous in their
structure to those of quadrupeds, neither are they to be considered
as weapons either offensive or defensive, but they contribute to
give the animal an appearance of more than ordinary malignity.
These processes are wanting in the females; they are connected
with the skin merely, and covered at the base with minute scales.
The general colour of this snake is a pale yellowish or reddish-
brown, with a few rather large, distant, round, or transversely
oblong spots, of a darker colour, disposed on the upper parts of the
body, and along the sides ; the belly is covered with broad plates of
blueish or pale lead colour, and in some specimens nearly white. The
head is triangular, compressed, obtuse before, gibbous at the posterior
part, larger than the neck, which is very narrow, and covered with
small granular scales similar to those on the back. According to
Mr. Bruce, it has sixteen small immoveable teeth, and in the upper
jaw two canine teeth, or poisonous fangs, hollow, crooked, and finely
polished. The horns are about a quarter of an inch in length,
pointed, channelled longitudinally, and surrounded at the base with
a circle of small scales. The body is covered above with ovate,
imbricate, carinated scales; the neck is narrow; the tail short,
tapering, pointed, and covered underneath with a double row
of small plates.

The Cerastes inhabits the burning sandy deserts in the hottest
regions of Northern Africa. It is very common in Egypt,
Arabia, Syria, and is also found in many parts of Abyssinia. It is
very nearly allied to the common viper, and its bite is, perhaps,
still more to be dreaded ; since it moves with great rapidity, and is
said to possess a propensity to springing toa considerable distance,
and assailing, without provocation, those who happen to approach
it. During the day time, the Cerastes hides itself in the sand,
and sometimes gets possession of the hole formed by the jerboa.

« The poison,” says Mr. Bruce, “ is very copious for so small
a creature ; it is fully as large as a drop of laudanum, dropt from

VIPERA CERASTES. 73

a phial by a careful hand, Viewed through a glass, it appears not
perfectly transparent or pellucid. I should imagine it had other
reservoirs than the bag under the tooth, for I compelled it to
scratch eighteen pigeons upon the thigh, as quickly as possible,
and all died nearly in the same interval of time; but, I confess, the
danger attending the dissection of the head of this creature, made me
so cautious that any observation I should make upon these parts,
would be less to be depended upon. I kept two of these last-
mentioned creatures (the Cerastes) in a glass jar, such as are used for
keeping sweetmeats in, for two years, without having given them
any food—they did not sleep, that I observed, in winter, but cast
their skins the last days of April. The Cerastes moves with great
rapidity, and in all directions, forward, backward, and sideways.
When he inclines to surprise any one who is too far from him, he
creeps with his side towards the person, and his head averted, till
judging his distance, he turns round, springs upon him, and fastens
upon the part next to him ; for it is not true what is said, that the
Cerastes does not le orspring. I saw one of them at Cairo, in
the house of Julian and Rosa, crawl up the side of a box, in which
there were many, and there lie still, as if hiding himself, till one of
the people who brought them to us came near him, and though in
a very disadvantageous posture, sticking as it were perpendicular to
the side of the box, he leaped near the distance of three feet, and
fastened between the man’s fore-finger and thumb, so as to bring
the blood. “The fellow showed no signs either of pain or fear, and
we kept him with us full four hours, without his applying any sort
of remedy, or his seeming inclined to do so. To make myself
assured that the animal was in its perfect state, 1 made the man —
hold him by the neck, so as to force him to open his mouth, and
lacerate the thigh of a pelican, a bird I had tamed, as big as a swan.
The bird died in about thirteen minutes, though it was apparently
affected in about fifty seconds; and we cannot think this a fair
trial, because a very few minutes before it had bit the man, and so
discharged a part of its virus, and it was made to scratch the
pelican by force, without any irritation or action of its own.”

Mr. Bruce vouches, from his own observation, for the reality of
the incantation of serpents. At Cairo, he saw a man take a

74 VIPERA CERASTES.

Cerastes, with his naked hand, from a number of others at the
bottom of a tub, put it in his bosom, twist it about his neck, and
last of all eat it with as little repugnance as if it had been a stock
of celery. All the black people of Sennaar are perfectly armed
against the bite of either scorpion or viper. They take them
without scruple in their hands, and toss them to one another like
balls, without irritating them so much as to bite. The creature,
however lively before, when seized by one of these barbarians,
always appeared languid and feeble, frequently shut his eyes, and
never turned his mouth towards the arm of the person that held
him; yet, when a chicken was made to flutter before him, his
seeming indifference left him; he bit it with great signs of rage,
and the chicken died almost instantly. These people pretend to
possess a natural exemption from the noxious power of serpents ;
and, by certain medicines, can communicate this exemption to
others. The Arabs acquire it from their infancy, by chewing a
certain root, and washing themselves with an infusion of certain
plants in water. Though the drugs were given to Mr. Bruce, and
he several times fortified himself for the experiment, his resolution
always failed him at the moment of trial.

As no antidote is known to the bite of this poisonous reptile,
the sufferer can only be treated medicinally on general principles.
Avicenna recommends, absurdly enough, to give the patient a
grain of horse-raddish, in wine, or to cover the wound with an
onion, pounded in vinegar. Celsus says, ‘“ at si cerastes, aut
dipsas, aut heemorrhois percussit, asphodeli, quod Aigyptiee fabze
magnitudinem eequet, arefactum, in duas potiones dividendum est,
sic, ut ei rute paulum adjiciatur. Trifolium quoque et mentastrum,
et cum aceto panaces que proficiunt. Costumque, et casia, et
cinnamomum recte per potionem assumuntur,*

* De Med. lib. v. c.27, p. 261.

VIPERA NASICORNIS. 75

VIPERA NASICORNIS.— Horn-nose Snake.

Spec. Cuar.— Body olivaceous yellow, variegated with
black; a flexuous pale fascia on the sides , snout fur-
nished with two sharp-pointed horns.

Coluber nasicornis; Shaw, Nat, Miscell, iii. t. 94.

Turis remarkable species was first described by Dr. Shaw, in the Natu-

ralist’s Miscellany. It is distinguished by two large pointed horns,

situated, not as in the Cerastes, above the eyes, but on the top of
the. nose, or anterior part of the upper jaw. These horns are some-

what flexible, triangular, inclined slightly backwards and outwards,

and at the base of each horn is a small erect scale of nearly the same

shape with the horn itself; thus giving the appearance of a much

smaller pair of horns. The mouth is furnished with extremely large
and long fangs, or poisonous teeth, two of which appear on each side
of the upper jaw. The length of this animal is about thirty-five

inches. Its colour is yellowish, olive-brown, very thickly sprinkled

all over with minute blackish specks. Along the whole length of
the back extends a series of yellowish-brown oblong spots, or
marks; and on each side of the body, throughout its entire length,

runs an acutely flexuous or zigzag line, or narrow ochraceous band.

The belly is dull ochre colour, or cinereous yellow, marked with

blackish dots, and besides these a number of black spots of various

sizes are sparingly dispersed over the whole animal. The head is

broad, compressed, and covered with small scales, and marked on

the upper part by a longitudinal patch of brown, running out into

pointed processes, and bounded by a space of "dull lead colour, or.
cinereous. The scales on the whole of the upper part of the body

are hard, stiff, and strongly carinated; the tail is somewhat thin

and short in proportion to the body. The Horned-snake is sup-

posed by Dr. Shaw to be a native of the interior of Africa.

76 VIPERA BRACHYURA.

VIPERA RUSSELIT.— Russelian Viper.

Spec. Cuar.— Body brownish yellow, with acutely ovate
blackish dorsal spots, edged with clea ; lateral spots
smaller and ovate.

Katuka Rekula Poda; Russel, Ind. Serp. p. 105.7.

Tuts is a large and elegant species, measuring from four to five
feet in length. It inhabits India, where it appears to be one of
the most common, as well as most noxious, of the serpent tribe.
Its colour is a beautiful pale yellowish-brown, marked throughout
the whole length of the back with a chain or series of rhomboidal
or somewhat ovate spots of a deep brown colour, paler in the
centre, and surrounded by a narrow line of white. In some parts
these spots are nearly confluent ; on each side of the body is a row
of brown oval spots, smaller than those on the back, and besides
these a few still smaller transverse marks are sparingly scattered
on the sides; the under part of the body is white, with a few dusky
spots; the head is rather large, and covered with small ovate
highly carinated scales; the snout obtuse; the mouth wide ; the
fangs are large, and, as in several other poisonous serpents, double ;
a smaller fang being situated close to the larger one on each side.
Dr. Russel informs us, this species is scarcely less commonly
met with in India than the Cobra di Capello; but from its not
being carried about, like that and some other snakes, as a public
show, it is not so universally known either among the natives or
Europeans. A stout dog bitten in the thigh by one of these snakes,
was instantly infected, seized with paralysis, and expired in twenty-

six minutes.

VIPERA BRACHYURA.—Puff Adder.

Spec. Cuar.—Body ycllowish-brown, variegated with
transverse angular or undulated black and whitish

VIPERA BRACHYURA. 77

bands ; ead indistinct ; ¢aed short. Length four and
a half feet.

Coluber Lachesis, var.; Shaw, Zool, iii. t. 105; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p.1085. Vipera
Inflata ; Burchel, Trav. i. p. 469; Seba, Thesaur. ii. t. 30, f. 1. Cobra Lachesis;
Laurenti, p.104. Echidna arietans; Merrem, Tent. Syst. Amphib. p. 152,
n.12; Wagler, Amph. Fasc.1,t.11. Coluber Bitis; Bonnat, Oph. p. 22, t.93.
Coluber Hebraicus ; La Cepede, Quadr. Ov.ii.p.105. Vipere Hebraica ; La-
treille, Rept. iii. p. 335. Vipera Brachyura; Cuv.

Tus is a native of Africa, and is well known at the Cape by the
name of the Puff Adder. The general colour is a dusky brown,
but variegated with black and cream-coloured transverse stripes,
of which it is not easy to convey an idea by mere description.
The head, which is short, round, and covered with small oval
carinated scales, is not distinguished from the rest of the body by
any appearance of neck, or contraction; the mouth large, wide,
and armed with four large incurvated fangs, two in each jaw. The
body is disproportionately short and thick, measuring seven inches
in circumference in the thickest part, and from three feet six to
four feet in length. The scales, which in many parts are tipped
with white, are large, strongly carinated, oblong, closely imbricate,
and so loose that the animal is said to have the faculty of elevating
them at pleasure, or when irritated, and of closing them again with
a loud rustling noise. The scales on the upper part of the body
are elegantly speckled with pale yellow, cinereous grey, black,
brown, pale yellow, and white. The abdominal scuta are broad,
of a pale colour, and marked with numerous small irregular
dusky or blackish spots. The bite of this reptile is said to
be extremely fatal, taking effect so rapidly as to leave the person
who has the misfortune to be bitten no chance of saving
his life but by instantly cutting out the flesh surrounding the
wound. “Although,” says Mr. Burchell, “I have often met with
this serpent, yet, happily, no opportunity occurred of witnessing
the consequences of its bite; but, from the universal dread in
which it is held, I have no doubt of its being one of the most
venomous of Southern Africa. There is a peculiarity which ren-
ders it most dangerous, and which ought to be known by every
I

78 SCYTALE BIZONATA.

person liable to fall in with it. Unlike the generality of snakes,
which make a spring or dart forwards when irritated, the Puff
Adder, it is said, throws itself backwards ; so that those who should
be ignorant of this fact would place themselves in the very direction
of death, while imagining that by so doing they were escaping the
danger. The natives, by keeping always in front, are enabled to
destroy it without much risk.”

VIPERA ATROPOS.— Deadly Viper.

Srec. Coar.— Body whitish, with four rows of reddish-
brown spots, white in their margins; four black spots
on the head. Length fifteen inches.

Coluber Atropos; Lin. Syst, Nat. p.275.

Tuts is a small species, seldom exceeding fifteen inches in length,
and inhabits South America, where its bite is much dreaded. The
head is large and covered with small scales; the body is whitish
or cinereous above, and is marked with a quadruple series of very
large alternate round brown spots, by which character this species
is very easily distinguished.

SCYTALE BIZONATA.
Pir SE

Gen. Cuar.—Body and tail below with a row of trans-
verse plates ; potsonous Jangs in the upper jaw; no
hollows behind the nostrils ; tail destitute of rattles.

Srec. Cuar.—Body dark brown, with a waving yellow
band on each side, and a row of yellowish dorsal spots
edged with black; ead with four dark spots. Length
fifteen inches.

aoe -

WDIALAIASIIPUQAT UISG Af UYOf? 1 PIYOYQNT MD

DPI DOGOpNIZ]

eR te

SASS
PAN
SSN
Se BRNINe,
Nee

PSEUDOBOA FASCIATA. 79

Scytale Ziczac; Daud. HorrataPam ; Russell Ind. Serp. p.2, t. 2. Boa Horrata ;
Shaw, Zool, iii. p. 859.

Tuis serpent inhabits India. Itis a small species, rarely exceeding
fifteen inches in length, and is called by the natives Horrata Pam.
Its colour is a dark brown, with a row of spots on the ridge of the
back, from the neck to the extremity of the tail, varying a little in
size and figure, but all of a dull yellowish colour edged with black,
Along each side runs a conspicuous waving fillet of the same
colour, and on the head are four remarkable dark spots, the largest
of which bears some resemblance to a horse-shoe. The scuta are
yellowish white, and all the abdominal ones are marked with three
or four dusky spots. The head is rather small than large, depressed,
obtuse, and entirely covered with very small carinated oval scales.
The scales on the body are carinated, oval, and larger than those
op the head. The mouth is small, and the lower jaw somewhat
shorter than the upper. There are two rows of palatal teeth ; but
no marginal row, and the fangs are large, one on each side of the
upper jaw. The eyes are lateral, orbicular, very large, and placed
very forward. The trunk gradually swelling from the neck, and
tapering towards the tail, which is short and pointed. The poi-
sonous organs of this snake show it to be very noxious, but in what
degree it is so has not hitherto been correctly ascertained. It is
reported, however, to be one of the most fatal of serpents; and is
supposed by Dr. Russel to be the Virgen Pamloo of the Tamools,
against whose bite a double dose of the Tranjore pill is directed to
be given.

bE ENE
PSEUDOBOA FASCIATA,

Fasciated Pseudoboa.
> ene

Gen. Cuar.—Plates on the belly and under the tail
single; head short, covered with large plates ; occaput

80 PSEUDOBOA FASCIATA.

a little prominent ; dack carinated, with a longitudinal
row of larger scales.

Spec. Cuar.— Body subtriangular, yellowish, with
numerous dusky blue transverse bands. Length six
feet.

Bungarum Pamah; Russ. Ind. Serp. p.3, t.2. Bungarus Annularis; Daud. Boa
Fasciata; Shaw, Zool, iii. p. 353, t. 99.

TuIs species, which may be ranked among the most formidable of
the poisonous serpents, inhabits India, and is said to be not
uncommon in the country of Bengal. It is a large snake, mea-
suring six or seven feet in length, the diameter in the thickest part
being nearly five inches. It is of a yellowish colour, marked with
numerous dusky blue transverse bands, each band completely sur-
rounding the body of the animal, but somewhat paler underneath.
The head is small, hardly broader than the neck, ovate, depressed,
and covered in front with small suborbicular scales. The occiput
and middle of the head, between the eyes, is covered with ten large
plates, varying in size and figure. The rostrum is obtuse or sub-
truncate, the mouth of moderate size, and the jaws nearly equal.
The teeth in the lower jaw are numerous, reflex, very short, and
almost hid in the gum ; in the upper jaws the teeth in the two
palatal rows are also small. The fangs, in proportion to the size
of the animal, are remarkably short. The body is of a triangular
form, the sides sloping very considerably ; along the ridge of the
back runs a continued series of larger ciliated hexagonal scales,
those onthe rest of the body being ovate, smooth, closely imbricate,
and very adherent. The abdominal scuta are very broad, and
finely ciliated on their margins. The tail is thick, five inches only
in length, and its termination rather obtuse.

The bite of this reptile is regarded by the Indians as inevitably
fatal. Dr. Russel, in his splendid work on Indian serpents says,
that a specimen of this species was brought to him in the month
of November, 1788, in an apparently weak and languid state, having
been bruised in taking. Being set at liberty in a room, it crept

PSEUDOBOA LINEATA. 81

slowly towards an obscure corner, where a chicken being presented
to him he took no notice, and even suffered the bird to stand on his
back. As he shewed no disposition to bite, his jaws were forcibly
opened, and the thigh of the chicken being placed between them,
the mouth was closed over it so as to cause the fangs to act. The
bird, when disengaged, showed immediate symptoms of poison,
and after several ineffectual efforts to rise, rested with the beak on
the ground, the head being seized with trembling. In the space
of twenty minutes, it lay down on one side, and convulsions soon
supervening, it expired within twenty-six minutes from the bite.
This was the only experiment made, the snake itself dying in the
course of next day.”’

No remedies which deserve notice against the bite of the Pseu-
doboa are known to the natives ; in the treatment of this and simi-
lar accidents, charms and superstitious applications are generally
resorted to.

PSEUDOBOA LINEATA.—JLineated Pseudoboa.

Spec. Cuar. Body blackish blue, with white dotted
transverse bands ; /ength four to five feet. -

Gedi Paragoodoo; Russel, Ind. Serp. p. 1. t.1. Boa lineata; Shaw, Zool. iii.
p. 356.

Like the preceding species, this reptile is not uncommon in many
parts of India, particularly at Vizagapatam, where it is known to
the natives by the names of Gedi Paragoodoo and Pakta Poola,
It is of an exceeding dark blue colour, so as to appear almost black
in certain lights, and is marked throughout the whole of the upper
part by several transverse dotted white lines, disposed at nearly
equal distances, and varying in number in different individuals
from forty-two to fifty; the transverse plates which cover the
under surface of the body and tail being of a yellowish white. The
head is covered with large plates; the tail is about five inches and

a half in length, tapering, and pointed.
K

82 NAJA VULGARIS.

By the natives of India the bite of this animal is regarded as
almost immediately fatal. The experiments of Dr. Russel, how-
ever, show that it seldom proves fatal to chickens in less than half
an hour, and to dogs in less than an hour and ten minutes. The
poison was also observed to cause less violent convulsions in the
animals subjected to its influence than that of the Cobra di Capello,
and another highly poisonous Indian snake, called Katuka Rekula
Poda (Vipera Russelii); but produced a greater degree of
stupor.

XV.

NAJA VULGARIS.
Spectacled, or Hooded Snake.

Gen. Cuar. Scales larger on the body near the head ;
head covered with large plates; hind-head furnished
with a hood ; poison fangs in the upper jaw.

Spec. Cuar. Body ferruginous yellow ; neck capable
of inflation, and marked above by white delineations,
with black edges, in the form of spectacles.

Serpens Indicus coronatus; Raii, Syn. Serp. p. 330. Serpens Naja Siamensis, cum
conspicillo, seu Cobra de Capello vel Cabelo dictus; Seba. Thes. ii. t. 99. f. 1.
Serpens Indicus coronatus, &e. Seba, ii. t. 99, f. 2. Coluber Naja; Lin. Syst.
Nat. p. 382; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 409. t. 107, Naja lutescens ; Laurenti, Syn.
Rep. p.91. Nagoo; Russel, Ind. Serp. p.7.t.5 and 6. La Vipere 4 lunettes,
ou le Naja; Daud. Rept. vi. p. 62, t. 60, f.1,2, and t. 71.

THE Colra di Capello, or Hooded Snake, is a native of India,
where it appears to be one of the most common, and most
noxious, of those malignant reptiles, whose bite, in the hotter
regions of the globe, proves the cause of a painful and speedy
death. Among the serpents of the East this species holds the
most conspicuous place; it is generally regarded of all others

)

—a”
Cd

il “J
‘\
ah

OP
a 4

Yh ee

Néya Vidyares

Londen Lublushed by John Wilson, Princes Stree: Soho Abs VSIA

Rh gra

*

Bees
es cok a co

NAJA VULGARIS. 83

the most deadly, very frequently proving fatal, in the space of a
few minutes, to those who unfortunately experience its bite. Its
remarkable dilineations, and the occasional expansion of the
skin of the neck in the form of a hood, enables the most super-
ficial observer to readily distinguish it from every other species of
the ophidian tribe. The natives of India pretend to enumerate a
great number of varieties, to which they ascribe different degrees
of malignity ; but on a careful examination of a great number of
individuals, Dr. Russel found the venomous property nearly equal
in all. Its usual length is from four to six feet, and the diameter
of the body about an inch and a quarter; but it sometimes attains
much larger dimensions. A specimen was lately shewn me, by a
dealer in curiosities in Princes Street, Soho, which measured seven
feet four inches from the tip of the muzzle to the extremity of the
tail. The head is comparatively rather small, broad, ovate, obtuse,
depressed on the crown, and covered with large smooth plates.
The scales on the neck and sides of the head, and also on the back,
are smaller, ovate, polished, contiguous, hardly—except on the
hinder part and tail—contiguous, in the living subject ; but two
rows on each side of the belly consist of larger scales, ovate and
imbricate. The mouth is large; the lower jaw somewhat shorter
than the upper. The teeth, according to Dr. Russel, are few in
the lower jaw, sharp, reflex, at regular distances, except in front,
where two or three appear closer set and longer. In the upper
jaw, as usual in venomous snakes, there is no marginal row; only
two palatal rows of teeth; these are numerous, reflex, equal,
sharp, and smaller than those below. Two fangs, one longer than
the other, are generally found emerging from the poison gland on
each side of the upper jaw. The eyes are rather small, orbicular
and prominent. The nostrils are very near the rostrum, lateral, large,
and gaping. The neck, when the animal is at rest, is very little
larger than the head; but at a little distance beyond that part, is a
natural swelling or dilitation of the skin, which is continued to the
distance of about four inches downwards, where the outline gradu-
ally sinks into the outline of the rest of the body. This part is
dilatible at the pleasure of the animal; and when viewed from
above, in its most extended state, is somewhat of a cordate form,

oe a

&4 NAJA VULGARIS.

and marked with a singular spectacle-formed spot, of black and
white. This spectacle-like mark, or hood, is more or less distinct
in different individuals, varying in size and form, and in some
individuals is altogether wanting. It is partly formed by the colour
of the intersticial skin, discovered in consequence of the separation
of the scales; but the tint of the scales also contributes to produce
this figure, especially in regard to the dark colours. The general
colour of the animal is a pale ferruginous brown, but in certain
positions the glistening scales reflect a faint blueish ash colour.
The tail is round, measuring about nine inches in length, covered
with suborbicular scales, and tapers gradually to a sharp horny
point. The abdominal scuta are very long; the subcaudal squame
hexagonal; both are of a dull blueish white, sometimes slightly
tinged with pale brown or yellow.—Fig. 1. represents the head of
the Naja vulgaris, exhibiting the poison fangs; 2. the palatal
row of teeth; 3. a poison fang a little magnified, showing the
lateral fold or tube for the conveyance of the poison; and fig. 4.
a section of the same tooth near the base.

The title of Cobra di Capello, or Hooded-snake, has been given
to this formidable reptile by the Portuguese from the appearance
which it presents when viewed in front in an irritated state, or
when preparing to bite, at which time it bends the head rather
downwards, and seems hooded, as it were, in some degree, by
the expanded skin of the neck. It is called by the Hindoos,
nagoo, and by the English, Cobra di Capello, or spectacled-snake.

The Hooded-snake varies considerably in size and colour.
Laurenti enumerates four varieties: Naja lutescens, the com-
mon kind; (3 Naja fasciaia fasciis per totum corpus ex
fusco rubris, having fuscous red bands over the whole body;
y Naja siamensis excinereo grisea, summo dorso rufo. Cine-
reous with the back rufous; and 8 Naja maculata ex luteo
rufa, squamis singulis alla macula notatis; of a tawny
yellow colour, and having each scale marked with a single white
spot. But it appears from the work of Dr, Russel on Indian
Serpents, that there are many other varieties of this extraordinary
snake. He describes no less than ten different kinds that are
found in India alone, and seems to intimate that these are not the

NAJA VULGARIS. 85

whole of the Nagoo tribe which infest that part of the world. It
is possible, on further investigation, some of those described by
Dr. Russel as varieties may prove to be specifically distinct.

Of the Cobra ten varieties are enumerated by Dr. Russel, to
which names are given in the Telinga language : |

1. Aregee Nagoo. With a pale central spot in the middle of
each of the black spots of the spectacle-shaped mark. Abdominal
scuta 198, subcaudal scales 60.

2. Coodoon Nagoo. This variety is darker than the other and
the skin is of a yellower cast ; but the principle distinction is in the
spectacle mark, which consists of an oblong curved fissure without
the usual black eyes or centre spots of the others.

3. Sankoo Nagoo. Having a plain hood without any mark;
more rare than the other varieties. Abdominal scuta 183 ; sub-
caudal scales 56. |

4. Molga Nagoo. Having the cervical scuta marked with faint
greyish spots, and four of the middle ones entirely of a blueish
grey. Abdominal scuta 192; subcaudal scales 65.

5. Malle Nagoo, The colour of this variety is of a lighter brown
than the rest, and the scuta whiter and less spotted. Abdominal
scuta 191; subcaudal scales 62.

6. Cumblo Nagoo. In this all the cervical scuta were dusky,
and the trunk had a strong blueish cast. Abdominal scuta 186 ;
subcaudal squamee 60.

7. Jonna Nagoo. Having the skin tinged with orange colour |
and the scuta of the neck spotted with grey, Abdominal scuta 189 ;
subcaudal squamee 57.

8. Nella tas pam. With the black on the hood aiadesily deep,
and all the jugular scuta remarkably dusky. Abdominal scuta 186;
subcaudal squamee 62.

9. Kistna Nagoo. The middle lamina of the three between the
eyes remarkably broad, and the posterior part sub-ovate, instead of
semi-caudate ; five of the jugular scuta dusky, and six of the pectoral
almost black. Abdominal scuta 186 ; subcaudal squame 63.

10. Korie Nagoo. The three lamine between the eyes remark-
ably narrow ; the large posterior pair oval, the colour of the trunk,

86 NAJA VULGARIS.

and still more of the scuta unusually blueish. Abdominal scuta 184;
subcaudal squame 57.

The Cobra di Capello, it is observed, is everywhere exhibited
publicly as a show in India. It is carried about in a covered basket,
and so managed by its proprietors as to assume a kind of dancing
motion ; raising itself upon its lower part, and alternately moving
its head and body from side to side for some minutes to the sound
of some musical instrument which is played during the time. The
Indian jugglers, who thus exhibit the animal, first deprive it of its
fangs, which renders it incapable of inflicting a poisonous wound
by means of its bite.

Dr. Russel, in his account of various experiments made in India
with this serpent, assures us that as a general standard for the
comparison of the effects of its bite with that of other poisonous
serpents, he never knew it prove mortal to a dog in less than
twenty-seven minutes, and to a chicken in less than half a minute.
Thus, fatal as it is, its poison seems not so speedy in its operation
as that of the Rattle-snake, which has been known to kill a dog in
less than two minutes. The following interesting observations are
related by Dr. Russel to confirm the accuracy of this observation,

In the month of June 1787, a dog bitten by a Cobra di Capello
on the inside of the thigh, howled at first, as if in severe pain ;
after two or three minutes he lay down, continuing to howl and
moan ; after 20 minutes he rose, but with much difficulty, being
unable to walk, and his whole frame appeared greatly disordered.
He soon lay down again, and in a few minutes was seized with
convulsions, in which he expired 27 minutes after. This is the only
instance mentioned in which the poisonous bite of the Cobra di
Capello proved fatal to dogs in much less than the space of an
hour.—A large and very stout dog was bitten by another Cobra di
Capello on the inside of the thigh, which in a minute or two was
drawn up, the first symptom in general of the poison having taken
effect. He continued, however, nearly half an hour longer walking
on the three remaining legs, seeming not otherwise disordered; but
after this time he laid himself along in great inquietude, his head
and throat being conyulsed in an uncommon degree; he made

NAJA HAJE. 87

several vain efforts to rise, his legs became paralytic, and after
continuing in this state for an hour he expired.—A large dog was
bitten by a Cobra di Capello, which had been captive only two
days. He complained a good deal at the instant of the bite, and
the leg was soon drawn up. In twenty-five minutes he was seized
with convulsions, succeeded by stupor, in which he lay for ten
minutes ; the convulsions, however, returned, and he expired in a
quarter of an hour, being fifty-six minutes after the bite. Dr. Russel
endeavoured also to ascertain the effect of the bite of the Cobra di
Capello upon reptiles of the same species, the result of which
appears doubtful. In some instances the bitten animal experienced
no kind of injury, while to others the bite proved fatal.

The poison, as in all the species of this order, is a semi-transpa-
rent yellowish fluid, resembling olive oil. The symptoms appear
to be in all respects the same as follow from that of the Rattle-
snake, already detailed, and terminates in most cases in death.

The treatment to be adopted for the bite of the Cobra di Capello
must be pretty similar to that which has been advised for the bite
of the Rattle-snake and the vipers; viz. preventing the absorp-
tion of the poison into the system, employing powerful diaphoretics
and stimulants at the same time, to counteract or alleviate the
effects that arise from it. In India the Tanjore pill, the basis of
which is arsenic, has been long celebrated for the cure of the bite
of the Naja and other venomous serpents. These pills are said to
consist of arsenic combined with pepper, mercury, and the juice
of the Asclepias gigantea. Van Rheede, in his Hortus Malabaricus,
mentions the nux vomica as a preventive of the effects of the bite
of the Naja. Koempfer highly extols the root of the Ophiorrhiza
Mungos, and in Ceylon it is still employed as an antidote against
the bite of the mad dog. .

NAJA HAJE.— The Haje, Asp, or Aspic.

Spec. Cuar. Body olive-brown, variegated with white ;
abdomen whitish, with blackish spots ; neck capable of
inflation ; length five to six feet.

88 NAJA HAJE. —

Le Vipere Haje; Daudin, Rept. vi.p.41. L’Aspic; Geoffroy, Rept. Egypt.
suppl. t. 3,

Tuis species, which has attained more than ordinary celebrity from
being supposed to be the animal whose poison the famous Cleo-
patra selected to terminate her existence, is found abundantly in
Lower Egypt, sometimes in hedges, and sometimes in the fields.
“Tt is universally known,” says Mr. Griffiths, ‘that this illustrious
princess, abandoned by fortune, who had so long smiled upon her,
commanded that a reptile of this species should be brought to her
concealed in fruits and flowers, and caused it to bite her, to put a
period to her misfortunes. But after the fall of the Roman empire,
though Egypt still preserved some traces of the high renown of
Cleopatra, and though the name of the Aspic was not pronounced
without some degree of horror by all the people of Europe, still for
a long series of ages the true species of the serpent was unknown,
and the Cerastes, the Egyptian Viper, the Ammodytes,* and the
Lebetina, were taken for it. Bruce declared for the first of these
opinions, Forskal for the last, and Laurenti, Hasselquist, Daudin,
and Count La Cépéde, for the second, which undoubtedly has
some plausibility, for it is well proved that under the name of agass,
the ancients were acquainted with many venomous serpents abori-
ginal of Egypt.

«Tt has been only since the expedition of the French to Egypt
that the true species of the Aspic has been ascertained. During
the period of that expedition, the French philosophers attached
to the army observed a species of ophidian, regarded as harmless
by Linneus and most herpetologists, but considered as extremely
venomous by the traveller Forskal. This ophidian is called hajé
by the inhabitants, and recent travellers have incontestibly proved
that it is the true aspic of the ancients, which never inhabited
Europe ; for the reptile which some years since infested the forest
of Fontainbleau, and was called by this name, was nothing but a

* The Coluber Ammodytes, Jacq. Coll. iv. t. 24, 25, a species greatly allied to the
Viper, from which it is distinguished by an erect process or wart at the tip of the muz-
zle. It is an extremely poisonous reptile, and inhabits the mountainous parts of
Illyria.

mech posh fede

1 Meanthophis Brown.

Lig ee a

pene P72 MBG Mey? 7 TAL r 0
London Lidtushed,by John Wels on,frnces StreclSahg/ Pre

ACANTHOPHIS BROWNII. 89

variety of the common viper; and the Gisping of the Swedes, is
quite another species from the one in question.”*

The ancients entertained a notion that the poison of this serpent is
more deadly than that of any other venomous creature inhabiting the
East ; that its bite, though inevitably mortal, produced no pain or
violent symptoms, and merely occasioned the gradual diminution
of pulsation, which was followed within twenty-four hours by a
profound sleep terminating in death. Galen assures us, that in
Alexandria, to shorten the punishment of criminals condemned to
death, they were bitten in the breast by an Asp; and Dioscorides
asserts that the wounds occasioned by the bite of this reptile are
unaccompanied by any local tumefaction, and that they are so
small that they appear to have been made with a very fine needle.

XVI.

ACANTHOPHIS BROWNIL.
Brown’s Acanthophis.

Gen. Cuar. Shields double towards the extremity of
the tail, which terminates in a spinous process ; head
covered on the anterior part with large plates; hend-
head tumid, with small scales similar to those on the
back; no hollows behind the nostrils; potsonous

fangs in the upper jaw.

Spec. Cuar. Body blackish; under Lp whitish; a
tranverse groove before the nostrils ; tail short, with
the apex laterally compressed.

* The Animal Kingdom, described and arranged in conformity with its orga-
nization, by Baron Cuvier, with additional descriptions by Edward Griffith,

F.L,S. vol. ix. p. 382.

90 ACANTHOPHIS PALPEBROSUS.

Acanthophis Brownii; Leach, Zool, Miscel. i. t. 3.

THIS species is a native of New Holland, and was first noticed at
Port Jackson, by Robert Brown, Esq., F. R, S., who described it
in his MSS. under the title of Boa ambigua. Dr. Leach, who
figured it in his ‘* Zoological Miscellany,” named it after him, asa
tribute justly due to his talents, not only as one of the first botanists
of the age, but also as a gentleman zealous for the promotion of
every branch of natural history. The upper part of the body is of
dark brown or blackish colour ; it is paler or ferruginous beneath.
The plates covering the anterior part of the head are large; the
occiput is tumid, and covered with numerous small carinated
scales, similar to those on the back. The subcaudal squame are
double towards the extremity of the tail, which is short, and ter-
minates in a spinous process. The head and tail are represented
of the natural size, which will convey an accurate idea of the
magnitude of the whole animal. There are poisonous fangs in the
upper jaw, and the natives suppose it to be the most venomous
snake found in New Holland.

ACANTHOPHIS PALPEBROSUS.
Palpebral Acanthophis.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale grey, with blucish transverse
bands on the back; reddish with two rows of black
pestle below ; orbits very prominent.

Acuivontie cerastinus; Daudin, Rept. y. t. 59, f. 10, 11, and t. 07; -f.15 2%
Schlingende natter, (couleuvre boa); Merrem, Beytrege sur gesch. der Amph.
Sasc, 2, p. 20, t.3.

,

First described and figured by Merrem; but the native country
appears to be unknown. Length about fifteen inches; head
rather large, slightly compressed, and covered in front with large
scales; the rostrum obtuse and rounded; eyebrows very promi-

ELAPS LEMNISCATUS, 91

nent; the eyes small, round, and surrounded by five small plates ;
upper parts of the body, neck, and tail, covered with small hex-
agonal scales; general colour above, pearly grey, with obscure,
transverse, dusky, or blueish undulations; beneath pale yellowish
or reddish brown, with a small black spot at the edge of each
abdominal scutum, and a similar range of spots from the anus to
the end of the tail, the extremity of which, for about the length of
half an inch, is furnished with divided scales. This species is
generally supposed to be poisonous. Daudin observes, “ son
analogie avec le ceraste et la vipere cornue de Paterson (Vipera
lophophris, Cuv.) semblent d’ailleurs indiquer qu’il est dangereux.”

ELAPS LEMNISCATUS.
Riband-lke Elaps.

Phin Vals

Gen. Coar. Head behind same breadth as the neck,
with large plates; neck not dilatable ; dorsal scales
equal ; ¢aél conical, moderate; swb-caudal plates two
rowed.

Spec. Cuar. Body slender, cylindrical, yellowish, white,
or rose-coloured, with annular bands or zones of black
disposed in pairs; Head rather flat, with a black band

/

in front across the eyes.
Cobuber lemniscatus; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p. 1110; Mus. Ad. Fred. p. 3, t. 14,
f.1. Natrix lemniscata; Laurenti, Syst. Rept. p. 76, n. 152; Seba Thes.
i. t. 10, fig. ult. ii. t.76, f.3. La Galonee ; La Cepede, Rept. in 18mo. iv. p. 104.

La Vipere galunnee ; Daudin, Rept. vi. p.13. Elapslemniscatus; Schneider,
Hist, Amph. fasc.2, p. 291.

Mucu diversity of opinion prevails among naturalists respecting
the poisonous qualities of the species belonging to the genus Elaps.

92 ELAPS LEMNISCATUS.

By Wagler this genus has been removed from among the poisonous
serpents, with which it had been associated by Daudin, Cuvier,
and Merrem, and placed among the innocuous of the family
Ophidii Colubrini, inasmuch as on a careful examination of nume-
rous individuals he discovered that- they were entirely destitute of
poisonous fangs. E. Langsdorfii, however, is furnished with one
larger tooth in the upper jaw, and the species here represented,
which was drawn from a specimen in the collection of Mr.
Bell, and obtained by him from Berbice, has generally been
regarded as extremely poisonous. This elegant species grows to
the length of about two feet. It is of a beautiful pale yellow
rose-colour, marked throughout the whole length, by annular
bands of a deep brown or black, entirely surrounding the body,
and each separated from the next adjoining one by a narrow
white stripe, or line of the ground colour. The head is small,
rather flat, covered with Jarge plates, and marked by a blackish
transverse band in front across the eyes, and a similar band over
the occiput ; the rostrum is obtuse, and the opening of the mouth
rather small. The body is cylindrical, of the thickness of a swan’s
quill, and covered with smooth, shining, rhomboidal scales; the
tail is short and gradually tapers to the tip. This species varies
considerably in the colour of its zones; in some individuals they
are tinged with a rich crimson hue; in a specimen figured by
Seba, they are purple.

According to Daudin, the Elaps lemmniscatus is indiginous to
Guiana and Surinam, where it is much dreaded, and has occa-
sioned the tortrix scytale, and the black banded coluber to be also
objects of terror, in consequence of the similarity of their forms
and colour, although the latter reptiles are perfectly harmless. It
is probably the serpent called orowcowcow by the negroes of Surinam,
whose poison is very active. Stedman relates that a slave having
been bitten in the foot by one of these animals, in less than a
minute his leg began to swell, he experienced the most excru-
ciating pain, convulsions came on, and he expired soon afterwards.
The same traveller remarks, that in general, at least in Guiana,
the smaller the snake the more fatal is the poison, as is beautifully
observed by Thompson :

ELAPS LANGSDORFII. 93

“« ______. But still more direful he,
The small close-lurking minister of fate,
Whose high concocted venom through the veins
A rapid lightning darts, arresting swift
The vital current.”

Stedman supposes that this Elaps is the same animal as the small
labarra mentioned by Dr. Bancroft, in his History of Guiana, who
assures us, that the violence of the poison is so great that it causes
death in less than five minutes, accompanied by a discharge of
blood through all the natural apertures of the body. The gall of
this serpent is used by the natives both internally and externally,
as aspecific against its bite.*

ELAPS LACTEUS.—Milky Elaps.
Spec. Cuar. Body white, marked by double black

spots; head black, with a longitudinal white line ;
length eighteen inches,

Coluber lacteus; Lin. Mus. Adolph. t.17, f.1;, Seba, Thes. ii, t.35, f. 2, t.54, f. 1.

A native of India and South America; and is reputed poisonous.
The head is ovate, black above, and marked with a longitudinal
white line; body cylindrical, white, marked with double black
confluent spots; abdomen livid or brownish; tail short and

tapering.

ELAPS LANGSDORFII.—Langsdorff’s Elaps.

Spec. Cuar. Body black, with minute yellowish ob-
long, transverse spots; abdomen yellow, with broad
red bands; length two feet four inches.

E. Langsdorfii; Spiv et Wagler, Serp. Bras. p. 10, t, 2, f.1.

ities sah git oh eee
* Narrative of an Expedition to Surinam, ii, p. 133.

94 COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS.

DiscovErED by Dr. Spix, on the banks of the river Japura, in
Brasil,

ELAPS MICRURUS.—<Spia's Elaps.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale fawn colour, with equi-
distant broad black bands; scales tipped with dark
brown ; /ength three feet eight inches.

Micrurus Spixii; Spiw et Wagler, Serp. Bras. p. 48, t. 18.

Inuasits Brasil.

XVII.

COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS,
Spear-headed Cophias, or Yellow Vi iper of Martinico.

GEN. Cuar.— Head widened behind, in some cases
covered with scales similar to those on the back, in
others shielded ; swbh-caudal plates double; a depres-
sion behind the nostrils ; potson-fangs in the upper
jaw ; ¢ai/ generally terminating in a spinous process.

Spec. Cuar.— Body yellow variegated with brown; head
flat, cordate, with a large plate above each eye; a
large orifice on each side between the eyes and
nostrils.

Coluber Megera; Shaw, Zool. iii. p.406. La Vipere Fer-de-Lance ; La Cepede,

Hist. Nat, des Rept. ii. p. 121, t. 5, f. 1; Daudin, Rept. vi. p- 28, t. 60, f. 19.
Trig onocephalus lanceolatus ; Cuv.

Tuts animal, after the enormous Boa, the Python, and the Anaconda,
is one of the largest of the Ophidian order, being not unfrequently

Fle. 47.

tase. tt A att

WWAAMLS.

( onhias Lantt

COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS. 95

from six to eight feet in length. It inhabits Martinico, St. Lucia,
Dominica, and some other West India Islands. According to La
Cepede it is also found at Cayenne, in South America, and, next to
the Rattle-snake, may justly be regarded as the most dangerous of the
trans-atlantic serpents. A specimen of this snake preserved in the
British Museum, from which the accompanying figure was made,
measured something more than five feet ; the tail measures eight
inches, and gradually tapers to the extremity. The body is of a
pale brown colour, and marked throughout the whole length of the
animal by pretty numerous irregular bars or variegations of a rich
brown or ferruginous tint, with irregular patches of the same colour
and of dull yellow along the sides, and still more obscure markings on
the part nearest the scuta ; the abdomen is dirty yellow, sometimes
clouded and speckled on the sides with pale brown ; the head is
large, flat, cordate or subtriangular, and covered with small carinated
scales ; but the terminal scales of the nose and those at the sides of
the mouth are very large ; above each eye also isa very large scale ;
the nostrils are small, and between them and the eyes on each
side is a large orifice the use of which has not been hitherto clearly
ascertained. The scales on the upper part of the body are mode-
rately large, ovate, and carinated ; the back somewhat convex, the
sides rather sloping, and the abdomen flattish. The fangs are very
large, measuring near three quarters of an inch in length, and
curyed. The poison, as in all the species of the family, is a clear
yellowish fluid, resembling olive oil. The number of abdominal
scuta in the specimen described by La Cepede was 228, and that
of the subcaudal squame 61 pair; in the British Museum specimen
the number of the former is 224, and of the latter 68.

The name of Fer-de-lance was given to this serpent by the
Count La Cepede, from a fancied resemblance between the shape
of the flat sub-triangular space on the middle of the head and that
of a spear-head or halbert.

The fertility of this noxious reptile is very remarkable: the
female goes six months with young, and brings forth from forty to
sixty young ones at a birth. At the moment of their birth the
young ones are completely formed, of various colours, some being

96 COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS.

yellow, others grey, and others variegated with yellow, grey, and
brown; they are extremely active, ready to bite, and six or eight
inches in length.

Fortunately for mankind, the habitat of this animal is very much
circumscribed. “ It does not extend throughout the entire of the
Archipelago of the Antilles, nor is it found even in the majority of
those Islands which constitute that archipelago. By a chance equally
singular, fortunate, and inexplicable, it is confined to the Islands of
Martinique, St. Lucia, and Beconia alone; and there is no proof that,
as has been pretended, it is common in the American continent.
Nevertheless, a tradition exists among the Indigenes that it wasintro-
duced into Martinique by the Arronages, a horde which inhabited
near the Orinoco, and who, impelled by sentiments of hatred and
vengeance against the Caribs of that island, made them this fatal
present, and let loose in their forests this serpent, which was
brought over in calabashes. But according to another popular
opinion in the same country, the Trigonocephalus, (Cophias Jan-
ceolatus) is aboriginal to Martinico, it cannot live elsewhere, not
even in Guadaloupe. Some, however, think differently, and explain
the phenomenon by the existence of the dog-headed serpent, which
is believed to be a Boa, and which, common in Dominica and St.
Vincent, has delivered those islands from the Trigonocephalus. Be
all this as it may, it is very certain that this species is greatly mul-
tiplied, at the present day, in St. Lucia and Martinique, where a
field of sugar-canes is never cut without sixty or eighty of these
serpents being found. They people the marshes, the tilled grounds,
the forests, the borders of rivers, and the mountains, from the level
of the sea to the region of the clouds. They may be seen creeping
in the mud, struggling against the currents of the rushing streams,
which would hurry them to the sea, and balancing themselves on
the branches of forest trees, more than one hundred feet above the
ground. On the edge of the crater of the naked mountain which
overhangs the town of St. Pierre, in Martinique, at a height of
more than five thousand feet, M. Moreau de Jonnes, and his com-
panions encountered a Trigonocephalus, the more to be feared as
an excessive lassitude, the consequence of their arduous exertions,

COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS. 97

had then completely overcome them. Eight days before, at the
foot of this same mountain, a fisherman, shooting with his canoe over
the volcanic pebbles of the shore, was attacked by a similar reptile
concealed among the basalts, and no effort could save his life.”’”*

The serpents of which we are speaking are seldom found in the
towns; but they frequently approach them, particularly in the
night ; and in the country they frequently penetrate into the inte-
rior of the houses, when they are surrounded by bushy and high
grass; and they are said to prefer the cottages of the negroes. But
it is particularly in the plantations of sugar-canes that these rep-
tiles find an asylum, concealing themselves under the long decayed
leaves with which the earth is covered, and feeding on lizards, small
birds, and especially on rats, with which the plantations abound.
They are also attracted by poultry-yards and aviaries; they fre-
quently lie in ambush in the. parasitic plants, which surround the
fallen trunks of trees, or remain covered up in the nests of birds
whose eggs or young they have devoured.

«These reptiles,” continues the able translator of Cuvier, to
whose work I am indebted for much interesting information on
this class of animals, ‘‘ possesses an activity and vivacity of motion
truly alarming. A ferocious instinct induces them to dart impetu-
ously upon passengers, either by suddenly letting go the sort of spring
which their body forms, rolled in concentric and superpoised circles,
and thus shooting like an arrow from the bow ofa vigorous archer,
or pursuing them by a series of rapid and multiplied leaps, or
climbing up trees after them, or even threatening them in a
vertical position.

“The effects of the bite of these serpents are in general very
terrible, but vary considerably, according to a multitude of circum-
stances. The tumefaction of the part, which soon becomes livid and
gangrenous, nausea, convulsions, cardialgia, and an invincible som-
nolency, are the ordinary symptoms of the action of their poison,
which either produce death in the course of some hours, or at most
some days, or causes for several years vertigos, paralysis, more or less
tose bebetoe- lo greiteoiiene bus sani nee ged) nan seared.

* See Monographie du Trigonocephale des Antilles, ou Grand Vipére Fer-de-
Lance dela Martinique, par A, Moreau de Jonnes, Svo. Paris, 1816,

L

gs

98 COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS. oe
extensive, phagedenic ulcers of a malignant character, and a variety
of other distressing infirmities. It is therefore nowise astonishing
that the Trigonocephalus is an object of horror, not only to man
but also to animals. The horse trembles and prances violently in
its presence ; rats scud away at its approach, sending forth cries of
terror; birds especially, against which it wages inveterate war,
manifest their aversion to it by repeated clamours ; and the Loxia
indicator, by pursuing with its cries, often indicates to man the
place of its retreat.

“The African races, which form a great portion of the popula-
tion of Martinique, constantly preserve certain organs of this rep-
tile for talismans, either preservative or hurtful. These are called
in the Carib language, piailles, and they are always found among
the materials of those magical conjurations undertaken by the
negroes who are addicted to sortilege.

‘« The severity of the accident produced by the bite of the Tri-
gonocephalus varies, as in the case of other venomous serpents,
according to the state of health of the bitten subject, the depth
and number of the wounds, the time which has elapsed since the
animal made use of its fangs, and, consequently, the quantity of
poison which had penetrated into the system. But in all possible
cases the help of art is indispensible. Unfortunately, to the
present moment, the mode of treatment has been based on custom
and empiricism of the blindest kind; and the prodigious number
of remedies vaunted and recommended in their turn, only proves
the uncertainty and insufficiency of the means resorted to. For- —
tunately, in the origin of the colony, recourse was had to scarifi-
cation, and the application of cupping-glasses, which are still
extolled by some practitioners as efficatious against the bite of the
viper. The wound was then covered with a cataplasm of theriaca,
and that electuary was administered internally. In default of this,
they used to pound the head of the animal, and apply it topically
upon the wound. A powder made with the hearts and spleens of
serpents dried, was also long in use. Embrocations of hot oil have
likewise had their partisans, and applications of pounded green
tobacco leaves, and several other plants. The remedies used in
Europe against the bite of the viper have also been employed,

_ COPHIAS LANCEOLATUS, 99

gach as the Eau de luce, liquid ammonia, opium, and arsenical
preparations.” 7

In the post-mortem examination of such persons as have died
some time after the accident, Dr. Renzger, a German physician,
whose experience on these subjects has been considerable, always
found the brain and spinal chord partially softened, and a consi-
derable effusion of bloody serum in the cavities of the skull, thorax,
and abdomen; the lungs and liver were gorged with blood, and as
well as the intestinal canal, exhibited gangrenous spots ; the cellular
tissue round the wound was sloughy, and, on incision, a great
quantity of decomposed blood and sanies escaped from it.

-In those cases which do not end fatally the wound becomes
inflamed and erysipelatous, the general symptoms gradually dis-
appear, and the disease altogether ceases within from three to eight
weeks, under general perspiration and bilious diarrhcea. Sometimes,
however, great debility and cachectic appearances remain, and death
ensues, after two or three years, under paralysis, mental derange-
ment, or dropsical symptoms. In case of ultimate recovery, the
healing of the wound always takes place very slowly; the skin and
neighbouring cellular tissue slough, and discharge a great quantity
of blood; the margins of the wounds are of a livid colour, and
bleed on the least touch; after some time, the sloughs having
come away, suppuration begins to take place, but is always of an
unhealthy kind; cicatrization hardly ever takes place before some
months, or even years; the cicatrix is thin, of a livid colour, and
liable to be inflamed or absorbed.

The best method of treatment consists in the excision of the
wounded part, and its subsequent scarification and cauterization.
If the necessary instruments are not at hand, the wound must be
sucked and repeatedly washed with water, lemon-juice, or brandy,
as in other cases of poisonous wounds; at the same time it is
advisable to put a tight bandage round the limb. Stimulants must
be given internally, and the wound is continually, even after the
remission of the general symptoms, to be treated with stimulants
and antiseptics, otherwise it will become gangrenous. In India,
it appears the Tanjore pill, of which arsenic is the chief ingredient,
has been exhibited with considerable success against the bites of

100 COPHIAS VIRIDIS.

venomous serpents. In the second volume of the Medico-Chirur-
gical Transactions, there is a series of cases related by Mr. Ireland,
surgeon of the 60th regiment, where arsenic was administered in
very large doses with good effects. Mr. Ireland, on his-arrival in
the island of St. Lucia, was informed that an officer and several
men belonging to the 68th regiment, had died from the bites of the
Fer-de-lance, and that every thing had been tried by the medical
meu, to no purpose, he was determined to give arsenic a full trial.
In these cases he exhibited two drachms of Fowler’s solution with
ten drops of laudanum, in the effervescing draught, and repeated
it every three or four hours. Externally, the parts were frequently
fomented with warm water, and rubbed with a liniment composed
of oil of turpentine; liquid ammonia, and olive oil.

COPHIAS VIRIDIS.— Green Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body green, with a narrow yellowish
line on each side; Ahead covered with scales similar to
those on the back ; length two feet six inches.

Coluber gramipeus; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 420. Trimesurus Viridis; La Cepede,
Ann. Mus, iv.t. 56, f.2. Bodroo Pam ; Russel Ind. Serp. p. 13, t. 9.

Ir is to Dr. Russel that we owe our knowledge of this remarkable
species, which is a native of India, and was sent to him from
Vizagapatam, in October, 1788. It is of a grass-green colour,
with a narrow yellowish line on each side, and is furnished with
remarkably long and slender fangs. The abdominal scuta are of a
pale straw colour, and some of them have a small green spot on
each side. The long slender fangs, exposed on opening the mouth,
seem to indicate its being highly noxious ; the person who brought
it to Dr. Russel affirmed that its power of killing extended only to
the smaller animals, not to dogs or sheep; and that to man, its
bite caused various disorders, but never death.

COPHIAS FURIA. 10]

COPHIAS ATROX.—Frerce Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body grey brown, with transverse whitish
stripes ; abdomen dusky, with white transverse varie-

gations.

Coluber Atrox ; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 429. Lin. Syst. p.388. Mus. Ad. Fred. p. 33,
t-22-f.2;

Lreneru about eighteen inches; it is a poisonous snake, and is
said to inhabit Ceylon.

COPHIAS MEGAERA.— The Megera.

Spec. Cuar. Body above brownish-green, with obscure
bands margined with black ; abdomen yellow, without
spots; dength three feet.

Bothrops Megera ; Spix et Wagler,§Serp. Bras. p. 50, t. 19.

Founp by Dr. Spix in the province of Bahia, in Brazil.

COPHIAS FURIA.—frend Cophias.
Spec. Cuar. Body dull brown; abdomen yellowish,

sometimes marked with blackish spots; dength three

feet.
Bothrops furia ; Spiw et Wagler, Serp. Bras, p. 52, t. 20.

Innasits the banks of the river Amazon, in South America;
feeding on insects, birds, and the smaller quadrupeds.
M

102 COPHIAS LEUCURUS.

COPHIAS LEUCOSTIGMA.— /Vhite-spotted Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body brown, with broad obscure bands ;
abdomen cinereous ; sides marked with whitish spots ;
tip of the tail pale ochraceous.

Bothrops leucostigma; Spix et Wagler, Serp. Bras. p.53, t. 21, f. 1.

A sMALL species, found in Brazil.

COPHIAS NEUWIEDII.— Neuwied’s Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale brown, with large dark brown
dorsal spots bordered with dirty yellow ; abdomen
yellow, clouded with black ; dength two feet.

Bothrops Neuwiedii ; Spiw et Wagler, Serp. Bras, p. 56, t. 22, f. 1.

Tuis species, which has received its trivial name in honour of the
enterprising and distinguished traveller, Prince Maximilian of
Neuwied, is a native of Brazil. Its bite is considered extremely
dangerous.

COPHIAS LEUCURUS.— White-tailed Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. . Body brownish ash-coloured, with black
transverse spots or bands ; trunk and sides spotted
with black ; abdomen whitish; tail white; length
eleven inches.

Bothrops leucurus; Spix et Wagler, Serp. Bras. p. 57, t. 22, f 2.

InHABITs the province of Bahia, in Brazil. It is found in woods
in mountainous situations, concealing itself under the trunks af
fallen trees. Its bite is considered fatal. |

COPHIAS TRIGONOCEPHALUS. 103

COPHIAS TASNIATUS.—Fillet-hike Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body above pale green, with a double
series of obscure dorsal transverse spots ; below ash-
coloured, with whitish irregular ocellated dots.

Bothrops teniatus ; Spix et Wagler, Serp. Bras. p. 35, t. 21, f. 3.

A VERY rare species, found on the banks of the river Amazon, in
South America. Length about one foot three inches.

COPHIAS TESSELLATUS.— 7esselated Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body above brown with obscure spots ;
a reddish brown stria behind the eyes; abdomen whitish,
tessellated with blackish brown.

Bothrops tessellatus ; Spix et Wagler, Serp. Bras, p, 54, t. 21, f. 2.

LENGTH about two feet three inches. Inhabits Brazil.

COPHIAS TRIGONOCEPHALUS.
Triangular-headed Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body greenish, with a dorsal chain of
spots of different shades ; abdomen dusky, edged with
white.

Vipera trigonocephala; Daudin, Rept. vi. p. 165. La Vipere la tete triangulaire ;
La Cepede, Serp. ii. p. 132, t.5, f. 2.

RESEMBLES the common viper in external appearance and size,
but the head is larger and of a more triangular form. The body
is greenish, with a row of spots of different shades uniting so as to
form a regular band down the back. It inhabits the Isle of St.
Eustachia.

104 COPHTAS HALYS.

COPHIAS RUSSELII.—Russell’s Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale brown, with cinereous and
brown oval spots on the back and sides; head dark
brown, with a cinereous streak from each orbit; abdo-

men yellowish, dotted.
Russel, Ind. Serp. ii, t. 22.

LenetTH rather more than one foot. Inhabits the Phillipine
Islands.

COPHIAS LEBETINUS,
The Lebetina or Somniferous Snake.
** Head shielded.
Spec. Cuar. Body grey, with a quadruple series of
alternate transverse spots, inner row of spots yellow,

lateral ones black.

Coluber lebetinus ; Lin. Syst. Gmelin, p.1094; Forsk. Egypt. p. 8,13. Vipera
lebetina ; Daud. Rept. vi. p. 113. Cophias hypnale; Merrem, Amph.

Inuasits Northern Africa, and Southern Europe and Asia.

COPHIAS HALYS.— The Halys, or Siberian Cophias.

Spec. Cuar. Body short and thick ; colour above pale
grey, with transverse olive-brown spots ; abdomen
whitish ; head sub-cordate.

Coluber halys; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p.1094. Pallas, Voy. en Russie, viii. p. 93.
‘Vipera halys, Daudin, Rept. vi. p. 129.

A VERY rare species ; a native of the driest parts of the southern
deserts of Astracan ; thicker, shorter, and more poisonous than
our common viper. It was first discovered by the celebrated
Professor Pallas, who describes it as frightful, from the thick-set
subcarinated scales rising on its back.

COPHIAS MUTUS. 105

COPHIAS CACODASEMON.— Black Viper, or Demon.

Spec. Cuar. Body deep black ; head broad and tumid.

Scytale niger ; Daudin, Rept. v.p.342. Black Viper; Catesby, Carol. ii. t. 44.
Shaw, Zool, iii. t. 102.

Lenotu of the common viper, but of a much thicker form, and
entirely of a rusty-black colour. It is slow in its motions, and
when irritated dilates the head, which is naturally large, to a sur-
prising width, and threatening at the same time with a horrid hiss ;
the fangs are large, and the animal is said to be as dangerous as the

Rattle-snake. It is a native of Ceylon, inhabiting chiefly the
higher grounds.

COPHIAS MUTUS.— The Bush-master ?

Spec. Cuar. Body pale ochraceous or straw-coloured,
with a chain of dark reddish-brown rhomboidal dorsal
spots; abdomen and tad beneath without spots.

** HTead covered with scales ; tail ending in a spine.

Crotalus mutus; Lin. Syst. Nat.p.373. Boamuta; La Cepede, Serp. ii.p.389. Lache-
sismuta ; Daud. Rept. v. p.351. L.atra; Daud. l. ¢.p.354. Scytale Ammodytes;
Latreille, Rept. iii. p. 106; Daud. v. p. 547. Scytale catenata; Lair, l.c.
p- 162. Boacrotallina; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 352. Coluber alecto; Shaw, /.c.
p. 405. Curncucu; Marg. Brasil, p. 241. Seba, Thes. ii. t. 76, f.1. Bothrops

Curucucu; Wagler, Serp. Bras. p. 59, t.23. Cophias mutus; Merrem, Amph.
p. 154, n. 1.

—_——__—__—_—.

Inuapits Brazil and Surinam, in moist woods. It isa large, fierce,
and very dangerous reptile, frequently attaining the length of six
or seven feet. Itis of a pale yellowish colour, marked on the back
by a chain of large reddish-brown or black rhomboidal spots, and
is armed with very large and strong fangs.

106 CENCHRIS MOCKESON.

XVIII.

CENCHRIS MOCKESON.
The Mockeson, or Hog-nose Snake.

Ee

Gen. Cuar. Head broad; neck not dilatable; sud-
caudal plates double.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale reddish brown, with fourteen
or sixteen broad transverse blackish bands, compressed
in the middle; neck narrow ; abdomen pale yellow °
with black spots ; anus simple.

Hog-nose snake ; Catesby, Carol. ii. t.56. Le groin; La Cepede, Serp. ii. p. 383.
Cenchris Mockeson; Daudin, Rept. t. 60, f. 25, and t.70, f.3.

In its external appearance the Mockeson has much resemblance
to a Rattle-snake deprived of its rattle, The head is large, and
covered on the anterior part, behind the eyes, with nine large
shining plates, and upon the occiput, as well as upon the spine,
with numerous, small, reticulated, and slightly carinated scales. The
neck is very narrow ; the body grows gradually thicker towards the
middle; and the tail, which is tapering and ending in a spine,
occupies about a fifth part of the whole length. The scuta of the
belly are moderately broad, and according to Daudin, 157 in num-
ber ; those of the tail are simple, one-rowed, and amount to about
thirty-two. The general colour is pale reddish-brown, marked
along the upper part of the body and tail with several large trans-
verse dark brown or blackish bands, a little narrower at their cen-
tre, and deeper on the back and sides. The posterior sides of the
- head at the insertion of the jaws are much swelled, and on the
upper part of the head, according to Daudin, there are three black
spots placed transversely. From the figure here represented,
which was drawn from an individual, preserved in the cabinet
of Mr. Bell, the head is of a pale yellowish or rose-colour, without

CENCHRIS MOCKESON. 107

spots. The under part of the animal is yellowish-white marked
with dark spots of middling size ; it is furnished with three double
scales under the base of the tail, and with a large round scale upon
the anterior border of the anus. On each side of the upper jaw
is a long slender fang, covered by a sort of prepuce or sheath.

The Mockeson, or as it is sometimes called the Copper-head
Snake, is found in various parts of the new world, where it inha-
bits the forests, especially on the borders of Jakes, and on the banks
of rivers. Our specimen was taken near the Alabama, a large
river in the southern part of North America, which empties itself
into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a tolerably large species, measuring
two feet ten inches in length, and is said to be nearly as poisonous
as the Rattle-snake.

Amongst the numerous remedies that have been proposed as
specifics for the bite of this and other poisonous reptiles, perhaps
the most celebrated is the Guwaco, a plant which grows in several
parts of America, and first described by MM. Humboldt and Bon-
pland* under the name of Mikanta guaco. Asa preventive against
the attacks of venomous serpents, which abound in every part of
that vast continent, the natives are said to innoculate themselves
with the juice of this plant. When the bite has been inflicted,
they apply the leaves of the guaco, chewed and mixed with the
saliva, upon the wound, and at the same time take the juice of the
plant internally, with complete success. Dr. Hancock, however,
who resided more than twenty years in various parts of South
America, and who had ample opportunities of witnessing the effects
and treatment of the bites of poisonous serpents, assures us that
amongst thousands of reputed antidotes, there are absolutely none
to be depended on as preventive except suction and scarifying ; and
for obviating the effects of their absorption, opium, and the class
of warm stimulants and diaphoretics, Unfortunately, a supersti-
tious dread prevails against the only certain remedy, not only
amongst the natives, but Europeans also, from the fear of imbibing
the poison by the mouth, and that, too, even amongst many of
the faculty.

Se SSS eee

* Plantes Equinoviales, ii. p. 84, t. 105,

108 PLATURUS FASCIATUS.

CENCHRIS TISSIPHONE.— Tisiphone Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body thick, brown, without variegations ;
length about two feet.

Coluber Tisiphone; Shaw, Zool. iii. p. 406 ; Catesby, Carol, ii, t. 45.

Caressy describes this as a very slow-moving and sluggish reptile,
advancing deliberately even to escape danger, yet it will defend
itself fiercely when attacked, It is found in Virginia and Carolina,
where it is called the Truncheon Snake. Its bite is said to be very
venomous.

PLATURUS FASCIATUS.

Fasciated, or Lead-coloured Platurus.

PL. XVIII.

Gen. Cuar.—Head indistinct, covered with large
plates; body cylindrical; dorsal scales equal; tazl
compressed, two-edged; caudal plates two-rowed ;
powon fangs in the upper jaw.

Spec. Cuar. Body blueish or lead-coloured, with
black annular bands; scales rhomboidal; abdo-
men yellowish ; muzzle ochraceous ; head with a yel-
low spot between the eyes.

Coluber laticaudatus ; Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p.1107; Idem, Mus. Ad. Fred. I.
p- 31. t. 16, f. 1, Laticauda scutata; Laurenti, Syn. Rept.p.109.n.240. La queue
plate; La Cepede, Hist. Nat. des Serp. in 12mo. i. p. 391. Hydrus Colubrinus ;
Schneider, Hist. Nat. Amph. fasc. i. p. 238; Shaw, Zool. iii. t. 123. La Pla-

ture fascie; Latreille, Hist. Nat. des Rept. in 8vo. iii. p.186, f.5; Daudin,
Rept. vii. p. 226, t. 85, f. 1,

THIs is an aquatic species, and is found in the Indian and American
seas, It is frequently seen towards the coasts of the southern islands

fi. t8

CAP ”: 7 ( Yf /

kee f - ; ,
Liaw Jt Atiti)tiitld Mdttw thd : DEM AMA CCLEEA OF

| OR Pv,

Engelmarar k be)
= ; (7)
72. s ; Y. : Sf) 7 7
es
. GON bd A? COMPDULALLI i Ps i AMI DtCO108)
f/ /

HYDROPHIS MELANURUS. 109

in the Pacific. The specimen from which our drawing was made was
brought from the Tonga islands. Its general length is two feet anda
half ; the specimen here represented measured two feet four inches ;
but Dr. Shaw thinks it probably grows to a much larger size, The
head is oval, somewhat convex, and covered with three large
plates; the rostrum is obtuse. The scales covering the body are
rhomboidal, ‘smooth, shining, imbricated, rather obtuse, and of a
paler colour at the apex; the scuta under the belly are short and
natrow, being somewhat indistinctly continued in a double series
under the tail ; the body is cylindrical, rather slender, and the tail
instead of being round as in the vipers, is thin and compressed
laterally, liké the blade of a knife; the extremity is blunt, and ter-
minates in two round scales. The colour of the whole animal is a
strong plumbeous or livid blue, with numerous, equidistant, mode-
rately broad, deep brown or blackish bands, from head to tail, each
nearly surrounding the body, but being paler beneath than
above; a pale yellow tinge is diffused along the abdomen, and
over the front of the head; the muzzle is of a reddish yellow
colour, and on the back part of the head is a shield-shaped mark,
with a small central yellow spot, and a black streak extends behind
the eye on each side, immediately above the opening of the mouth.
This is a poisonous snake; but the fangs are said to be remarkably
small for the size of the animal.

XIX.

HYDROPHIS MELANURUS.
Black-crowned Water-Snake.

ooo

Gen. Cuar.—Head small, not tumid, and covered with
large shields ; dody slender in front, gradually thick-
ening, and covered with scales ; ¢a¢/ compressed ver-

tically.

110 HYDROPHIS SHAWII.

Spec. Cuar. Body much compressed; back cari-
‘nated ; colour yellow, barred from head to tail with
deep chesnut fascie, widening on the abdomen; body
alternately flatter on one side than the other.

Hydrus spiralis; Shaw, Zool. iii, t, 125.

Tuis elegant species which is described by Dr. Shaw under the
name of the Spiral Hydrus, is about two feet in length, and of a
slender form ; the body compressed throughout ; the dorsal carina
very acute; that of the abdomen with.a flattened edge of scales
somewhat wider than the rest, and about the sixteenth of an inch
in diameter. The head is small; the mouth wide; the scales on
the head large; those on the body rather small, ovate, and slightly
carinated. The general colour is yellowish, with bars of deep
chesnut brown, each dilating on the belly and the back; from
about the middle nearly to the tail is marked with a series of large,
round, black spots. The tail is of a black or deep brown colour,
very broad, and so very thin on the edges as to be nearly trans-
parent. The most remarkable circumstance in this snake is the
singular obliquity of its form, the body in different parts being alter-
nately flatter on one side than the other. It inhabits India, and is
in all probability poisonous, but its particular history seems to be
very imperfectly known.

HYDROPHIS SHAWII.—Shaw’s Water-Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body livid brown, with brown decurrent
bands, and hexagonal abruptly carinated bands.

Hydrus Major; Shaw, Zool. iii. t. 124.

Tus is a large species, first accurately described by Dr. Shaw from
a specimen in the British Museum. It is more than three feet in
length, and of a pale livid colour, marked throughout the whole
length of the back and tail by a series of large transverse semi-

HYDROPHIS UCHLORIS. | 111

decurrent dusky bands. The length of the tail is about four inches ;
- the scales which cover it are of a square or lozenge form, imbricate,
and marked by an almost double carina; the scales on the body
are chiefly hexagonal, and carinated in the same manner. Dr.
Shaw justly supposes it to be of the poisonous kind, as one of
the teeth, on each side in the upper jaw is larger than the rest, and
on being examined with a lens is evidently tubular, the slit towards
the end being much longer in proportion than in that of the
rattle-snake. It is found in the Indian seas.

HYDROPHIS NIGROCINCTUS.
Blach-banded Weater-Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body olive green above; yellow be-
neath, with about fifty-eight black or dark blue bands
encircling the trunk ; ¢ac/ obtuse, with nine circular
bands of the same colour.

Keri] pattee; Russel, Ind. Serp. ii. t. 10.

Tuis snake inhabits the saline waters of a river near Calcutta
which intersects the country of Bengal, and is called Sunderbunds.
The Indians call it keril-patiee, and it appears very venomous. A
fowl bitten in the thigh by it was seized with convulsions, at the
end of five minutes, and in two minutes more expired.

HYDROPHIS CHLORIS.
Bliéish-green Water-Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body dark blue, intermixed with green ;
neck crossed with bands of greenish yellow; and
broader bands of the same colour across the sides and
tail.

Shootur Sun; Russel, Ind. Serp.t.7.

L112 HYDROPHIS FASCIATUS.

Has the same habitat and manners as the preceding species. It is
also a native of India, and has been figured and described by
Russel.

HYDROPHIS OBSCURUS.— Dusky WVater-Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Neck blucish-black, with yellow bands ;
back blueish-black, but paler; sides and abdomen yel-
low, encircled by faint darkish bands to the end of the

tail.
Kalla shootur sun; Rus, Ind. Serp. ii. p. 9, t. 8.

Tus species inhabits India, and is about four feet long. It is
called by the Hindoos Kalla shootur sun.

HYDROPHIS CYANOCINCTUS.
Blue-bunded Water-Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale azure-blue, with circular bands
of yellowish white ; ¢az/ blue, flat, short, obtuse.

Chittul; Rus. Ind. Serp. ii. p.10,t.9.

InHABits the same places as the six last. It is figured and
described by Dr. Russel, under the Indian name Chittul. The
length is three feet or more.

HYDROPHIS FASCIATUS.—Fasciated Water-Snahke.

Spec. Cuar. Body black with ascendent yellowish
conical spots, with the points towards the ridge of the
back ; tip of the tail black.

Anguis laticauda ; Lin. Mus. Ad. Fred. ii. p.43; Schneid. Amph.i. p. 240. Tatta
Pam; Russel, Ind. Serp. t. 44.

PELAMIS BICOLOR. 113

Tue form of this species is long and slender, and it is of a black
colour, fasciated throughout its whole length by numerous yellowish
white pointed bands, rising upwards from the abdomen, and almost
meeting at their tips on the ridge of the back. It appears to arrive
at a considerable size, though the specimen figured by Dr. Russel
scarcely measures two feet in length. The teeth in Russel’s spe-
cimen were very small; but in the larger individuals examined by
Schneider, a large, curved fang-like tooth was observed on each
side in the upper jaw; hence it is supposed to be a venomous
snake.

HYDROPHIS CURTUS.—Short Water-Snake.

Spec. Cuar. Body compressed; head flattish ; colour
pale yellow, with a series of decurrent dusky bands,
somewhat confluent above.

Hydrus Curtus; Shaw, Zool, iii. p. 562.

LENGTH about a foot. Inhabits India.

PELAMIS BICOLOR,
Black-backed Pelamis.
PL. XIX.

Gren. Cuar. Head large, depressed, dilated behind,
shielded ; jaws very dilatable ; ody with small equal
square plates ; scales rather reticulated than imbri-
cated ; tal compressed vertically. ;

Spec Cuar. Head and upper half of the body dark
brown or black ; abdomen and sides pale yellow; back
carinated ; ¢ai/ spotted with biack.

114 PELAMIS BICOLOR.

Anguis platura; Lin, Syst. Nat.391. Hydrus bicolor; Shaw, Zool. iii. t. 126 ;
Schneid. Amph.i. p. 240. Pelamis bicolor; Daudin, vii. p. 366, t. 89. Nalla
Wahlagilee Pam ; Russel, Ind. Serp. ii. p. 47, t. 41.

Tuts singular snake, figured by Seba, vol. ii. t. 77, fig. 1, and by
Vosmaer in a Memoir published at Amsterdam, in 1774, has since
been described as a new species under the name of Anguis platurus,
by Gmelin, after Forster, who discovered it about the shores of
some of the islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is readily distinguished,
as Dr. Shaw justly observes, by the remarkable distribution of its
colours; the head and upper parts of the body being of a rich deep
chocolate brown colour or black, the lower parts pale yellow, and
the tail marked with black bands and spots. A pretty broad longi-
tudinal band of a bright sulphur-yellow colour is represented in
Russel’s plate, commencing from the cheek, and prolonged regularly
on each side to within two inches of the anus. The head is of an
elongated form in front, bulging behind, somewhat convex above,
and projecting into an obtuse rostrum. The occiput is covered
with small suborbicular scales ; the anterior part of the head and
the rostrum with large plates. The opening of the mouth is very
wide ; the jaws long, narrow, and nearly equal. According to
Russel, the teeth are small and numerous, there being a marginal
and two palatal rows in the upper jaw: the nostrils vertical and
near each other; the eyes lateral, oval, and of middling size. The
body is compressed, and the back highly carinated; the scales on
the trunk and tail are square, closely set, but not imbricate, and
very numerous. The general length is about two feet and a half;
the tail three inches. The annexed figure was made from a speci-
men in the collection of Mr. Bell.

The Pelamis Licolor is found in the Indian seas ; and according
to the Vizingapatam fishermen, who regard it as a very dan-
gerous serpent, seldom approaches the shore. It is said to be very
common at the Island of Otaheite, where it is called by the natives
Etoona-toree, and is used as an article of food. It feeds principally
on the smaller fishes and molluscous animals, which according to
Forster it seizes with the utmost address,

Sects 3 bates

ran

by JotTroy

7

WA

A/

re y. :
PNA SYA — COnNUMCALLLD =:
2h. VA

London: Published by John Wi

(7 Vey az lof (
ae

uson May 1 L183)

YA &

Engelmann & Ct:

ITD

é Wh MAI

CHERSYDRUS GRANULATUS. 115

PELAMIS SCHISTOSUS.—~Slate-coloured Pelamis.

Spec. Cuar.—Head and back blue ; stdes and belly pale
buff; ¢add lanceolate and entirely blue.

Hoogli pattee; Russel, Ind. Serp. ii. p. 11, t. 10,

A native of the Indian Seas, and is called by the Hindoos Hoogli
pattee, and by the inhabitants of the English settlements Hoglin.
It is about three feet in length; the head is oblong, obtuse, bulges
behind, and thicker than the neck ; the mouth proportionally large.
In the upper jaw, on each side, there isa small poison fang, behind
which, placed obliquely, are two or three common teeth. The
palatal rows, and teeth in the under jaw, are small. The body is
compressed, the abdomen carinated, and covered with small, ovate,
slightly carinated, and imbricate scales, The tail is flat, obtuse,
with the edges very thin. The upper part of the body and tail is
blue, the sides and belly pale buff. A bird bitten in the thigh by
this reptile expired in five minutes.

XX.
CHERSYDRUS GRANULATUS.
Granulated Chersydrus.

oo

Gen. Cuar. Head and body covered with small cari-
nated scales; posterior part of the body and tail com- —
pressed vertically.

Spec. Cuar. Body fuliginous, with white spots; abdo-
men carinated, and marked throughout with whitish
ascendant lateral bands.

Hydrus granulatus; Schneid. Amph. Fasc. i. p.243. Achrocordus fasciatus; Shaw,
Zool, iii. p. 576, t.130, Hydrus granulatus; Merrem, Amph.

116 RANA ESCULENTA.

Tuts species is about eighteen inches in length, and of a dusky
brown colour, with several paler fascize, which take their rise from
the abdomen, and ascend on the sides. The body is thick, and, as
well as the head, is entirely covered with very minute, carinated,
rough or warty scales. It inhabits the rivers of Java, and is said
to be a poisonous species.

RANA ESCULENTA.
Esculent or Green Frog.

Class Repriuia. Order Barracuia, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Body thick, tailless, a little compressed,
elongated, moist, covered with a few small tubercles ;
sternum and clavicles distinct ; mouth toothed ; feet
four, long; toes pointed ; larva elongate, fish-like,
tailed, and without legs; géd/s four on each side.

Spec. Cuar. Body transverse, gibbous, green, with
black spots, and three longitudinal lines upon the

back.

La Grenouille verte; Daudin, viii. p.90. Rana esculenta; Syst. Nat. Gmelin;
p- 1033. Resel, Hist. Ran.t.13. La Granouille commune ; La Cepede, ii.
part iii. art. i. Gibbous Frog; Pennant, Brit. Zool. iii. p. 7. Esculent, or
green Frog; Shaw Zool. iii, t.31.

THE flesh of the green Frog is much esteemed on the continent,
particularly in France, Italy, and Germany, as an article of food,
and the spawn (sperma ranarum) formerly obtained a place in our
dispensatories. In its general form this species resembles the
common brown Frog, (Rana temporaria), but it is larger in size
and of an olive green colour, with black spots and strongly marked
with three longitudinal lines on the back, It is found abundantly
in stagnant waters both in Europe and Asia, though it is much

RANA ESCULENTA. 117

less common in England than the Rana temporaria, At Vienna
and in many parts of France, where a great consumption of frogs
takes place, they are fattened up in froggeries (grenonilliéres)
constructed for the express purpose. They are caught either with
lines baited with a small bit of scarlet cloth, or in nets, or by
means of a rake, which brings them ashore along with the mud.

‘Tt is in autumn, at the moment in which they plunge into the
water, where they are about to pass the winter, that their flesh is
in most estimation, for at this time it is fatter and of a more
delicate flavour. Nevertheless, a greater quantity of it is eaten in
spring than in any other season, for the frogs are then more easily
caught. There are places in which deposits of frogs are kept in
reserve, in gardens furnished with pieces of water, and closed round
by walls, to be sold at all times to amateurs. About a century ago
or more, they were in great request in Paris. A native of Au-
vergne, named Simon, made a considerable fortune by fattening
up, in a suburb of that city, the frogs which he had collected in
his own country. At present they are much less generally eaten
in France; but they are constantly to be found in the markets of
that country, and those of Italy, in like manner, superabound with
them for a certain period of the year.

‘« The Romans do not appear to have made much use of them
as food. Galen says nothing about them in his works. The
physicians of the middle ages were in general opposed to their
introduction as an aliment, and attributed to them deleterious
properties. Aétius, and Juan Rodriguez de Castellobranco, have
particularly declared themselves to this effect. Others would fain
have established a distinction between frogs of such as are poi-
sonous and such as are harmless. Matthioli and the celebrated
Ulysses Aldrovandi were of this opinion. The latter even men-
tions a great number of delicate culinary preparations of which
frogs constitute the basis. In the sixteenth century, on the con-
tinent at least, frogs were served up at the best tables. Champier
complains of this taste, which he considers fantastic. It does not,
however, appear that this custom was a very ancient one, for, in
1550, the author of a book entitled ‘ Devis sur la Vigne,’ tells us
that he laughed, ‘de Perdix quand on lui apporta des grenouilles

N

118 RANA ESCULENTA.

en facon de poulletz fricassez.’ Thirty years afterwards, Pallissy
in his treatise ‘ Des Pierres,’ thus expresses himself: ‘ Et de mon
temps j’ai yeu qu'il se fust trouvé bien peu d’hommes qui eussents
voulu manger ni tortues ni grenouilles.’

«In Germany, all parts of these animals are eaten, the skin
and intestines excepted. In France, epicures confine themselves
to the hinder quarters, which are dressed with wine, like fish, or
with white sauce. Sometimes they are fried, or even spitted.

“‘ Cooks are not the only persons who have studied the art of
appropriating frogs to the benefit of man. For a considerable
period the continental physicians have employed the flesh of these
reptiles, variously prepared, in the treatment of different diseases.
Broths are made of it, which are considered restorative, diluent,
analeptic, and anti-scorbutic, and are prescribed in various affec-
tions of the chest, pulmonary consumption, cutaneous disorders,
and many other maladies. Even supposing the utility of such
preparations in the cases we have mentioned, it is certain that a
great number of physicians have adopted the most absurd notions
and practices on this subject. Timotheus, for instance, would
apply frogs cut in two on the kidneys of hydropic patients, to
attract externally the superabundant serosity in the abdomen.
We have heard of the application of a brick-bat, in certain cases, to
a particular part of the human body, and we presume that its curative
efficacy is fully equal to that of the cataplasm here recommended.

« According to Dioscorides, the flesh of the frog cooked with
salt and oil, is an antidote for the poison of serpents; and Arnold
informs us that the heart of this animal, taken every morning, in
the form of a pill, cured a fistula in the epigastric region, which
had resisted many other remedies. With a like degree of vous,
some doctors haye recommended in epilepsy, the liver of a frog,
calcined in an oven on a cabbage-leaf, between two plates, and
swallowed in peony-water.”* The spawn of frogs was formerly used
in external inflammations, as soothing and emollient, and in the
old pharmacopeeias, oil of frogs is mentioned, but both these
remedies are now deservedly neglected.

* Animal Kingdom, by Ed, Griffiths, F.L_S. vol, ix, p. 440.

BUFO VULGARIS. 119

RANA TEMPORARIA.—TZhe Common Frog.

Spec. Cuar. Body reddish-brown or greenish, with a
black band extending from the eye and passing over
the opening of the ear.

La grenouille rousse a temps noires; Daudin, viii, p.84. Rana temporaria; Syst.
Nat. Gmelin, p. 1053. La Rousse; La Cepede, Rept. ii. part. iii. art. 2. Com-
mon frog; Pennant, Br. Zool. iii. p.3; Shaw, Zool, iii, t. 39.

Ts well-known animal is common throughout Europe, in moist
meadows, and on the banks of ponds and rivulets. It is called the
red frog by the French, and differs from the esculent species both
in colour and habit, though it is sometimes confounded with it.
It prefers mountainous situations, and is commonly found on land
in the summer season, while the green frog rarely leaves the water.
It is said to be very commonly used as food in the central parts of
France, and that the hind-quarters are as good en fricassee as those
of the green frog,

BUFO VULGARIS.—Common Toad.

Gen. Cuar. Body thick, short, broad, and warty
above ; head thick and short; eyes large and pro-
tuberant, with a vertical pupil; tongwe short and
thick; mouth toothless; skin dilatable by inflation ;
forefeet with four separate toes, the thumb larger in
the male; Ainder-feet short and generally palmated
with five toes; all the toes pointed, but without
claws.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale reddish ash-coloured, some-
times olive or blackish ; back covered with numerous
red rounded tubercles; Jelly reddish-white, with
smaller tubercles ; Aind-feet semi-palmate.

120 BUFO VULGARIS.

$puvos; Arist. Hist. An. lib. ix. ec, 1,40. Rubeta; Plinii, Hist. lib. viii. c. 31.
Bufo sive Rubeta; Raii, Syn. Quadr.252. Bufo terrestris; Resel, Hist. Ran.
85, t. 20. Bufo vulgaris; Laurent. Amph.28. Rana Bufo ; Syst. Nat. Gmel.
1047, Le Crapaud cendre a pustules rouses ; Daudin, viii. p. 139.

THE common Toad is an animal too well known to require any
particular description of its form and habits. It is found through-
out Europe in obseure moist situations, feeding on slugs, worms,
and insects. When irritated or terrified it exudes from the pores of
theskin anacrid liquid, which, though not venomous, as was formerly
supposed, is sufficiently irritating to affect delicate parts of the
skin of an animal that it touches. The flesh of the toad, so far
from being poisonous, is said to afford as wholesome nutriment as
that of the frog ; and at Paris the thighs of these animals are con-
stantly sold for the thighs of frogs. In Africa and America, the
larger species are habitually eaten by the negroes, and the flesh
has been compared to that of veal or chicken.

This disgusting reptile formerly obtained a place in our dispen-
satories. The old physicians employed it in a variety of phar-
maceutical preparations. It is said to have been first introduced
into medicine in consequence of a cure performed upon a dropsical
person, to whom powdered toads were given in order to dispatch
him, but he voided a large quantity of urine after taking them,
and soon afterwards recovered. Hence the flesh dried and pow-
dered was considered diuretic and diaphoretic. This preparation
was likewise applied externally to the navel, to restrain. hemor-
rhages, particularly those from the uterus, It was prescribed living
as a topical application to cancerous ulcers, and in cases of cepha-
lalgia and epigastralgia. << Etsi,” says Schroeder, “ animal sit
deterrimum, venenosum, ac abominabile, attamen non effugit
usum medicum, Interne pulvere ejus hydropicorum aquas per
urinam educi, desperatus quidam expertus est hydropicus, qui
preter spem attentatee necis sanitatem illo acquisivit. Extrinsecus
impositur, parte qua venter est, anthracibus ad eliciendum venenum.
Ingreditur itidem amuleta, aéri contagioso arcendo dicata ; heemor-
rhagiam narium, certo experimento sistit. Idem et pulvis
cinis prestare perhibetur. Renibus impositus aquam inter cutem

MEGALOPS THRISSA. bb

per urinam pellere dicitur, umbilico alligatus, fluxus hystericos
retrahit et inhibet. Plantis pedum appositus capitis, cordisque
morbis, phrenitidi, febribusque succurrere statuitur.” It is almost
unnecessary to observe that these observations are entirely
visionary and hypothetical, and the Toad and its preparations, have
long since been banished from medical practice.

Crass IV.—PISCES. (fshes.)

Vertebrated animals, with cold red blood, respiring
by gills or branchie, and moving in the water by the

aid of fins.

MEGALOPS ‘THRISSA.
Poisonous Sprat.

PL. XX.

Order ABDOMINALES. Jin. MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMI-
NALEs. Family CLurEx&, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Eyes very large; rays twenty-four or
more on the branchial membrane; last ray of the
dorsal fin terminating in a long filament.

Spec. Cuar. Head small, compressed, and without
scales ; lower jaw bent upwards, and terminating in
a point, which fills the notch in the upper; body
blueish silvery, dusky on the back ; pectoral fins red ;
last ray of the dorsal fin much elongated.

Clupea Thrissa ; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p. 1406; Osbeck, Reiss. p. 336; Bloch,
Ichthyologie, xii. p. 27, t.404. Clupea minor; Brown, Jam. p.443. Caillen-
Tassart ; Duhamel, Trait. de Pech. ii. p. 548, t. 31, f, 3. Borstenflosse; Muti,
L.S. T. iv, p. 874, Alosa argenteo-cerulea pinnula candata recta. Savalle ;

Plumier, MSS.
Oo

122 MEGALOPS THRISSA.

NEARLY all the species belonging to this class of animals are used
as food, and many of them afford a sufficiently nutritive and
wholesome aliment. But there are some fishes, especially
among those inhabiting the tropical seas, which, though eaten
with perfect safety at times, are occasionally poisonous. These
are the Carribean, or Yellow-bill Sprat, the Barracuda, Sun-
fish, and a few more; none of which appear to frequent the British
shores. Of all these the most active and dangerous is the Sprat
here represented, which has in several instances been known to
destroy life in the space of half an hour. It isa small fish, seldom
exceeding twelve inches in length. The head is small, compressed,
and without scales ; the mouth is small; the lower jaw is slightly
bent upwards, terminating in a point, which fills up a cavity in the
upper ; there are no teeth, but the tongue is hard, and the palate
is lined with a rough membrane. The eyes are almost vertical,
and very large; the pupil is black, and inclosed by a silvery iris.
The general form of the body, which is compressed vertically,
resembles pretty nearly that of the common herring; the abdomen
is arched and serrated beneath. The scales are broad, thin, im-
bricated, and closely attached to the skin. The colour is blueish,
silvery, with a dusky tinge on the back ; the belly is white, the head
yellowish, and a pale yellow line runs along the sides from the gills
to the tail. The dorsal fin is slightly scaled at the base, and ter-
minated behind or at the shallowest part, by a very long single ray,
extending nearly as far as the base of the tail, which is strongly
forked. According to Bloch, the pectoral fin has thirteen rays,
the ventral eight, the anal and tail twenty-four each, the dorsal
sixteen ; all the fins are blueish, except the pectoral, which are red.

This species is a native of the Indian and American seas. Osbeck
and Ellis speak of it as occurring in China; Plumier observed it
at the Antilles, where it is called savalle; Brown found it at
Jamaica; and Dr. Blagden at Carolina. During the spawning
season, which takes place in April and May, it ascends the rivers,
and deposits its eggs among reeds and aquatic plants.

The symptoms which usually ensue from eating the poisonous
Sprat are nausea, flushings in the face, vertigo, violent heat and
itching over the whole body, sometimes accompanied by a papular

MEGALOPS THRISSA. 123

eruption or efflorescence on the skin, violent pain in the stomach,
tenesmus, great acceleration of pulse, cold sweats, insensibility,
convulsions, and death. In some cases, where the fish does not
prove immediately fatal, the whole surface of the body. acquires a
deep yellow hue, as in jaundice, and the urine is likewise highly
tinged of the same colour.

The cause of this deleterious quality in fish is ‘still involved in
considerable obscurity. By some the poisonous principle has been
ascribed to copper, with which the fish becomes impregnated from
the copper bottoms of ships. It has, however, been remarked that
copper does not cause the symptoms described above, and on che-
mical examination no traces of copper can be detected in any part -
of the poisonous fish. Dr. Burrows, the author of a very excellent
paper on this subject in the London Medical Repository, vol. iii.
p. 445, is inclined to think that the poisonous quality of fish is not
confined to any particular part of the animal. He observes that
it does not exist in the skin, or in the stomach and intestinal
canal, or in the liver and gall-bladder exclusively, although there
is no doubt that persons have been poisoned from eating these
various parts. It pervades the whole fish ; and this is abundantly
proved by the statements of Dr. Chisholm, and the numerous
authors adduced by him. The theory which ascribes the effects
of poisonous fishes on the human system to changes induced
by the substances on which they feed (the Meduse and Holo-
thuric) is well known to be unfounded. Many facts have
been adduced by Koempfer, Clarke, Forster, Thomas, Chisholm,
and others, to show that the Yellow-bill Sprat, Barracuda,
and other poisonous fishes, when eaten fresh or having no
marks of disease, were perfectly harmless, and that the same fish,
whether fresh or salted, on the following day was highly poisonous.
Hence Dr. Burrows concludes that the poisonous quality is occa-
sioned by some morbid change in the system of the fish, and that
this quality is a poison swi generis, always more active after the vita]
powers cease.

With respect to the ¢reatment of poisoning with fish, the primary
object is to remove the noxious matter from the stomach. This
is to be accomplished by emetics, administered in the usual way,
or by the use of the stomach-pump. The best emetic is the sul-

124 SPHYRENA BARRACUDA.

phate of zinc, in the dose of one scruple or half a drachm, which
may be repeated at proper intervals, and the vomiting encouraged
by copious draughts of mild diluent liquors. In some cases purga-
tives may be given with advantage. If, howeyer, severe vomiting
or diarrhea take place spontaneously it may sometimes be advisa-
ble to check it by opium. In order to counteract the deleterious
effects that arise from fish-poison, wine, spirituous liquors, capsi-
cum, and other powerful stimulants have been recommended. The
muriate of soda, alkaline salts, lime-juice, and some other substances
have also been employed as antidotes; but sugar, in the form of
simple syrup, appears to be the only remedy deserving of credit,
The surest criterion hitherto discovered for detecting the poison
is to give a portion of the liver or entrails to some inferior animal,
such as a dog, a cat, or a duck, and to ascertain its effect on them
before’making use of the fish.

XXI.
SPHYRASNA BARRACUDA.

The Barracuda, or Barracuda Pike.

Order ABDOMINALES AcaNTHoPTERYGI, Lin- Family
PercoipEs, Cuwv.

Gen. Cuar. Body elongated; snout pointed; jaws
much cleft ; under jaw longest, with a row of conical
teeth, of which the two anterior are largest ; ixtermaa-
elartes with two strong teeth before, followed by a row
of smaller ones, and a row of strong ones on each

epalate bone; cheeks and operculi scaly.

Spec. Cuar. Body deep blue above ; sides brownish ;
abdomen silvery white; tad forked.

Barracuda; Catesby, Carol, ii. f.1. Esox barracuda; Shaw, Zool. ¥. p. 105,
Sphyrene barracuda; Cuv, Hist, Nat. des Poiss, iii. p, 263, t. 66,

Saree PL Zi.

‘ ‘ \
LE aaa ra a
- Sapa aaanne

Drawn by Joffroy

Printed by Engeimann £& Co

1. Snhyrena barracida.. \ 2. Actiprenser Hitsoa.

SPHYRZNA BARRACUDA. 125

Tue Barracuda is another fish, nearly allied in habit to the com-
mon Pike, but of a more slender form, which it is proper to notice
on account of its great activity as a poison. It inhabits the tropical
seas, and is found in great abundance about the West India Islands,
and on the coast of Brazil. According to Catesby, its usual length
is from six to eight feet. The head is narrow, oblong, flattened
horizontally and compressed on the sides ; the eyes are large; the
mouth very wide, with the under jaw longer than the upper, which
is armed with four large teeth placed at the fore part of the jaw,
with a row of ten smaller ones next the head ; the upper jaw is also
furnished with several large curved teeth. The body is long, and
covered with large scales; the back is of a deep blue colour, the
sides pale brown, and the abdomen silvery white. The dorsal fins
are two in number; the first, which is six-rayed, situated on the
middle of the back, and the second towards the tail, opposite the
anal fin. The belly is broad, laterally compressed, and the tail
pretty deeply forked.

The Barracuda is said to be an exceedingly strong, fierce, and
dangerous animal, swimming with great celerity, and preying on
the smaller fishes. It is even said to attack bathers, and that far
from being intimidated by noise or splashing in the water, it is
thereby excited to greater fury against its victims. The flesh, which
is rank and unpalatable, produces, when eaten, violent tremblings,
nausea, vomiting, pains in the joints, falling off of the nails and
hair, convulsions, and even death; yet in spite of these noxious
qualities, we are assured by Catesby that the hungry Bahamans
frequently make their repast of its unwholesome carcase.

The colour of the teeth is said to be the best test of the goodness
of the fish, When the teeth are black or discoloured no doubt can
remain of its poisonous property ; and it is generally received as
a fact, that when any of this kind of fish have proved poisonous,
they have been found with black or discoloured teeth ; and, on the
contrary, that there has seldom been an instance of the white
teethed Barracuda being unwholesome.

$26 TEFRAODON OCELLATUS.-

XXII.
TETRAODON OCELLATUS.
Ocellated Sun-fish.

Order Brancutiostect, Lin. Piecrocnatur. Cuv.
Family GyMNopontTeEs, Cuv.

Gen. Cuar. Jaws divided in the middle by a suture in
such a manner as to present the appearance of four
teeth, two above and two below ; skin furnished with
small spines ; body capable of inflation.

Spec. Cuar. Body dull green above, whitish beneath,
with a black crescent over the shoulders and spot on
the back, both edged with yellow.

Piscis venenosus de Opblaser dictus; Kampfer, Amen. p, 883. Tetrodon fascia
semilunari in dorso; Bloch, Ichthyol. v. t. 145, Tetrodonocellatus; Syst. Nat.
Gmetin, iii. p. 1445.

Herrison-croissant, Fr.; Geflleckter Stachelbauch, Ger.; Kai-po-y, Chin.;
Furube, Jap.

ed

Tue Tetraodon Ocellatus, a fish which is common in the Indian
Seas, is known to possess very deleterious properties. It is a dimi-
nutive species, varying in length from four to six inches. The head
is small and somewhat compressed laterally ; the opening of the
mouth is round ; the jaws bony, and furnished at the tip with two
broad flattish teeth. The body is thick, ovate, contracting suddenly
towards the tail, and thickly studded beneath with short spines.
The prevailing colour is deep green above, gradually growing paler
on the sides and abdomen, which is whitish. The eyes are middle-
sized, and placed high and rather distant from the mouth. Across

Tad Weep

aun. by Jofirou Engelmann & Co lath

1. Velraedon ccellalics 2 Sena ctficinalis

London Published by John ¥ 2, Ame }, 183)

TETRAODON SUCELERATUS. 137

the middle of the back, reaching to each pectoral fin, is a broad
black crescent, bordered with yellow, and pointing backwards. At
the base of the dorsal fin is a round black spot surrounded with
yellow. There is noventral fin. The tail issmall and slightly rounded.
Like the other species of this genus the ocellated Tetraodon pos-
sesses the singular power of inflating its abdominal cavity at plea-
sure. This inflation is produced by air sent from the gills into a
sac formed of a duplicature of the peritoneum, which aids the
animal in the water, and brings the organs of defence into a more
favourable position for resistance,

The Ocellated Sun-fish abounds on the coasts of China and
Japan. It is accounted very delicious by the inhabitants of the
latter country, but is known to be so poisonous that the military
are forbidden, by a royal edict, from eating it. If properly cleaned
before dressing, and eaten as soon as caught, it may be partaken of
without much danger. Rumphius says its poisonous effects may
be removed by the timely administration of a vegetable which he
calls rex amaroris.

TETRAODON SCELERATUS.— Nowious Sunfish.

Spec. Cuar. Head very large; length two feet or more.

‘Vetrodon sceleratus; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, i. p. 1444; Forster, Voy. 1. p. 643.

ANoTHER fish of the same genus, the Tetraodon sceleratus, or
Noxious Sun-fish, is said to produce very dangerous symptoms
when taken as food. It is a native of the American and Pacific
Oceans, and is mentioned by Kempfer as occurring at Japan,
where it is sometimes employed as a means of committing suicide,
“People,” says he, “that by some long and tedious sickness are
grown weary of their lives, or are otherwise under miserable cir-
cumstances, frequently choose this poisonous fish instead of a knife
or halter to make away with themselves. A neighbour of my ser-
vant, at Nagaski, being so strongly infected with a certain disease
that_his nose was ready to drop off, resolved to take this meal, in

128 ACIPENSER HUSO.

order to get rid at once of his life and his distemper. Accordingly
he bought a good quantity of this poisonous fish, cut it in pieces,
and boiled it ; and in order, as he thought, to make the poison still
stronger, he took soot from the thatch and roof of his house and
mixed it with the rest, After dinner he laid himself down to die,
and soon falling mortally sick, he brought up, not only the poison
he had taken, but a large quantity of viscid matter, probably not the
least cause of his distemper, and by this means found life and
health in what he sought for death, for he recovered and was well
afterwards.”

Fish, considered as an article of food, is regarded as light and
easily digested, and therefore well suited to the young, the weak, and
the sedentary. Experience, however, shews that it affords a less
nourishing aliment than flesh, and is less easy of digestion and
assimilation. In some constitutions fish of the most wholesome
kind, such as salmon and turbot, disagrees with the stomach, pro-
ducing nausea, vomiting, pain in the bowels, febricula, and an erup-
tion on the skin resembling the nettle-rash. The conger-eel,
(Murcena conger L.) the bonito, (Scomber pelamis,) the file-fish,
(Balistes monoceros,) the porcupine diodon (Diodon hysterix), the
rose-red sparus (Sparus pagurus,) and some others, are more espe-
cially liable to prove deleterious, and have been known, in many
instances, to cause very violent symptoms, and even death.

ACIPENSER HUSO,
The Great, or Isinglass Sturgeon.
Pi. XXI.

Order Cuonpropterycu, Lin. Sruriones, Cwv.

Gen. Cuar. Body elongated, and furnished, as well as
the head, with rows of bony prominences; mouth
placed under the snout, cylindrical, retractile, and
without teeth ; cirri four, beneath the snout.

ACIPENSER HUSO. 129

Srec. Cuar. Body dusky blueish above; szdes blueish ;
abdomen slightly silvery, white; fins greyish ; cirre
short ; sken rather smooth ; lateral tubercles somewhat
obliterated.

AvTaxasos: lian, lib. 14, eap.23, 26. Atillus; Plin. Hist. Nat.1. 9, ¢.15 3; Belon,
Aquat, 102. Atilus Pado; Rondel. de Pisc.ii p. 173, Huso; Adrov. de Pisce.
p.504, Huso Germanorum ; Willughd. Ichthy. p. 243, t.p.7,£.1,2; Rati, Syn.
p. 113. Acipenser tuberculis carens; Artedi, Syn. p. 92. Acipenser Huso;
Syst. Nat. Gmelin, i. p.1487; Bloch, Entomol. iv. p. 86, t. 129; Shaw, Zool.
vy. t, 159.

Le grand Esturgeon, Fr-; Adello, It.; Der Hausen, Ger.; Beluga, Russ.

_—_——_—_.

Tue Isinglass Sturgeon is one of the largest of the cartilaginous
fishes, growing to the length of twenty or twenty-five feet. In its
general form it resembles the common Sturgeon, from which it
principally differs in colour, and in having the tubercles on the back
and sides much less protuberant. It inhabits the Northern, Caspian,
and Mediterranean Seas, ascending the larger rivers and lakes, and
returning to the sea again in autumn, after having deposited its
spawn. It is taken in the greatest abundance in the Wolga and
the Danube.

The body is long, slender, pentagonal, gradually tapering towards
the tail, and covered throughout the whole length by five rows of bony
tubercles, rounded at the base, radiated, and of a conical form: of
these tubercles one row is situated on the back, and two rows on
each side. In aged individuals these tubercles along the sides are
smaller, and those on the sides sometimes altogether wanting.
The head is large and thick, sloping on each side, and covered
with bony plates ; the snout is long, obtuse, and furnished be-
neath, before the mouth, with four worm-shaped beards or cirri,
the mouth is placed beneath the upper part of the head, and con-
sists of an oval orifice, as in the common sturgeon, entirely
destitute of teeth, but much larger, and furnished with very thick
crescent-shaped lips. The gill-cover, on each side is composed of
a smooth simple roundish plate. The skin is smooth and viscid.
The pectoral fins are oval; the dorsal fin large, and situated very

130 ACIPENSER HUSO,

near the tail; the ventral and anal fins are also small; the tail is
slightly forked, the upper lobe being elongated by a bony ridge
and extending far beyond the lower. The prevailing colour is
brown or dark blueish above without spots, and silvery white
beneath.

It is from the sound or air bladder of this and other species of
the Sturgeon that the well known substance, called isinglass, is
prepared. The Acipenser huso affords the best, but the sounds of
all fresh water fish yield more or less fine isinglass, particularly the
smaller sorts, found in prodigious quantities in the Caspian Sea,
in the Wolga, Danube, Yaik, Don, and even as far north as
Siberia. The sounds of the cod-fish, hake, and ling, are frequently
employed as a substitute for those of the sturgeon. From the
sounds of some of the species of the perch an isinglass is prepared,
little inferior to that which is obtained from the air-bag of the
sturgeon. An inferior kind is manufactured from the bones, fins,
and useless parts of fishes. These materials are boiled in water,
the fluid skimmed and filtered, and afterwards concentrated, until
it readily gelatinizes on cooling. The method of making isinglass
was longa secret in the hands of the Russians, but it has been
discovered, and a full account of it published by Humphrey Jack-
son, Esq-, in the 63rd yol. of the Philosophical Transactions.

The production of isinglass requires no artificial heat, neither
is the matter dissolyed for this purpose, as its fibrous texture
would be destroyed by solution, and the mass would become brittle
in drying, like glue. It differs from the latter by its fibrous tex-
ture, and ‘in being colourless and more transparent. “‘ If,” says
Mr. Jackson, “ what is commercially termed long or short stapled
isinglass be steeped a few hours in cold water, the entwisted mem-
branes will expand and re-assume their original beautiful hue, and,
by a dexterous address, may be made perfectly unfolded. By this
simple operation we find that isinglass is nothing more than cer-
tain membranous parts of fishes, divested of their native mucosity,
rolled and twisted into various forms, and dried in the open air.
The sounds or air-bladders of fresh water fish in general are pre-
ferred for this purpose, as being the most transparent, flexible,
delicate substances. These constitute the finest sorts of isinglass ;

ACIPENSER HUSO. 131

those called look and ordinary staple are made of the intestines,
and probably of the peritoneum, of the fish. The sounds which
yield the finer isinglass consist of parallel fibres, and are easily rent
longitudinally ; but the ordinary sorts are found composed of
double membranes, whose fibres cross each other obliquely, re-
sembling the coats of a bladder. '

“Tsinglass receives its shape in the following manner: the
sounds are taken from the fish while it is fresh, slit open, well
washed, divested of every thin membrane which envelopes the
sound, and then exposed to stiffen a little in the air. In this
state they are formed into rolls, about the thickness of a finger,
and in length according to the intended size of the staple; a thin
membrane is generally selected for the centre of the roll, round
which the rest are folded alternately, and about half an inch of
each extremity of the roll is turned inwards. Having thus settled
the proper dimentions, the two ends of what is called the short
staple are pinned together with a small wooden peg; the middle
of the roll is then pressed a little downwards, which gives it the
resemblance of a heart, and thus it is laid on boards, or hung up in
the air to dry. The sounds which compose the long staple are
larger than the former, but the middle part of the roll is bent more
considerably downwards, and, in order to preserve the shape of the
three obtuse angles thus formed, a piece of round stick is fastened
in each angle with small wooden pegs, in the same manner as the
ends. It this state it is permitted to dry long enough to retain
its form, when the pegs and sticks are taken out, and the drying
completed. Lastly, the pieces of isinglass are joined together in
rows, by running packthread through the peg holes, for the con-
venience of package and exportation.

« The membranes of the look sort being thick and refractory
will not admit of the same formation, and therefore the pieces,
after their sides are folded inwardly, are bent in the centre, in
such manner that the opposite sides resemble the cover of a book,
whence its name; a peg, run across the middle, fastens the sides
together, and thus it is dried like the former. The cake isinglass
is formed of the bits and fragments of the staple sorts, put into a

32 ACIPENSER HUSO,

flat metal pan, with a very little water, and heated just enough to
make the parts cohere, when itis dried ; but this is of little value.”

The manufacture of isinglass is carried on during summer only,
as frost is said to impair its qualities. It is principally imported
from St. Petersburgh, in bales. Four sorts are known in com-
merce, viz. dong staple, short staple, book, and leaf. The finest
is that which has the longest staple ; it is the thinest, whitest, and
most transparent. In London the staple is generally picked in
shreds, in which state it is sold; but as it is frequently adulterated
with pieces of bladder, and the dried skins of soles, it should
always be purchased in the staple. The fish-skin and pieces of
bladder may easily be detected by¢their insolubility in hot water.

Tsinglass is of a fibrous texture, semi-transparent, and nearly
colourless; its taste is insipid, and it has no smell. It consists of
nearly pure gelatin, and is therefore almost entirely soluble in
boiling water, forminga pretty firm gelatinous, somewhat opalescent
mass. It is soluble in the acids and pure alkalies, but is precipi-
tated from its solutions by infusions and decoctions of astringent
vegetables, the tannin of which forms with it an insoluble com-
pound. The metals in their pure state have no action upon
isinglass, but several of the metalic salts precipitate it from its
solutions. Alcohol does not dissolve isinglass, but separates it
from water, when added to its solution.

Mepicau Properties AND Usrs.—Isinglass dissolved in water
or in milk, is sometimes used in medicine as a demulcent, and
when rendered grateful by the addition of a little sugar and lemon
juice, as a mild nutritive jelly, well adapted to the sick and con-
valescent. A solution of this substance in water, with a very
small proportion of tincture of benzoin, or of tolu, spread on
black silk, is the court-plaister of the shops. But the greatest
quantities of isinglass are. consumed by wine-merchants and
brewers, for fining beer and vinous liquors.

ACIPENSER RUTHENUS. 133

ACIPENSER RUTHENUS.

The Little Sturgeon or Sterlet.

Spec. Cuar. Body elongated, brownish ; sides spotted
with pale red; three rows of bony plates above; the
lateral ones carinated and numerous, and those of the

belly flat.

Acipenser ex cinereo flavo et rosaceo vari; Klein, Misc. Pisc.iv. p.13, n. 4, t.1.
Acipenser Ruthenus; Syst. Nat, Gmelin, i. p. 1485; Wulf. Ichth. p. 17; Bloch,
Ichth. iii. p. 88, t. 89; Shaw, Zool. v. p. 376, t. 160.

Le Sterlet, Fr.; Stertet, Ger.et Swed.; Sewruga Sterljed, Russ.

THE Sterlet is the smallest species of Sturgeon hitherto discovered,
rarely exceeding three feet in length. It is principally found in
the Danube and other rivers which run into the Black and Caspian
Sea, sometimes in the Baltic, and also, it is said, in some of the
large lakes of Sweden and Pomerania. The head of this species is
longer in proportion than in other sturgeons, the snout straight and
subulate ; the body rather more slender, and the bony shields with
which the upper parts are covered less protuberant, and of a thinner
substance. The prevailing colour above is brownish; whitish, and
marked with rose-coloured spots, beneath. The rows of tubercles
are of a pale yellow colour; the skin is rough and scaly; the ven-
tral and anal fins are of a deep rose-colour, the rest blueish-
brown.

The Sterlet, like the rest of the genus, ascends the the rivers in
the northern seas, in great numbers, to deposit its spawn, in the
months of May and June. It is frequently taken for the sake of
the swimming-bladder, which affords a very fine isinglass, but prin-
cipally for its flesh, which is highly prized as an article of food, and

134 ACIPENSER STURIO.

is even considered as one of the most delicate of fishes. Sterlet soup is
Said to have formed one of the favorite luxuries of the famous epi-
cure Prince Potemkin, of Russia, who in seasons when the fish
was remarkably dear, was content to purchase jt at a price so extra-
vagant that a single tureen cost him the enormous sum of three
hundred rubles. In Russia, the Sterlet makes its appearance
chiefly at tables of the nobility, and the caviar prepared from its
roe is confined almost exclusively to the use of the royal table.

ACIPENSER STURIO.— The Common Sturgeon.

Spec. Cuar. Body long, pentagonal, cinereous, with
dusky variegations, and covered with five rows of
bony tubercles, one on the back and two on each side;
abdomen whitish ; pectoral fins oval; dorsal fin near
the tail; ¢ae bifurcated, the upper lobe much longer
than the under.

Acipenser; Plin. Hist. Nat. 1.9. c. 17, 1.32, c¢.11. Acipenser Sturio; Syst. Nat,
Gmelin, i. p. 1483; Bloch, Ichth. iii. p. 80, t. 88; Shaw, Zool. y. p. 371, t.159.
Esturgeon, Fr.; Sturione, It.; Der Stoer, Ger.

Tue Sturgeon is a large fish, growing to the length of eighteen or
twenty feet. It is sometimes taken in the Thames; and is found
in all the European and American Seas, whence it ascends the
larger rivers and lakes connected with them in April and May, to
deposit its spawn, and returns to the sea again in autumn. The
Sturgeon is admired for the delicacy and firmness of its flesh, which
is white, and when roasted is said to resemble veal. Of the roe,
properly salted and dried, is prepared the substance called caviar,
and the sound affords an inferior sort of isinglass.

ACIPENSER STELLATUS. 135

ACIPENSER STELLATUS.—Stellated Sturgeon.

Spec. Cuar. Body dusky brown, spotted with white on
the lower part of the sides; abdomen white; snout
somewhat spathulate, recurved ; cz772 near the mouth;
ips entire.

Acipenser Kostar; Gmelin, H. iii. p. 238; Acipenser stellatus; Syst. Nat. Gmelin,
i. p. 1486.

C.osELy allied to the Sterlet, but distinguished from it by its
more slender form, its longer fins, its subtetragonal head, and by
having the sides marked with white spots. It is found in the Cas-
pian sea, from which it migrates in large shoals into the rivers, and
it is alsocommon in the Danube. Length from four to five
feet.

136 SEPIA OFFICINALIS,

INVERTEBRATA.

Animals destitute of a vertebral column and bony
skeleton, for the protection of the brain and spinal
marrow.

Crass V.i—MOLLUSCA.

Invertebral, soft, inarticulated animals, furnished with
a more or less prominent head at their anterior part.

SEPIA OFFICINALIS.

Officinal Cuttle.
Pi. XXII.

Class VermMEs, Lin. CrpHatopopa, Cu. Order
CrePHALoPpopDA, Lam.

Gen. Cuar. Body fleshy, depressed, contained in a sac,
which is obtuse behind, and furnished on each side
throughout its whole length with a narrow back,
strengthened by a calcareous plate, lodged ina peculiar
cavity ; mouth terminal, surrounded with eight arms,
furnished with pedunculated suckers having their
margins surrounded by a corneous ring.

Spec. Cuar.—Body smooth, whitish, with purple spots;
arms pedunculated, nearly as long as the body ; dorsal
plate elliptical.

Sepia officinalis; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p.3149; Lamarck, Anim. sans Verteb. vii.
p. 668; Encyl, Method. t. 76, f. 5, 6,7; Pennant, Br. Zool, iv. p.117.

SEPIA OFFICINALIS. 187

Tue Officinal Cuttle, or Cuttle-fish as it is improperly called, is
found in the Mediterranean and European seas. It is the species
which furnishes the cuttle-bone of the shops. The body or tunic
is destitute of any appendages, smooth, oval, fleshy, and a foot or
rather more in length. On the summit of the head there is a flat-
tened disc, in the centre of which is seated the mouth. Round the
margin of this oval disc are placed the arms or tentacula, which are
eight in number, of a conical shape, and beset on their central
aspect with numerous suckers, by which the animal is enabled to
fix itself to different substances, and to seize its prey. Between this
circle of arms, and the tunic or sac, there are situated two pedun-
culated organs, considerably longer than the body, terminating ina
broad oblong expansion also coyered with suckers. These pedun-
culated bodies have generally been regarded as feet, and like the
tentacula, are capable of being moved, at the will of the animal, in
every direction, and are the organs by which progressive motion is
performed. In the space between the head and tunic in front,
there is an opening with a projecting aperture, which communicates
with the cavity of the sac, and serves to convey water to the gills and
to carry off the different secreted matters. The skin of the tunic is
smooth, of a lead grey colour, and variegated with purple spots.
The eyes are large, and seated one on each side of the head. The
sac is furnished on each side with a narrow fin, and strengthened
on the back by a calcareous plate, lodged in a peculiar cavity. This
plate has long been known under the name of cuttle-fish bone. It
is of an oval shape, convex on both sides, and thickest in the mid-
dle. According to Dr. Fleming, it consists of three central lamine,
arranged parallel to one another. The officinal cuttle inhabits the
British seas; and although seldom taken, the bone is frequently
cast ashore on different parts of the coast.

PROPERTIES AND Uses.—The term bone has been improperly
applied to the dorsal plate of the Cuttle; for, according to the
experiments of Mr. Hatchett, its composition is exactly similar to
shell, and consists of various membranes hardened by carbonate of
lime, without the smallest portion of phosphate. It was formerly
much prized as an absorbent for correcting acidities in the digestive
organs, and is still used as a dentifrice; but it is principally sought

P

138 OSTREA EDULIS.

after for the purpose of polishing the softer metals. The black
fluid which some of the species of this tribe of animals secrete,
when dried, is used as a pigment, and is said to form the basis of
China ink.

Many of the Sepiaceze were formerly used as food ; and Aristotle
informs us that they were considered in the best condition for the
table when nearly ready for spawning. Among the ancients, Di-
phelus, Paulus Aégineta, and Galen, observed that they were
esteemed highly nutritious and aphrodisiac ; and A‘tius recom-
mended them to those who were weak in the palestra, The modern
Greeks and Romans are said to use them still as articles of food,
and consider the eggs as a great delicacy.

Cuiass VI—CONCHIFERA.
(Mollusca Acephala, Cuv.)

Animals soft, inarticulated, destitute of head or eyes,
and always fixed in-a bivalve shell; branchiz exter-
nal; circulation simple ; heart unilocular.

OSTREA EDULIS.
The common Oyster.

Order Testacea, Lin. Monomyarra. Family OstRra-
cEA, Lam.

Gen. Cuar. Shell adhering, inequivalve, irregular ;
upper valve advancing as the animal increases in age;
hinge toothless; ligament attached to the internal
cavity ; one muscular impression on each valve.

Spec. Cuar. Shell suborbicular, rugged, with transverse
membranaceous folds ; wpper valve flat.

OSTREA EDULIS. 139

Ostrea edulis; Lister, Hist. Conch. t.193-4; Da Costa, Brit. Conch. t. M1, £.6;
Lin. Trans. vi. t. 18, £.9,10; Pennant, Br. Zool, iv. 225; Syst. Nat. Gmel.
p. 3334; Brown, Illust.t. 31, f. 19.

Tue shell of the common Oyster is more or less orbicular, but
subject to considerable variation in size and form. It is composed
of two unequal valves, one of which is smaller, flat, and entire ;
the other, adhering to marine bodies, is larger and convex. The
valves are rough externally, of a dull brown colour, often dis-
torted, plicated at the edges, and of a pearly white within. There
are no teeth in the hinge, but an elastic ligament placed in an
oblong furrow under the beak.

The Oyster inhabits the European and Indian Oceans. It is
found in great abundance on many of the British shores, which
were famed from the earliest times for producing the best Oysters,
and from whence they were sent in quantities to supply the stews
of ancient Rome. Thus Juvenal, in satirizing a Roman epicure,
says ;—

Circeis nata forent, an

Lucrinum ad saxum, Rutupinove edita fundo,
Ostrea, callebat primo deprendere morsu.

Colchester and Melton are the places most celebrated for oysters,
and, when taken, they are generally laid down near the shore in
layers, and fed before being brought to market. At present the best
Oysters on the British shores are said to be found at Purfleet, and
the worst near Liverpool.

Mepica Usrs.—Oyster-shells have long been admitted into the
pharmacopeeia, on the supposition that they afford a variety of carbo-
nate of lime, more free from gritty particles and purer than prepared
chalk. They consist of alternate layers of carbonate of lime and a
portion of animal matter, probably coagulated albumen. Oyster-
shells are employed as antacids ; but they do not seem to possess
those virtues in any greater degree than carefully prepared chalk.
The Oyster, particularly in its raw state, is wholesome and nutri-
tious, and is frequently taken as a light restorative aliment by the
feeble and consumptive. The cockle, the mussel, and the snail,
are similar in alimentary properties to the Oyster, though greatly

140 HIRUDO MEDICINALIS.

inferior in delicacy and flavour. The mussel, and even the Oyster,
in some constitutions, has occasioned the same symptoms as those
arising from fish poison. In such cases, emetics, cathartics, par-
ticularly castor oil, the vegetable acids properly diluted, and cordials,
are the best remedies.

Orr. Prep.—Teste preparate, L.

Crass VII—ANNELIDES.

Body soft, more or less elongated, naked or inclosed
in a tube, and divided into a number of segments ; blood

red.

XXIII.
HIRUDO MEDICINALIS.
Medicinal Leech.

Order CrypTosrancuia, Cuv. Apropes, Lam.

Gen. Cuar. Body oblong, slightly depressed, composed
of numerous contractile segments, and with the pos-
terior extremity terminated with a broad prehensile
disc ; mouth naked, dilatable, armed interiorly with
three teeth ; eyes none; skin subcoriaceous.

Srec. Cuar. Body elongated, blackish, with six longi-
tudinal yellow lines, two of which are lateral and inter-
rupted by a series of longish black spots ; abdomen
greenish olive, clouded with black.

Hirudo major et varia; Gesner, Pisc. t. 425. Hirudo medicinalis; Syst. Nat. Gme-
fin, i. p. 3095; Faun. Suec. 2079; Muller, Hist. Verm. p.19, t.2, f. 53
Bergman, Act. Holm. an. 1757, p. 308, t. 6, f.1, 2; Shaw, Nat. Miscell. vi,t.
218; Johns. Treat. p. 30.

Sang Sue, Fr.; Sanguisuca; Magnaita, It.; Sanguijuela, Sp.; Blutiul; Zgle,
Ger.; Kheruheen, Arab.; Jone, Ind.

2

2

Engelmarar, KCo lth

/. Hirudoe Medicinatlis. | 2 Hirude PPCOVINCLAMLS |

3. Cey lon Leech.

HIRUDO MEDICINALIS. 141

Tuis small vermiform Annelide has a dark colour and forbidding
aspect, and inhabits the stagnant marshes and pools of fresh water
throughout Europe. The body is about three inches long, smooth,
tapering towards each extremity, composed of numerous rings
which are capable of being considerably lengthened or contracted
at pleasure. It is of a blackish colour above, with a slight
tinge of olive, and is marked by six yellow or buff-coloured
longitudinal lines, of which the two exterior ones on each side are
interrupted by a chain of longish black spots. The lower surface of
the animal is pale olive, variegated with large black or very dark
blue irregular spots, Both extremities of the animal are capable
of being dilated into a fleshy disc, by means of which it can affix
itself firmly to any smooth surface. The mouth is triangular,
placed in the centre of a circular or horse-shoe sucker, situated
under the head. The mouth is armed with three strong piercers,
improperly called teeth, of a rounded form, with sharp cutting edges.
They rest on small eminences, and are so placed with regard to
each other as to meet in a centre under equal angles. They are
confined in their relative situation by a strong circular ligament
which surrounds the oesophagus. The teeth of the Leech are power-
ful enough to penetrate not only through the human skin, but
also that of horses and cattle. According to Dr. Johnson the eyes
of the medicinal leech are two in number, disposed in the form of
a crescent on the pointed extremity at the back part of the head.—
Fig. A, represents the internal structure of the Leech, slightly mag-
nified ; a, the three piercers; J, the abdominal blood-vessel ; ¢,
the lateral vessels; d, the male organs of generation ; e, the testes;
J, the abdominal vesicles, lying on the surface of the several cells
or stomachs; g, the lateral vesicles secreting the unctuous fluid
for lubricating the surface ; B, shews the cocoons of the Leech of
their natural size; C, the same cut open ; D, the cocoon contain-
ing two young Leeches.

It was for a long time the received opinion that the Medicinal
Leech was viviparous, excluding its young, like the eel, completely
formed; and it is but lately that the contrary fact has been
ascertained. Mr. Christopher Hebb, an eminent surgeon in
Worcester appears to have been the first who notices distinctly

142 HIRUDO MEDICINALIS:

that the leech is oviparous. He says, “In the month of May I
have, from large leeches, seen protruding from the female organ of
generation, a white opake oval substance, having a considerable
quantity of mucus adhering to it, which I cannot conceive to be
excrementitious, but rather an ovum.” That this was the real fact
there can now be no doubt, since the observations of Mr. Hebb
have since been amply confirmed by M. Virey, author of a paper
in one of the early volumes of the Journal de Physique, and
by Dr. Noble, resident physician at Versailles. The ova or
rudiments of the future Leech, are imbedded in a_ gelatinous
mass, and contained in a bag of a spongy texture, somewhat
resembling in size and figure the cocoon of the silk-worm. The
ova are deposited on, or agglutinated to, aquatic plants, and are
hatched by the heat of the sun. M. Planchy, in a Memoir read
before the Society of Agriculture and the Arts, in the department
of the Seine, asserts that the existence of the cocoons of the Leech
has been for a long time known in the department of Finistere.
According to this gentleman, it is by means of these cocoons, the
leech-dealers of Bretagne, and particularly of Finistere, replenished
with Leeches the ponds destined to furnish the metropolis with a
great portion of the leeches there employed. About the month of
April or May, according to the nature of the season, they send out
labourers, provided with spades and baskets, to the ponds and
marshes, where they are known to exist in abundance. These
workmen then set about removing those portions of mud that
are known to contain cocoons, and which are afterwards depo-
sited in sheets of water previously prepared for their reception.
Here the young leeches are allowed to quit them, but are, after an
interval of six months, withdrawn, for the purpose of being con-
veyed to larger ponds. Horses and cows are then driven in to feed
on the margin of these ponds, with the view of affording the
leeches nourishment and accelerating their growth ; and in twelve
months from this period the leech-dealers begin to collect them for
medical use.

Leeches do not cast their skin ; but at certain times throw off a
tough slimy substance from their bodies, apparently the production
of disease. They swim in a serpentine direction, and at times with

HIRUDO MEDICINALIS. 143

considerable velocity. In winter they resort to deep water, or
bury themselves to a considerable depth in the mud leaving a small
aperture to their subterraneous habitation. Dr. J. R. Johnson,
of Bristol, who has written an excellent Treatise on the “ Medical
and Natural History of the Leech,” says they begin to make their
appearance in the water about the end of March or the beginning
of April. During sunny weather they may be seen very actively
swimming from place to place ; but should the weather prove cold
or cloudy they confine themselves to the mud. In rainy or windy
weather, when the water is agitated, they retire from sight. Just
before a thunder-storm, they commonly come up to the surface ;
and this the leech-gatherers find a good opportunity for collecting
them. Formerly Norfolk used to supply a great part of the leeches
which are brought to the London market, but at present they are
imported chiefly from Hamburgh, Bordeaux, and Lisbon. They
are caught in spring and autumn by people who wade into the
ponds and allow them to fasten on their legs; or by beating the
water with poles, which causes the leeches to rise to the surface,
when they are taken with the hand and put into bags. They are
best preserved in jars half filled with pure water, which must be
frequently renewed, and kept in a cool place. But previously
to placing the Leeches in this vessel they should be singly
examined. If, on being handled, they contract, and feel hard and
firm, it affords the best indication of their being healthy; but should
they feel flabby, or exhibit protuberances or white ulcerous specks
on their surface, they should be kept in jars by themselves.

The food of the Medicinal Leech appears to consist of the blood
of quadrupeds and other animals, which they casually meet with in
the water, and which, as they are capable of an abstinence of
several weeks or even months, they generally find in great abun-
dance. Should it prove otherwise, they are said to subsist by suck-
ing the fluids of fish, frogs, worms, and the larve of aquatic
insects.

Leeches appear to have been employed for blood-letting for more
than two thousand years. We learn from Galen, that the medical
utility of leeches was known to Hippocrates: in inflammation of
the liver, they were preferred by Aretceus to cupping-glasses ; and

144 HIRUDO MEDICINALIS.

they are made frequent mention of in the writings of Dioscorides,
Celsus, and Paulus A%gineta. Their medical application is
likewise described by Themison, who wrote before Celsus and
Galen, in the time of Augustus. He was in the habit of
applying a cupping-glass after the Leech had quitted its hold.
Pliny, who flourished during the reign of Tiberius, Vespatian, and
Titus, speaks of the advantages to be derived from the use of
Leeches in cases of gout, and warmly recommends their application,
in various diseases, to the hemorrhoidal veins. The Arabian phy-
sicians were well acquainted with the utility of Leeches; and
Rhazes, in particular, relates numerous cures which he effected
with their assistance. Aretceus recommends the use of Leeches in
angina and advises their application to the hips in satyriasis.
Orisbasius, who flourished about the year 330, wrote on the advan-
tage of extracting blood by Leeches, A®tius, who lived about the
year 445, in his treatise, ‘‘ De atra Bile sive Melancholia,” men-
tions the successful application of Leeches in inflammation and
obstruction of the liver, Paulus A%gineta, who flourished in the early
part of the seventh century, points out the method of curing pain
in the head, in fevers, by the application of Leeches to the occiput.
Arnoldus recommends their speedy application to the wounds
inflicted by a rabid animal; and Paracelus used to apply them in
cases of jaundice. By the chemical practitioners of medicine,
Leeches were not at all employed, because they were accustomed
to reprobate all evacuations of blood as useless and hurtful; even
Van Helmont would not suffer them to be applied to an hemor-
rhoidal swelling. The use of Leeches in the practice of physic
appears to have been revived by Senneretus, and Zacutus Lusitanus,
who, in nearly all diseases, recommends their application to the
vessels of the anus.

Mepicau Uses.—It would be an almost endless task to
enumerate the great variety of medical and surgical cases in which
leeches may be employed with advantage. It will be sufficient to
observe, indeed, that in all diseases, where the local abstraction of
blood is necessary, particularly in inflammatory affections, in
topical pains, and in the greater number of tumours, they are
preferable to cupping, which is attended with much pain and irri-

HIRUDO MEDICINALIS. 145

tation to the patient, especially when the operation is to be fre-
quently repeated. From the smallness and superficial nature of
their wound, the mildness and safety of their operation, and the
local nature of the depletion, they are in many inflammatory com-
plaints more convenient and efficacious than the lancet, and much
safer in their operation. They are most beneficially employed in
inflammations of the eye, the joints, and the testis; in hemor-
rhoidal tumors; in schirrous swellings of the breast; in buboes,
scrofulous and sympathetic, as well as venereal; in pneumonia,
hepatitis, angina, and every other case of increased vascular
action, in which it is essential to diminish the usual impetus of
the blood, as in apoplexy.

The best mode of applying leeches, is to take them out of the
water for some minutes before they are used, and to dry them well
with a very soft cloth, previously to their application. The part
should also be well washed with soap and water, and afterwards
with water alone, which will be more necessary should any lini-
ment or embrocation have been used. It is the common practice
to put as many of them as may be required into a small wine-glass,
and to invert it upon the part on which it is intended they shall
fix. When they cannot be easily made to bite, the part should be
first cooled with a cloth dipped in cold water, or it may be
moistened with a little blood, milk, or syrup. When it is wished
to apply them very exactly on a particular spot, it will be advis-
able to put them into a small glass tube, or large quill cut at both
ends, and apply the end at which the head of the animal lies to the
part, with the finger over the other end, as recommended by
Dr. A. T. Thompson, or to puncture the part with a lancet, As soon
as the leeches are gorged, they drop off spontaneously ; this usually
happens in ten or fifteen minutes; but they may be separated at
any time by sprinkling a little salt on the head. As salt, however,
frequently blisters the leech, it has been proposed to empty the
animal by regular and uniform pressure ; but though Dr. Johnston
considers this plan preferable to the other, he admits that it is
scarcely practicable without injuring the external structure of the
leech. He says, the best method, and that from which the
animal suffers the least inconvenience, is pouring a small quantity

146 HIRUDO MEDICINALIS.

of vinegar upon its head,* When the leeches fall off, the bleeding
may be promoted, if necessary, by fomenting the part, or by the
application of a large cataplasm of bread or linseed meal. The
number of leeches that ought to be applied will vary according to
circumstances. As very few leeches can draw more than half a
fluid ounce of blood, in the adult, it will be seldom worth while to
apply a smaller number than ten or twelye, and the quantity may
be increased under particular circumstances to two or three dozen
or more.
Dr. Davy, in his History of Ceylon, mentions a species of Leech
whose bite is frequently productive of dangerous and even fatal
consequences. It is a small animal, not more than half an inch in
length, of a brown colour, and marked with three longitudinal pale
yellow lines. It is peculiar to those parts of Ceylon which are sub-
ject to frequent showers, in mountainous situations. It delights in
damp shady places; in dry weather it retires into the close damp
jungle, and only in rainy weather quits its cover, and infests the
pathways and roads in prodigious numbers. ‘ Whether it is found
in any other country than Ceylon is not quite certain ; perhaps the
Leech of the mountainous parts of Sumatra, noticed in Mr.
Marsden’s history of that island, is similar to it; and it is not
unlikely that it occurs among the damp and wooded hills of the
south of India. Those who have had no experience of these ani-
mals—of their activity, keen appetite, and love of blood, can
have no idea of the kind and extent of annoyance they are
to travellers in the interior, of which they may be truly said to be
the plague. In rainy weather, it is almost shocking to see the legs
of men on a long march thickly beset with them, gorged with blood,
and the blood trickling down in streams. It might be supposed,
that there would be little difficulty in keeping them off; this is a
very mistaken notion, for they crowd to the attack and fasten on
quicker than they can be removed. I do not exaggerate when I
say, that I have occasionally seen at least fifty on a person at a
time. Their bites are much more troublesome than could be

* Treatise on the Medicinal Leech, by J. Rawlins Johnston, M. D. F.R.S.

HIRUDO TROCHTINA. 147

imagined, being very apt to fester and become sores; and in per-
sons of a bad habit of body, to degenerate into extensive ulcers,
that in too many instances have occasioncd the loss of limb, and
even of life.”

HIRUDO PROVINCIALIS.—Lisbon Leech.
Pi. XXIII.

Spec. Cuar. Body olive-green above, with yellow
spots ; a longitudinal band on the back, green ; sides
yellow ; abdomen green, with a broad black longitu-
dinal line on either side.

—__—_——

THis species inhabits Portugal, and is imported in great quantities
from Lisbon, to supply the London market.

HIRUDO TROCHTINA.—7Z7rout Leech.

Spec. CuHar. Body elongated, brown above, with
yellow rings surrounding the black spots ; a yellowish
line along the sides; abdomen greenish-yellow, with

black spots.— Johns. p. 32.

INHABITS rivers. It appears to be a new species, and was first
described by Dr. Johnston.

148 POTAMOBIUS FLUVIATILIS.

HIRUDO SANGUISUGA.—Aforse Leech.

Spec. Cuar. Body elongated, above brownish-green,
beneath greenish, cinereous, with black spots.

Hirudo vulgaris; Raii /ns. 3. Hirudo sanguisuga, Lin, Syst. Nat, p. 1070.

Tue Horse Leech inhabits Europe in ponds, and has been vul-
garly esteemed poisonous; it seems, however, only to make a
larger wound, and its bite is more apt to produce a degree of inflam-
mation which sometimes proves troublesome.

Crass VIII.—CRUSTACEA.

Invertebral animals, with a crustaceous or more or
less solid covering, provided with articulated members,
distinct organs of circulation, and respiring by
branchie. |

XXIV.
POTAMOBIUS FLUVIATILIS.
The Craw-fish.

Order Decaropa, Latr. Family Astacio, Leach.

Gen. CuHar. Abdomen with the sides of its segments
sharp; middle éaz/ lamella bipartite.

Spec. Cuar. Rostrum laterally dentated, the base with
one tooth on each side.

Asaxds; Arist. de Anim. iv. 2. Kapxivos wordutos; Diosc. ii. 12, Astacus;
Plinii, Hist. Cancer astacus; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p. 2963. Astacus;
Pennant, Brit. Zool. iv. p. 24, t. 16, f.1. Astacus fluviatilis; Fabr. Suppl.
Ent. Syst. 406; Latr. Gen. Crust. et Insect.i, 51. Potamobius fluviatilis ;
Leach, MSS,

L’Ecrivisse de Riviére,¥Fr ; Gambero, It.; Cangrejo derio, Sp.; Der Flusskrebs,
Ger,

PL. 24

Draum tu Jofroy Engelramn %O& uth

1. Potamobuts fhacriattiys B Onisctis Aselliis.
2 Armadillo vidgareis ye Scorpio cccrlanies

ms rn " 7 ww? a + 4
London: Published by John Wilson, June ], 183]

CANCER PAGURUS. 149

Tue Craw-fish inhabits the rivers of Europe, especially such as
have a clayey bottom. It is found in many of the rivers in
England, forming its holes in their banks. It sometimes, though
very rarely, attains the size of a moderately small lobster; more
frequently it scarcely exceeds four or five inches in length. The
rostrum is projecting and dentated laterally, with one large tooth
on each side at the base. The exterior antenne are simple and
longer than the body ; the thorax is smooth; as is also the back,
with two small spines on each side ; the abdomen is flat, with the
sides of its segments sharp. The large claws are beset with small
tubercles ; the two first pair of legs, as Mr. Pennant observes, are
clawed ; the two next subulated ; and the tail consists of five joints,
with the lamelle rounded. The colour, when alive, is olivaceous
or dark brown.

In the stomach of this species are found the concretions impro-
perly called crab’s eyes. They are generally about the size of peas,
whitish or reddish, roundish, of a laminated texture, inodorous and
insipid. They consist principally of carbonate of lime, with a small
portion of phosphate of lime and animal gelatin. Crab’s eyes are
said to be procured in the greatest abundance at Astracan, where
the Craw-fish are bruised with mallets, and allowed to putrify,
after which the stones are picked out and prepared for use by levi-
gation and washing.

MeEvicaL PropeRTIES AND Uses.—These concretions are medi-
cinally employed as an antacid in dyspepsia, diarrhoea, and other
diseases attended with acidity of the prime vie. They are rarely
met with genuine, being counterfeited with pipe-clay or chalk,
mixed with gelatin. The dose is from one to two drachms.

Orr. Prep.—Cancrorum lapilli preeparati.

CANCER PAGURUS.

The common Crab.

Gen. Cuar. External antenne short, inserted between
the inner canthus of the eye and the front; internal

150 ARMADILLO VULGARIS.

antenne placed in foveole in the middle of the cly peus ;
external double palpi with the second joint of the
internal footstalk notched at the apex ; shell emargi-
nate behind; ordzts behind with one fissure, and
externally with one fold; anterior pair of legs wn-
equal.

Spec. Cuar. Shell granulated with nine folds on each
side; front with three lobes; apew of the hand black.

Cancer pagurus; Lin. Syst. Gmelin, i. pars. 5, p.2973; Pennant, Brit. Zool, iv.t. 3.
Crabe pagure, Fr.; Il granciporro,It.; Der Faschenkrebs, Ger.

Tue common Crab is too well known to render any particular
description necessary. It is considered to be in season between
Christmas and Easter, and about harvest, being much esteemed as
an article of food. During the summer months it occurs in great
abundance on all our rocky coasts, especially where the water is deep.
In the winter they are supposed to burrow in the sand or to retire
to the deeper parts of the ocean. They are taken in wicker-bas-
kets or in nets, sunk in the sea and baited with garbage.

Mepica Usres.—The tips of the claws and crustaceous covering
of the common crab are similar in composition to crab’s eyes, and
are used for the same purposes.

ARMADILLO VULGARIS.
fommon Armadillo, or Pill Millepede.

Pi. XXIV. fig. 2.

Order Isopopa. Family Oniscives, Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Eeternal antenne inserted on a promi-
nence in a cavity on each side of the head ; eyes late-

ARMADILLO VULGARIS. 151

ral ; dody elongate, convex, and arched; ¢at/ with the
lateral styles not prominent.

Spec. Cuar. Body cinereous lead-coloured, without
spots ; hinder margin of the segments whitish.

Ovos; Diosc. ii. 37. Multipedes et Oniscus; Plin. Porcellio; Cal. Aurel.
Oniscus armadillo; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, i. 3013; Cuv. Jour. @Hist. Nat.ii.
p- 23, t. 26, f. 14,15. Colporte Armadillo; Geofr. Hist. des Ins, ii. p. 670.
Armadillo vulgaris; Lat. Gen. Crust. et Ins. i. p. 71.
Armadillo commun, Fr.; Armadillo, It. and Sp.

Tus animal is very common throughout Europe, amongst moss
and under stones. It is popularly known by the name of Pill-
Millepede, and has long been employed as an article of the materia
medica. Its general length is rather more than half an inch. The
body is elongate-ovate, somewhat convex above, smooth, and con-
sists of ten crustaceous semicircular scales or segments of a cinereous
lead colour ; the posterior margin of the segments whitish. It is
furnished with seven pairs of very short legs, each terminated by a
minute horny claw. The antenne are inserted on a prominence
in a cavity on each side of the head. The eyes are minute, lateral ;
and the styles or appendages to the tail very short. When touched
it rolls itself up into a ball, like the singular quadrupeds called
Armadillos, frequently remaining in this state for a considerable
length of time. Swamerdam relates a ludicrous mistake of a ser-
vant maid, who, finding in a garden a great many in a globular
form, imagined she had discovered some handsome materials for-a
necklace, and betook herself to string them with great care ; but
on suddenly perceiving them unfold, was seized with terror, and
ran shrieking into the house.—Fig. (a) represents the animal rolled
up in a ball; (2) the under side.

Millepedes are directed to be prepared by exposing them to the
vapour of hot alcohol, till they are killed. They have a faint dis-
agreeable smell, and a somewhat pungent sweetish taste. On ana-
lysis they afford an alkalescent fluid, and an inert oil.

MepicaL Properties ANO Uses.—Though no reliance is now
placed on their powers, Millepedes once maintained a very respect-

152 ONISCUS ASELLUS.

able station in the materia medica, being regarded as expectorant,
aperient, and diuretic. They have been highly extolled in
humoral asthmas, dropsies, jaundice, and many other diseases.
They are usually taken in powder in a dose of one drachm or more
thrice a-day, enveloped in syrup; or swallowed alive, like pills, in
their contracted state. In very large doses, Dr. Lewis thinks it
probable their activity may be considerable ;* but Dr. Cullen says
he has known a hundred given twice a-day without any sensible
action on the kidneys, and without any effect in curing the diseases
for which they wereprescribed. The Porcellio scaber, of Latreille, is
used in Scotland for the same purposes, where it is called sclater.

ONISCUS ASELLUS.
The Wood-Louse.
PL. XXIV. fig. 3.

Order Isopopa. Family OntscipEs, Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Antenne inserted beneath the anterior
margin of the head, on a prominent part; dody oval.

Spec. Cuar.— Body above obscure cinereous, rough ;
sides, and a series of dorsal spots, yellowish.

Oviwxos; Grec. Moddbrovs; Arist. v. 30. Asellus, Porcellio, Multipede, Oniscus ;
Lat. Oniscus Asellus; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p.3013; Latr. Gen. Crust.et Ins,
i. p. 70. Colporte aselle; De Geer, Mem. s. l. Ins, vii. t.35,f.3. Oniscus
murarius 3; Fabr. Suppl. Entom. Syst. p. 300.
Le Colporte ordinaire ou commun, Fr.

Tur Wood-louse inhabits rotten wood and old walls throughout
Europe. It is somewhat larger than the preceding, with which it
has generally been confounded in the British pharmacopeeias. It
is about three-fourths of an inch in length ; the body is oval, with

* Treatise on the Materia Medica, p. 38.

SCORPIO OCCITANUS. 153

crustaceous imbricate segments, rough above, and of a livid brown
or dirty ash-colour. The larger specimens are generally marked
with a double series of pale yellow spots down the back; the sides
are yellowish, and the belly nearly white. The body is not capable
of contracting into a ball, and the tail is furnished with two pro-
minent lateral styles, by which characters it may at once be distin-
guished from the Oniscus armadillo.

The learned Bonnet relates, that a young woman who had swal-
lowed these animals alive, as is usually done, threw up a prodigious
number of them of all sizes, which must have bred in her stomach.*
The Oniscus Asellus is popularly named Sow-bug, Church-louse,
Pig’s-louse, Wood-louse, or Carpenter.

Crass [IX.—ARACHNIDES.

Oviparous animals, with articulated members, and not
undergoing a metamorphosis; respiration tracheal or
brachial, the openings for the admission of the air
stigmatiform ; antenne none.

SCORPIO OCCITANUS.

Yellow Scorpion.
PL. XXIV. fig. 4.

Order Putmonarta. Family Scorriontes, Lair.

Gey. Cuar. Hands with the last joints thickest, and
in the form of forceps ; mazille short, rounded, some-
what arched, and hairy ; eyes six or eight ; body ob-
long, divided into many segments, with two laminated

* Bonnet Giuvres, v. 144.

154 SCORPIO OCCITANUS.

plates (pectens) at the under base of the abdomen;
tail composed of six joints terminated in an arched
sting.

* Eyes eight in number.

Spec. Cuar. Pecten with twenty-eight teeth; body
yellowish ; ¢aed longer than the body, with elevated
granular lines ; hands ovate, smooth ; last joint of the
tail globose ; no prominence under the sting.

Scorpio occitanus; Amoreur, Jour. de Phys. i. an. 1789; Latr. Gen. Crust. et
Ins. i. 182; Herbst, Natur.Skorp. t.3, f.3. Scorpio tunetanus; Redi, de Gen.

Ins. Scorpio; Maupert, Mem. de l’Acad. des Scienc. an 1731, t. 16, f. 3.
Buthus occitanus; Leach, Nat. Misc. iii. t. 143.

Tuts is the animal with whose poison Redi and Maupertius made
their experiments. It is rather a small species, of a pale yellowish
colour, and is very common in Spain, under stones, in warm sandy
mountainous situations. The body is oblong, ovate, about an inch
and a half in length, and divided into six or seven segments; on
the under side of the base of the abdomen are two laminated plates,
resembling the tooth of a comb, and furnished with twenty-eight
teeth. The legs are eight in number, slightly hairy underneath,
and terminated by two small curved claws. Besides the legs, in
common with the rest of the genus, it has two chele, or hands,
situated on each side of the anterior part of the head, each com-
posed of four joints, the last of which is larger than the others,
ovate, smooth, and in the form of a forceps. The maxille are
short, rounded, internally somewhat arched, and hairy. The eyes
are eight in number, The thorax is as broad as the abdomen,
somewhat cordate, and marked above with granular lines; the tail
is composed of six joints, the last globular, ampullacious, very
smooth, and armed with a simple incurved mucro or sting, instilling
a poisonous fluid into the wound it inflicts.

Scorpions feed on worms, spiders, small insects, and even on
one another. All the species are natives of warmer climates than
our own, concealing themselves under stones, or furniture in

SCORPIO OCCITFANUS. 155

houses, and shunning the light. They run quickly, bending their
tail in the form of an arch over their back. They are ovo-vivipa-
rous, the body of the pregnant female exhibiting, when dissected,
between forty and fifty young. Each of these exist in the ovaries
at first as eggs, but are hatched within the body of the mother,
and come out in the larva state. The larvee and pupe are eight-
legged, extremely active, and resemble the perfect insect. The
young, when first excluded from the parent, are entirely white, but
acquire their dusky colour in the space of a few days. From the ob-
servations of Maupertuis and others, it appears that these animals
cast their skins, at certain periods, in the manner of spiders.

The poison ofthe Scorpion isevacuated through three small foramina
near the tip of the sting. ‘It is well known,’ says Dr. Shaw, ‘ thata
diversity of opinion has prevailed amongst authors relative to the
slit or foramen in the fangs of spiders, through which their poison is
evacuated. The same contrariety of sentiment takes place with
respect to such a foramen in the scorpion’s sting. The celebrated
Redi, assisted by the best microscope he could procure, was not
able to discover it; though he was well convinced of its existence
from perceiving the minute drop of poison exude from near the
tip of the sting. Others have denied the existence of the foramen ;
but Valisneri and Leewenhoek have both described two foramina,
viz. one on each side of the tip, and which are of the shape inclin-
ing to triangular; besides these, a third foramen has sometimes
been seen ; so that the sting of the scorpion can with greater faci-
lity discharge its venom than that of any other animal. Several
fabulous anecdotes of the scorpion,’ continues this popular writer,
‘have been recorded by the older authors on natural history, which
are totally unworthy of being related in the present enlightened age.
One of the most remarkable of these legends is, that a scorpion
surrounded by live coals, finding no method to escape, grows des-
perate from its situation, and stings itself to death. It is not,’ he
observes, ‘ uncommon to hear this quoted with serious credulity as
the only instance of suicide amongst the inferior animals.”

The poison of scorpions, though much more active, is said to
resemble that of bees and wasps in many of its chemical qualities.
It is discharged from the pores of the sting, where, when the

156 SCORPIO AFER.

animal is irritated, it accumulates, in the form of two or three little
drops of a whitish colour, When spread on paper it produced a
spot like that which would be caused by oil, and this part of the
paper by dessication becomes firmer and transparent.

All the species of this genus are capable of stinging in a greater
or less degree ; but according to Maupertuis and Redi, the full
effect of the venom seems only to be felt when the powers of the
animal have not been for a long time exerted. The European
species are scarcely in any instance capable of inflicting a danger-
ous wound. In some parts of Italy and the south of France, in-
stances frequently occur of their sting causing violent local inflam-
mation, acute pain, and fever, on man ; but their malignityin Europe
is trifling when compared to what the natives of Africa and the
East are known to experience. In Batavia, where they grow to an
enormous size, there is no removing any piece of furniture without
the utmost danger of being stung by them. Bosman assures us
that along the Gold coast, they are often found larger than an or-
dinary sized lobster ; and that their sting is inevitably fatal. The
only means of saving the lives of our soldiers who were stung by
them in Egypt, was amputation. One species is said to occasion
madness; and the black scorpion both of South America and
Ceylon, frequently inflicts a mortal wound.* The remedies are
the same as those already advised against the bites of venomous
serpents. The oil in which scorpions had been infused was for-
merly applied, as a remedy, to the wounded part. Fomentations
and emollient cataplasms have been found useful; but Dr. Parr
justly observes, ‘ as the wound is seldom dangerous, many reme-
dies have obtained unmerited credit.”

SCORPIO AFER.—Jndian Scorpion.
Spec. Cuar. Pectens with thirteen teeth; body
blackish-brown, with the joints of the feet and

een eeeeanrnn emer meen nee
* Ulloa’s Voy. i. 61, 62.

SCORPIO AMERICANUS. 157

antenne whitish; hands subcordate, scabrous and
hairy.

Scorpio afer; Lin. Fabr.; Seba, i.t.70, f.1-4; Resel, iii. t. 65; Herbst, t.1;
Shaw, Nat. Misc. iii. t. 109.

Inuasirs India, Persia, and some parts of Africa. It is by far
the largest and most formidable of the scorpion tribe, measuring
eight or ten inches from the tip of the hands to the extremity of
the tail. The prevailing colour is a deep glossy brown, approach-
ing in some specimens to black. It is much dreaded in Africa,
where the activity of the poison is frequently productive of serious
evils, and where the wound has been neglected, the consequences
have been fatal. Lichtenstein, in his Travels in Southern Africa,
says, in warm nights there is a very great danger of being stung by
them, and relates, that a few weeks before his arrival at the Cape,
a melancholy proof had been given of the dangerous nature of
their poison. One of the slaves of a Mr. Van Wyk, when she was
busied in collecting dry wood, had the misfortune to be stung in
the hand by one, which was probably concealed under the bark of
the oldest and driest pieces. All the usual remedies were imme-
diately applied, but the girl, notwithstanding, died in eighteen
hours. During the cold weather this dangerous animal seldom
comes abroad, and loses in some degree the power of darting its
sting, so that the wound is less dangerous.

SCORPIO AMERICANUS.—American Scorpion.

Spec. Cuar. Pecten with fourteen teeth; hands some-
what ciliated ; fingers filiform.

Scorpio Americanus; Lin. ; Roesel, Ins. iii. t. 66,f.5. Scorpion tachete; De Geer,
Mem. Ins. vii. t. 61, £.9 et 10; Herbst. t. 6, f. 3.

Innasits South America; and is very common at Sierra Leone,

in Africa.
R

158 SCORPIO EUROPAUS.

SCORPIO AUSTRALIS.—<4frican Scorpion.

Spec. Cuar. Pecten with thirty-two teeth ; hands
smooth, elongated and red; claws filiform; under
the sting a pointed process.

Scorpio Australis; Lin. Fabr.; Herbst. t.6, f.1.

Tuis species inhabits Africa. The body is brown; the legs are
reddish ; the hands long, smooth, rufous, and furnished with fili-
form claws.

SCORPIO CARPATHICUS.— Carpathian Scorpion.
Spec. Cuar. Pecten with cighteen teeth; hands an-
gular ; ¢ai/ mucronated beneath the sting.

#* Eyes six in number.

Scorpio Europeus, Lin, Fabr. S. Carpathicus, Latr. S. Germanicus, Herbst.

Hasirat unknown; but Latreille says it is an extra-Kuropean
species.

SCORPIO EUROPASUS.—Luropean Scorpion.

Spec. Cuar. Pectens with nine teeth ; hands some-
what heart-shaped, angular; w7tsts unidentate ; body
obscure brown ; legs and last joint of the tail brownish
yellow.

Scorpio Europeus; Latr. Gen, Crust. et Ins.i. p. 131; Villers, Entom, iv. t, 2.
fell.

Tuis species inhabits the south of Europe, and is common in many
parts of Italy, in neglected places under stones, and in houses. It
is of an obscure brown colour, and usually measures somewhat
more than an inch in length, from the head to the setting on of
the tail. Its sting is painful, producing considerable inflammation

+
,
;
>
;
& fe
a Pl 23
;

Drawn by Jertray Lngdmann t

/ Scolopendra morstlans 2 Lycosa Tarentula .
IPhithirius inguinatis.
London, Pubhshed by J Wilson Sime 11831.

LYCOSA TARENTULA. 179

and swelling, but seldom productive of any very serious con-
sequences. It appears to have been unknown to Linneus, who
has described some other species for it, and has led the celebrated
Fabricius into a similar error respecting it. De Geer has described
a Cayenne species for Ewropeus.

SCORPIO MAURUS.— Barbary Scorpion.

Spec. Cuar. Pectens with eight or ten teeth ; hands
cordate, nearly smooth; 4ody fuscous and granulated,

Scorpio maurus; Lin. Fabr. Latr.; Herbst. Scorp. t.6, f. 4,

InnABiTs Barbary.

LYCOSA TARENTULA,
Common Tarentula.

PL. XXV. fig. 2.

Order Putmonaria. Family Crricrap®, Lair.

Gen. Cuar. Mazille straight, anteriorly convex, exte-
riorly somewhat areuated ; apea obliquely truncated,
forming almost an inverted triangle; “4p elongate,
quadrate ; feeé strong, the fourth pair longest ; eyes
quadrilateral.

Spec. Cuar. Body above greyish-brown; mandibles
and palpi ferruginous, with their tips black ; abdomen
bright yellow, with triagonal spots anteriorly ; chaghs
and tibia below reddish-white, with two black spots.

Aranea tarentula; Lin. Syst. Nat. ed. 13, i. p. 1035; Fabr. Entom. Syst. ii.
p- 425; Ram. Gen. Ins. t. 30, f.1. Lycosa tarentula; Latr. Gen. Crust. i.
p- 119; Walck. Tab. des Aran. p.11.

La Tarentule, Varaignée enragée, Fr.; La Tarantola, It ; Die Tarantel, Ger.;
Tarantel, Dan, and Swed.; Misgir, Russ.

180 LYCOSA TARENTULA.

Tus species is the famous Tarentula Spider of which such mar-
vellous accounts have been given by travellers, who have described
its bite as generally fatal, and to be curable only by music. It is
a native of the south of Europe, and is generally found during
winter in a deep hole, formed in the declivity of small hillocks ;
but in the summer it keeps in the air, and spins its web. It is
one of the largest of the European spiders; the upper part of the
body is of a greyish-brown colour; the mandibles and middle of
the palpi ferruginous ; the margin of the thorax is grey with a
radiated dorsal line of the same colour. The anterior part of the
dorsum of the abdomen is marked with triagonal spots, hinder part
with bent transverse black strigee margined with white; the belly
is of a fine deep saffron colour, with a transverse black band; the
thighs and tibize below yellowish white, with two black spots. The
figure of the Tarentula and of the following species (Galeodes ara-
neoides) were drawn from specimens in the collection of the
British Museum,

The name Tarentula is derived from Tarentum (now Taranto),
in the kingdom of Naples, near which place they were supposed to
be found in the greatest plenty. The Lycosa Tarentula Narlo-
nensis, of Walcknaer, (Aranea Tarentula, Oliv.) is much smaller
than the present species, and the abdomen is black, with a saffron-
coloured anus,

The effects ascribed to the bite of this animal, and their cure by
music and dancing till a profuse perspiration is produced, is now
no longer believed. Dr. Serao, an Italian physician, has written
an ingenious work in which he has completely exploded this opinion
as a popular error ; and Dr. Cirillo, professor of Natural History
in Naples, found, on’experiment, that the only symptoms which
followed the wound of the Tarentula was a trifling inflammation of
the part, similar to that produced by the sting of the common
scorpion. Dr. Clavitio submitted to be bitten by this animal,
and no bad effects ensued; and the Count de Borch, a Polish
nobleman, bribed a man to undergo the same experiment, in whom
the only symptom was a swelling in the hand, attended by into-
lerable itching.

tt
BN
Pop pat ee
Soe epee!

/ F126.

Drawn hy Jottroy Printed b £ nocimann a,

1.Galecdes araneévides 2 Cantharis vestcatorta.
3. Cantharis cinerea . A Cantharis vittata.

5. Myabris cichorev.

London, Published by J Wilson, June 1.1831.

GALEODES ARANEOIDES. 181

GALEODES ARANEOIDES.
Venomous Galeordes.

PL. XXVI. fig. 1.

Order TRACHEARLE. Family Pseuposcorriongs. Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Body oblong ; mandibles very large, nearly
conical and pointed, each with two claws or scaly
teeth ; palpi filiform, of five joints ; eyes four ; abdo-
men oblong, pubescent ; feet with long hairs.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale yellow, mixed with ash-grey ;
extremity of the claws brown.
Phalangium araneoides; Pallas, Spic. Zool. fase. ix. t.3. Solpuga araneoides;

Fabr, Suppl. Ent. Syst.294. Sulpuga arachnoides; Herbst, Naturg. Solp.
t.1, f.2. Galeodes araneoides; Latr. Gen. Crust. et Lns. i. 135.

ANOTHER very noxious animal allied to the scorpion, although
destitute of a sting, is the Galeodes araneoides, the bite of which
is said to be extremely dangerous, and even mortal. It inhabits
the Cape of Good Hope, and occurs also in some parts of Russia
and the Levant. It is about an inch and a half long; the body is
oblong, soft, villose, and of a pale yellow colour mixed with ash-
grey. The mouth is furnished with two very large nearly conical
pointed mandibles; the palpi are filiform, five-jointed, and thickly
beset with elongated hairs resembling spines ; the thorax is covered
with a hard scutum of a triangular shape, on which the eyes are
placed. The feet are elongate and filiform, beset with long hairs,
and armed at their points with horny nails of a brown colour.
Besides the species already described, there are some others which
are represented to be as dangerous as the viper. Thus M. Thiébaut
de Berneaud, in his Voyage to Elba, notices a spider (Theridium
13-guttatum) that, in the Volterrao, frequently inflicts a fatal

182 SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS.

wound. And Mr. Jackson affirms that a spider called the Tenda-
raman, is found in Morocco, which has venomous powers equally
formidable. Ulloa gives an account of a spider of a bright red
colour, common in Popayan, called Coya or Coyla, and usually
found in corners of walls and among the herbage, the venom of
which is of such malignity that if applied to the skin of either man
or beast, it immediately causes large tumours, which are soon
succeeded by death. The only remedy which the natives employ
for counteracting the ill effects of the poison is, on the first appear-
ance of the swelling, to swing the patient over the flame of straw
or long grass; after this operation he is reckoned to be out of
danger.*

Cuass X.—MYRIAPODA.

Head distinct, with two antenne ; mandibles simple
incisive ; feet on all or most of the segments of the

body.

SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS.
Venomous or Biting Centipede.

Px. XXV. fig. 1.

Order Cuttopopa. Family Aauireves. Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Antenne conico-setaceous, of many sub-
conic joints ; mouth covered with hemispheric galee ;
exterior palpi with a double peduncle; mandibles
strong, horny; upper lp divided by a fissure; body
with the segments margined; anterior pair of feet
small, the last pair largest ; eyes eight, four on each
side of the head, arranged in a rhomboidal form.

* Ulloa’s Voyage, b. vi. c. 3.

SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS. 183

* Body with the segments elongate or sub-elongate
« o >
erregular.

Spec. Cuar. Body yellowish-brown; feet forty-two,
the last two with the first joint spinulose on the
internal side.

Scolopendra morsitans; Lin. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1062; Lair. Gen. Crust. et Ins. i.

p-78; Fabr. Entom. Syst. ii. p. 390. Scolopendre mordante ; De Geer, Mem.
s. l. Ins. vii. p. 563, t. 43, f.13; Rem. Gen. Ins. t. 30, f.14.

Many species of this genus have been described by naturalists.
The larger kinds, found only in warm climates, where they are
known under the denomination of Centipede, are animals of a very
formidable appearance, and viewed with general disgust. They
are armed with strong horny jaws, furnished, like the sting of the
scorpion, with a small orifice, visible under a common lens, from
which a poisonous fluid issues, capable of producing violent local
inflammation, fever, and even death. The species here represented,
which is the most common, being found in great abundance in
many parts of Asia, Africa, and America, may serve to illustrate
the genus. It varies exceedingly in size and colour; its usual
length is nine or ten inches, but individuals sometimes occur of
much larger dimensions. It is of a yellowish-brown colour, fre-
quently tinged with red, the legs and under surface of the body
being much paler. The head is armed with very large strong
horny curved jaws or mandibles, which move horizontally when
the animal bites. The antenne are more than twice as long as the
first segment covering the head, setaceous, and composed of several
articulations, which are nearly conical. The eyes are eight in
number, four on either side, very small, and placed in a rhomboidal
form. The segments of the body are numerous, oblong-square,
smooth, shining, and slightly marginated. The feet are forty-two
in number, every segment of the body bearing one pair, which
terminate in very sharp hooks or claws of a shining black colour.
The last pair of legs are considerably longer than the others, and
spinous at their base, on the internal side.—Fig. (a) represents

184 SCOLOPENDRA ALTERNANS.

the head of the Scolopendra Morsitans, subface ; (c) front view of
the same, to shew the mouth ; (U) the four eyes on one side of the
head.

De Geer, Catesby, and other authors, assert that the bite of the
Scolopendra seldom proves fatal to man and the larger animals;
though not mortal, its wounds are more painful than those pro-
duced by the sting of the scorpion,

SCOLOPENDRA GIGAS.— Gigantic Scolopendra.

** Body with the segments nearly equal.

Spec. Cuar. Segments transversely quadrate, with
rounded angles, ferruginous brown, luteous behind;
antenne, palpi, galee, and legs testaceous ; all the feet,
with the exception of the anterior pair, with small
spines on their joints. :

—_—_—_

Described by Dr. Leach in the eleventh volume of the Transac-
tions of the Linnean Society, from a specimen in the College
Museum of Edinburgh. Length eleyen inches. Locality un-
known.

SCOLOPENDRA ALTERNANS. Alternate Centipede.

*** Segments transverse, alternately longer and shorter.

Spec. Cuar. Hinder legs with the first joint rounded
and internally spinulose.

Scolopendra alternans; Leach, Lin. Trans. xi. 383; Zool. Miscel. iii. t, 138.

— ee

Hasitat unknown.

PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS. 185

Crass XI.—INSECTA. (Jnsects.)

Articulated animals with six legs, respiring by means
of trachee; head distinct from the thorax; antenne
two.

PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS.
Crab- Louse.
Pi. AXY. fig. 3,

Order Parasita. Family Sipauncuxata. Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Anterior pair of feet simple, two hinder
pair didactyle ; ¢horaz extremely short, scarcely
visible.

Spec. Cuar. Body whitish.

Pediculis pubis; Lin, Syst.i. p.1017. Le Morpion ; Geoff. Hist. des Ins. ii. p. 597.
Pou du Pubis; Latr. Hist. des Crust, viii. p.94; Redi, Exper.t. 19, f.1.
Le Morpion, Fr.; Piattola, It.; Ladilla, Sp.; Piolho ladro, Port.; Die Filzlaus,
lattlaus, Ger,; Flatlus, Swed.; Plotschiza, Russ.

Tuis disgusting parasite inhabits the eye-brows, pubes, &c. of men
and women, and is distinguished by the cheliform structure of its
legs, whence its name of Crab-louse. It is a frequent cause of
local prurigo ; for these animals perforate the cuticle, and stick so
close that they can with difficulty be dislodged. They are chiefly
discoverable by their nits, which may be seen attached to the basis
of the hairs, the insects themselves appearing only like discoloura-
tions of the skin. They are furnished, like the rest of the family
Pediculide, with a mouth consisting of a tubulose very short
hanstellum, but they have no mandibles, properly so called. The
body is flattish, more round than the common louse, with a shorter
thorax, and the hinder pair of feet didactyle and very strong.

186 PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS.

It is almost an established fact that every species of bird, and
probably mammiferous animal, has its own peculiar parasite, and
many have several. Man affords a nidus and subsistence to three
distinct species. ‘Two other species besides the Crab-louse, the
Pediculus humanus, of authors, and the Pediculus cervicalis, of
Latreille, are well known to infest the human body. The latter
inhabits the heads of man and upper part of the necks of children,
throughout Europe, and is distinguished by its oval lobed cinereous
body, marked with an interrupted band on either side. It deposits
single nits or eggs in the hairs of the head, and does not sponta-
neously quit the scalp or its natural covering. The latter, which
is white and nearly immaculate, seldom appears on the head, but
resides on the trunk of the body and on the garments, and is known
by the name of the body-louse. The nits are conglomerate, and
usually deposited on the folds of linen and other articles of dress.
On the continent of Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal, this
species is very common. In Britain it is of rare occurrence, and
is conjectured to have been introduced from the neighbouring
countries. Both these species subsist on the blood of man, which
they suck with their proboscis ; but they abound chiefly among
the inhabitants of sordid dwellings, or jails and workhouses, and in
such situations prey upon all persons indiscriminately. There is,
however, a peculiar state of the skin of people advanced in
life, and connected with the disease, which has been denominated
prurigo senilis by Dr. Willan, in which they are generated not-
withstanding every attention to cleanliness, and multiply so rapidly
that the patient endures extreme distress from their perpetual irri-
tation. It does not appear, from any well ascertained fact, that
the species belonging to this genus are ever subcutaneous. Many
marvellous stories, indeed, are related by Forrestus, Schenkius, and
others, respecting lice bred under the skin, and discharged from
abscesses, strumous ulcers, and vesications, and many individuals
of great note are said to have died in ancient times from the mul-
titude of these pediculi. Thus we are told that among the
ancients, Scilla the dictator, Alemzon the poet, Pherecydes Sirius
the philosopher, Callisthenes the Olympian, during the time of
his imprisonment, Mutius the lawyer, Eunus the slave, the

PHTHIRUS INGUINALIiS. 187

two Herods, and, by some, Plato, died of this disease.* In
more modern times, the great persecutor of the Protestants,
Philip IT. is said to have been carried off by it; and Amatus Lusi-
tanus has described two cases of Phthiriasis, one of which termi-
nated fatally.t From the habits of the genus Pediculus, and the
mode in which they are generated, it is justly remarked by Dr.
Willan that no credit can be given to these accounts, and that the
disease produced by animals residing under the cuticle must have
been occasioned by some other insect.

According to Messrs. Kirby and Spence, in their valuable Intro-
duction to Entomology, at least three different species of insects
have been observed to attack the human body, in the various cases
that have been recorded under the common name of Phthiriasis.
These three kinds of insects are lice, (Pediculi, L.) mites (Acari, L.)
and Larve or grubs in general.

Acari, or mites, appear to be a frequent source of disease in the
human body, both local and general. They are distinguished from
Pediculi, not only by their form, but also often by their situation,
since they frequently establish themselves under the cuticle. Dr.
Adams conjectures that Acari may be the cause of certain cases of
Ophthalmia ; and Sir Joseph Banks, in a letter to that gentleman,
relates that some seamen belonging to the Endeavour brig, being
tormented with a severe itching round the margin of the eyelids,
one of them was cured by an Otaheitan woman, who, with two
small splinters of bamboo, extracted from between the cilia abun-
dance of very minute lice.{ Le Jeune, a French physician, quoted
by Mouffet,§ describes a case in which these insects infested the
white of the eye, exciting an intolerable itching ; and Dr. Mead,
in the German Ephemerides, gives an account of a woman suckling
a child, from whose breast proceeded very minute insects. These
are supposed by Mr. Kirby to have been mites, and perhaps that
species which, from its feeding upon milk, Linneus denominates

* See Plutarch’s Life of Sylia ; also, Plin. Hist. Nat. lib, xxvi. cap. 13.

+ Amat. Lusit. Contur. ili. cur. 58. See also Forrestus, Obs. Med. lib. viii.
obs. 14. Joan. Schenck. Obs, Med. lib. v. obs. 2.

I On Morbid Poisons, 306, 307.

§ Insectorum sive minimorum animalium theatrum, p. 267.

188 PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS.

Acarus Lactis. Linneus supposes many contagions are caused by
mites, particularly dysentery and the itch. That the latter is occa-
sioned by a species of mite is not a doctrine peouliar to the mo-
derns. ‘ Mouffet mentions Abinzoar, called also Avenzoar, a cele-
brated Hispano-Arabian physician of Seville, who flourished in the
twelfth century, as the most ancient author that notices it. He
calls these mites little lice that creep under the skin of the hands,
legs, and feet, exciting pustules full of fluid.* Joubert, quoted by
the same author, describes them under the name of Sirones, as
always being concealed beneath the epidermis, under which they
creep like moles, gnawing it, and causing a most troblesome itch-
ing. It appears that Mouffet, or whoever was the author of that
part of the Theatrum Insectorum, was himself also well acquainted
with these animals, since he remarks that their habitation is not in
the pustule but near it ; a remark afterwards confirmed by Linné,
and more recently by Dr. Adams.t In common with the former
of these authors, Mouffet further notices the effect of warmth upon
them in exciting motion. Our intelligent countryman also
observes that they cannot be Pediculi, since they live under the
cuticle, which lice never do.

“‘In more-modern times, microscopical figures have been added
to descriptions of the insect. Bonomo first furnished this valuable
species of elucidation. His figures, however, which are copied by
Baker in his work on the microscope, are far from accurate.t Those
of De Geer and Dr, Adams are much more satisfactory, and mutu-
ally confirm each other.§ From them it is evident that the same
insect inhabits the scabies of Sweden and Madeira. Dr. Bateman,
in the letter before alluded to, informs his correspondent, that he
had seen that from Madeira, and gives it as his opinion that there
eannot be a doubt of the existence of an Acarus Scabiei; an
opinion which he repeats in his late work on Cutaneous Diseases ;
and which, according to Hermann,|| has been also rendered un-

* Mouffet, 266. + Observations, &c. 296.
[Osservazionitntorno a pellicelli del corpo umano fatte dal Dottor Gio Cosimo
Bonomo, &c. f. 1-3. Baker, On Microsc. i. t. 18, f. 2.
§ De Geer, vii. t. 5, f. 12, 14. || Mem. Apterologique, 79.

PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS. 189

questionable by Wichmann in his Etiologie de la Gale (Hanovre
1786), a work I have not had an opportunity of consulting. From
all this we may regard the point as so far settled, that an animal
of this kind exists at least as an occasional concomitant of scabies.

‘This fact being ascertained, a more complex inquiry remains,
which branches out into two distinct questions. Is scabies always
produced by these insects? Or, if this be not the case, Is the
animate scabies a distinct disease from the znanimate ?

« Tt is very remarkable that Linné, a physician as well as a natu-
ralist ; and De Geer, one of the most accurate observers that ever
existed; should both assign the insect in question as the undoubted
‘cause of the common scabies of their country ; the one applying to
the disease he was speaking of the epithet of communissima, and
observing the fact to be notorious, (cwigue liquet), and the other
designating it by the well known French name “ La Gale.*” And
is it not equally remarkable that such men as John Hunter, Dr.
Heberden, Dr. Bateman, Dr. Adams, and Mr. Baker, should never,
in this country, have been able to meet with it? Did it indeed
exist in our common scabies, it seems impossible that it could have
escaped the observation of the two last of these gentlemen; Dr.
Adams being so well qualified to detect it from his observations in
Madeira, and Mr, Baker from his expertness in microscopical
researches, Dr. Bateman, in the letter above quoted, says, “I
have hunted it with a good magnifier, in many cases of itch, both
in and near the pustules, and in the red streaks or furrows, but
always without success.” In his work on Cutaneous Diseases he
tells us, however, that he has seen it, in one instance, when it
had been taken from the diseased surface by another practitioner.
And though Dr. Willan in his book speaks of the Acarus as the
concomitant of the disease, yet his learned friend just mentioned
observes, that he admitted that it was not to be found in ordinary
cases, and indeed never seemed to have made up his mind upon
the subject. When I was at Norwich in 1812, Dr. Reeve very

* I am informed by my learned friend Alexander MacLeay, Esq. late Secretary to
the Linnean Society, that, in the north of Scotland, the insect of the itch is well known,
and easily discovered and extracted.

190 PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS.

insects. A decoction of the seeds of stavesacre, of black pepper,
kindly accompanied me to the House of Industry there, to examine
a patient whose body was very full of the pustules of this disorder ;
but though we used a good magnifier, we could discover nothing
like an insect. I must observe, however, that our examination
was made in December, in severe weather, when the cold might
perhaps render the animal torpid, and less easy to be discovered.

« From the above facts it seems fair to infer that this animal is
not invariably the cause of scabies, but that there are cases with
which it has no connexion. Now, from this inference, would not
another also follow, that the disease produced by the insect is
specifically distinct from that in which it cannot be found? Sau-
vages and Dr. Adams are both of this opinion, the former assign-
ing it to the trivial name of vermicularis ; and the latter proving,
by very satisfactory arguments, that it is different from the other.
If they were both animate diseases, but derived from two distinct
species of animals, (for it seems not impossible that even our
common itch may be caused by a bite more minute than the other,
and so more difficult to find), they would properly be considered as
distinct species; much more, therefore, if one be animate and the
other inanimate. Nay this, I should think, would lead to a doubt
whether even their genus were the same. I shall dismiss this
part of my subject with the mention of a discovery of Dr. Adams,
which seems to have escaped both Linné and De Geer—that the
Acarus Scabiei is endowed with the faculty of leaping; (in this
respect resembling the insect found by Willan_in Prurigo senilis,)
for which purpose its four posterior thighs are incrassated.*

«[ shall now produce two instances where mites were evidently
concerned. Dr. Mead, from the German Ephemerides, relates
the miserable case of a French nobleman, from whose eyes, nostrils,
mouth, and urinary passage, animalcules of a red colour, and ex-
cessively minute, broke forth day and night, attended by the most
horrible and excruciating pains, and at length occasioned his
death. The account further says, that they were produced from
Seer ic Ls Se Se es ee

* It may be mentioned here as a remarkable fact, that the Acarus Scabiei was
discovered by M. Latreille upon a New Holland quadruped (Phascolomys fusea,
Geoffr.) of the Marsupian tribe, N, Dict. d’Hist, Nat, xxi, 222.

PHTHIRUS ENGUINALIS. 191

his corrupted blood. This was probably a fancy originating in
their red colour: but the whole history, whether we consider the
size and colour of the animals, or the places from which they issue,
is inapplicable to laru@ or maggots, and agrees very well with
mites, some of which, particularly Leptus autumnalis, are of a
bright red colour. The other case, and a very similar one, is that
recorded by Mouffet of Lady Penruddock ; concerning whom he
expressly tells us, that Acari swarmed in every part of the body—
her head, eyes, nose, lips, gums, the soles of her feet, &c., tor-
menting her day and night, till, in spite of every remedy, all the
flesh of her body being consumed, she was at length relieved by
death from this terrible state of suffering. Mouffet attributes her
disease to the Acarus Scabiei ; but from the symptoms and fatal
result it seems to have been a different and much more terrific
animal. He supposes, in this instance, the insect to have been gene-
rated by drinking goat’s milk too copiously. This, if correct, would
lead to a conjecture that it might have been the 4. Lactis, Jas

In warm countries, the flies are so numerous about the persons
of the sick that the utmost care is requisite to prevent the gene-
ration of larvee from the eggs, which they deposit not only in
wounds and abscesses, but in the nostrils, mouth, &c., sometimes
penetrating to the brain itself, and causing death.t In the same
way maggots are sometimes bred in the patches of cutaneous
eruptions, as described by Professor Murray of Gottingen, in a
case of leprosy. Swediaur once saw a young woman, thirty
years of age, in the Westminster Infirmary, who was covered with
minute pustules and tubercles, swarming with animacule over
the whole body.§

The generation of lice, in connection with Prurigo senilis,
though not fatal, is frequently a very troublesome and obstinate
malady; and a great many external applications have been resorted
to from ancient times to destroy these loathsome and irritating

SS i 8 a ern re

* Introduction to Entomology, V.i. p. 97.

+ See Dr. Lempriére’s Observations on the Diseases of the Army in Jamaica,
vol. ii. p. 182.

{ Obs. de Verm.in Lepra obvtis, p. 20.

§ Nov. Nosol. Meth, Syst. ii. 233.

192 PHTHIRUS INGUINALIS.

of rue, laurel, tobacco, and veratrum album, or the powder of any
of these substances mixed with lard, in the form of an ointment,
have been recommended as very effectual destroyers of the pediculi
of the head, and even of the body lice. Calomel, or the red oxide
of mercury mixed with starch powder, sprinkled amongst the hair,
or applied by means of a down puff, is equally efficacious. To
the phthirus inguinalis, or crab-louse, as to all other species
of insects, the mercurial oxides are the most fatal poisons. Two
or three applications of the strong mercurial ointment, assiduously
made, is usually sufficient to effect a cure. As its external use,
though very efficacious, is attended with much inconvenience from
the dirtiness of its application, other preparations of mercury are
frequently substituted. The most efficacious of these are the white
precipitated oxide of mercury, white hellebore ointment, and calo-
mel. The oil of spike, as it has been called, which is the essential
oil of lavender, mixed with oil of turpentine, has been deemed one
of the most efficacious poisons for these disgusting parasites. Sir
Edward Willmot is said, by Dr. Heberden, to have used, with
complete success, in a case of morbus pedicularis, a composition
somewhat similar to the spike oil, viz. of rectified oil of turpentine
and spirit of wine, each four ounces, camphor six drachms. Dr.
Bateman says, a solution of the muriate of mercury in spirit, is very
efficacious in the pedicular prurigo, and tends to remove the
pruriginous affection of the skin, which seems to give rise to the
tendency to generate lice. It is to be observed, however, that
none of these pungent stimulating substances can be applied to
the skin without inflicting extreme pain, unless the surface be
unbroken ; for where the cuticle is abraded by scratching, or other
causes, the irritation and smarting occasioned by them is intolera-
ble, and is followed by considerable inflammation. In many
cases, cleanliness itself is a sufficient remedy, and as the learned
Dr. Good shrewdly observes, ‘a sure prophylactic.”

Nat. Stze.

Drawn ty Se IPQ
/Melce prescarabeus. 2. Coccus cacti

3.Pulex penetrans. 4. Diplelepis galle tinctorvee.

Tendon, Published by J Wilson June 1.1841.

Brinted by Fnaetmar

PULEX PENETRANS. 193

PULEX PENETRANS,
The Chegoe.

‘Pi. XXVII. fig. 3.

Order SypHonaPTERA, Lair. Family Sucroria, De

Geer.

Gen. Cuar. Body oval, compressed, covered with a
coriaceous skin, and composed of several segments ;
antenne lamelliform, small, four-jointed; feet six ;
rostrum jointed, formed of two plates inclosing a

sucker.
Spec. Cuar. Rostrum as long as the body.

Pulex penetrans ; Swartz, in Kongl. Vet. Ac. Nya. band, ix. 40, t. 23, f. 10.

One of the most troublesome and noxious insects of the low
regions of South America and the West India Islands is the
Chegoe, a small species of flea, with a rostrum as long as the body,
which often introduces itself into the skin of the inhabitants,
usually under the nails of the toes, where it deposits its eggs, and
produces malignant and occasionally fatal ulcers. It is a very
minute insect, being one-fourth the size of the common flea,
pale reddish-brown simi-transparent or shining, with the legs
of a pale blueish or lead, colour. According to Ulloa, and his
opinion is confirmed by Jussieu, there are two South American
species of this insect. It is described as generally attacking the
feet and legs; but, according to Capt. Hancock, it will penetrate
any exposed part of the body. At first it occasions no farther

uneasiness than a slight itching and heat; in process of time, how-
Ss

194 PULEX PENETRANS.

ever, a small bladder or membranous sac is formed, containing the
nits or ova, which speedily multiply to such a degree as to be
attended by the most fatal consequences, rendering amputation
necessary, and sometimes causing death. Mr. Waterton, in his
«Wanderings in South America,” speaking of this insect, says,
“Tt looks exactly like a small flea, and a stranger would take it for
one. However, in about twenty-four hours he would have several
broad hints that he made a mistake in his ideas of the animal. It
attacks different parts of the body, but chiefly the feet, between
the toe-nails and the flesh. There it buries itself, and at first
causes an itching not unpleasant. In a day or two, after examin-
ing the part, you perceive a place about the size of a pea, some-
what discoloured, rather of a blue appearance. Sometimes it
happens that the itching is so trivial you are not aware that the
miner is at work. Time, they say, makes great discoveries. The
discoloured part turns ou to be the nest of the Chegoe, containing
hundreds of eggs, which, if allowed to hatch there, the young ones
will soon begin to form other nests, and in time form a spreading
ulcer. As soon as you perceive that you have got the Chegoe in
your feet, you must take a needle or a sharp-pointed knife and take
it out. If the nest be formed, great care must be taken not to
break it, otherwise some of the eggs remain in the flesh, and then
you will soon be annoyed with more Chegoes. After removing
the nest, it is well to drop spirits of turpentine into the hole, that
will effectually destroy any Chegoe that may be lurking there,
Sometimes I have taken four nests out of my feet in the course of
a day.” The female slaves in the West Indies extract these ani-
mals with uncommon dexterity. Yarico, so celebrated in prose
and verse, performed this kind office for honest Ligon, who says,
in his History of Barbadoes, “I have had ten (Chegoes) taken out
of my feet in a morning by the most unfortunate Yarico, an Indian
woman.”

CANTHARIS VESICATORIA. 195

CANTHARIS VESICATO RIA
Common Bhster-Fly.

Pi. BXVisgee: 2.

Order CoteortTeRa, Lin. Latr. Family Cantuarivix,

Latr.

GEN. Cuar. Elytra soft, elongate, linear, with the sides
somewhat inflexed ; back convex, rounded; mavxille
with two membranaceous laciniz, the external one
acute within, subuncinate; antenne with the first
joint larger than the others, the second very short,
transverse, the rest obconic, the last ovoid.

Spec. Cuar. Body shining golden-green ; antenn@
black ; head broad, with a furrow on the top ; thorax
quadrate, broader before ; e/y/ra with an impressed
line.

Meloe vesicatorius ; Lin. Syst. i. p. 679; Panz. Faun. Ins. Germ. fasc. 41, f. 4.
Cantharide Vesicatoire; Oliv. Entom. iii. n. 46, t.1,f. a,b,c; De Geer,

Mem. s.l, Ins. v.t.1,f.9. La Cantharide de Boutiques; Geoffr. Hist. des
Ins, i. p. 341, t. 6, f.5. Cantharis vesicatoria; Lair. Gen. ii. p. 220.

Cantharide ; Mouche @’ Espagne, Fr.; Canterella dei Vesicatorj, 1%; Caniarida,
Sp. et Port.; Die Spanische Fliege, Blaskenzether, Ger.; Spanksflue, Dan.;
Spanksfluga, Swed.; Spanskaja mucha, Russ.; Kantaryda, Pol.

In the system of Latreille the Cantharis is separated from the
genus Meloe; and the insects with filiform antennz shorter than
the body, composed of eleven joints, are united into one family
styled the Cantharide. The genus Cantharis contains about
twenty well characterised species. Of these, by far the most
important and valuable as an article of the materia medica is the
C. vesicatoria, or common Blister-fly. Those in general use were

196 CANTHARIS VESICATORIA.

formerly brought only from Spain, whence they were called
Spanish Flies. It appears in the South of Europe about the sum-
mer solstice, and single specimens have occasionally been taken in
England. It feeds on several different plants, especially on the
ash, elder, privet, lilac, white poplar, and tartarian honey-suckle,
on which it is sometimes found in such numbers as soon to deprive
whole trees of their verdure. It is distinguishable even at a dis-
tance by the disagreeable odour which it exhales, which becomes
even dangerous if sustained for any considerable time. They are
two-thirds of an inch in length, and one-fourth of an inch in
breadth, oblong. and of a rich shining golden-green colour. The
head is inflected, large, cordiform, with a furrow on the top. The
antenne are filiform, black, shorter than the body, with the first
joint larger than the others. The thorax is small, glossy, nearly
cordate, with a slight dorsal channel, and the anterior margin
tubercled on either side. The elytra are soft, elongate, linear, the
sides somewhat inflexed ; the back convex, minutely rugose, marked
with two elevated longitudinal lines. or ridges, and covering brown
membranous wings. The abdomen is terminated by two small
callous sharp spines; and the legs and feet, like the rest of the
body, of a brilliant gold or emerald green colour.—Fig. (a) repre-
sents one of the antennz ; (d) the maxilla, &c. (c) palpi.

The female lays a mass of small eggs of a cylindrical form, flat-
tened at the extremities, from which the larvee make their appear-
ance in about fifteen days. They are of a yellowish-white colour,
beset with short hairs, two of which, longer than the others, are
placed at the anus. The head is rounded, furnished with two little
antenne, arched and pointed. The body consists of twelve seg-
ments, of which the three anterior have each a pair of feet. The
larvee are said to live in the ground, and feed upon roots ; in this
situation they undergo their metamorphosis.

These insects are gathered by shaking the trees on which they
are found and catching them on a cloth spread beneath. They are
then killed by the steams of boiling vinegar, aud dried either in the
sun or in stores, Cantharides, when properly dried and kept in
close stopped glass bottles, will retain their active qualities for a
great length of time; but they are liable, notwithstanding their

CANTHARIS VESICATORIA. 197

acrimony, to the attacks of mites, which gradually reduce them to
dust. It appears, however, that these little animals feed on the
inactive part only, and that the powder still possesses its vesicating
powers. The largest and best are imported from Astracan and
Sicily, where they are packed in chests. They should be chosen
dry, entire, of a small size, free from mould and dust, of a strong
nauseous odour, brilliant colour, and not mixed with the Cetonia
aurata, and other beetles, which is frequently the case to a great
extent.

Blistering-flies, when reduced to powder, have a greyish-green
colour, mingled with brilliant green points. They have a very
nauseous odour, and a very acrid burning taste. Their active prin-
ciple is extracted both by water and by alcohol; and from the
analysis of M. Robiquet it appears to reside partly in a crystalline
matter and partly in a greenish volatile oil. If the inspissated
decoction of these insects be treated with pure alcohol, a solution
of resinous matter is obtained, which is separated by gentle evapo-
ration to dryness, and submitted for some time to the action of
sulphuric ether, forms a yellow solution. By spontaneous evapo-
ration small crystalline micaceous plates are obtained, insoluble in
water and in cold alcohol, but soluble in boiling alcohol and in
ether, and very soluble in oils; on the presence of which the vesi-
cating property of the flies depend. The smallest quantity of this
matter dissolved in oil forms a liquor, which, applied to the skin
quickly raises a blister. Dr. Thompson has named it cantharadin.
Besides this peculiar substance, Cantharides contain, according to
Robiquet, a green bland oil, insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol,
which is the source of their disagreeable odour; a black matter,
soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol, without blistering properties;
a yellow viscid matter, mild, soluble in water and alcohol; the
crystalline plates; a fatty bland matter; phosphates of lime and
magnesia ; a little acetic acid, and much lithic or uric acid.

The common Blister-Fly taken into the stomach in the dose of
a few grains is an active poison both to man and animals. The
symptoms produced by this insect in man are a sense of burning
heat in the throat and stomach, and sometimes vomiting and
diarrhoea, acute pain in the lower belly, tenesmus, great heat and

198 CANTHARIS VESICATORIA.

irritation of the bladder and urinary organs, distressing priapism
and strangury, generally connected with suppression of urine and
the discharge of blood from the urethra. If these symptoms be
not relieved, they are followed by convulsions, delirium, tetanus,
syncope, and death. On dissection, the brain is found gorged with
blood, the stomach is inflamed, and generally the green shining
particles of the powdered flies may be discernible, if it be adminis-
tered in the form of powder. The omentum and peritoneum also,
and the intestines, kidneys, ureters, bladder, and internal parts of
generation, exhibit marks of inflammation. As no antidote has
yet been discovered, the first step to be adopted is to evacuate the
poison by emetics, and if vomiting has already begun it is to be
encouraged by copious draughts of warm mucilaginous liquors.
The warm bath will be found useful, and on the principle of remoy-
ing inflammation it will be advisable to employ copious bleeding,
together with leeches, and opiate frictions to the region of the
stomach.

Mepicau Properties AND Uses.—The common Blister-Flies
internally are powerfully stimulant and diuretic; externally, they
inflame and excoriate the skin, and are hence used as the basis of
the common vesicatories. They appear to have been employed as
an internal remedy so early as the time of Hippocrates, who pre-
scribed them chiefly in cases of dropsy and amenorrhea. Their
active matter seems to have a peculiar determination to the urinary
organs, as, even from external application, strangury is sometimes
induced. They have, however, been occasionally employed with
advantage, in very small doses continued for some time, in obstinate
gleet and leucorrheea, incontinence of urine, arising from paralysis
of the sphincter vesicz, a state which the Cantharides, by its local
action, is calculated to remove. Its action requires to be mode-
rated by the free use of diluents. It has also been employed in
some chronic cutaneous affections, joined with the decoction of
elm-bark or sarsaparilla, and as a stimulant in amenorrhea. In
nephritic cases attended with inflammation, in calculus of the blad-
der, and occasionally in pregnancy, the use of this active stimulant
is not to be admitted,

It is chiefly used externally as an epispastic.

CANTHARIS VESIUATORIA. 199

* The Cantharides in powder is mixed with lard and wax, so as
to form a plaster of a proper consistence which is applied to the
part, generally for 10 or 12 hours; at the end of that time the
cuticle is raised, forming a vesicle; this is then cut, to allow the
serous fluid to be discharged, and the inflamed part is dressed with
any mild ointment. The principal circumstance which requires
caution in the application of the cantharides plaister, is that deter-
mination of action to the neck of the bladder which gives rise to
strangury. This is more peculiarly liable to occur where the sys-
tem is uncommonly irritable, where the blister is large, or where it
is applied to a newly abraded surface, as to the head recently shaved;
and as it is a very painful affection, not easily removed, care ought
to be taken to guard against it. Camphor has been sometimes
added to the blistering plaster, with the view of obviating this.
But it is doubtful if it has any such effect: the plentiful use of
diluents, while the blister is applied, prevents it much more cer- .
tainly ; and it is always proper when a blister is applied, especially
if large, or in inflammatory diseases, to order the patient to drink
freely of any mild diluent liquor. Where the strangury does occur
from the application of a blister, it is best relieved by an enema of
tepid water, with a little expressed oil, and 30 or 40 drops of tinc-
ture of opium, and by the use of the warm bath, or warm fomenta-
tions.

‘In some diseases, as in apoplexy, it is of importance to be
certain of the operation of an epispastic, and to have its effect pro-
duced in a short time. To attain these, a compound plaster is
ordered by the Edinburgh College—Emplast. Meloes Vesicat.
Comp.—in which the stimulating power of the cantharides is in-
creased by the addition of other acrid substances, Burgundy pitch,
turpentine, verdigris, mustard, and pepper. In the application
of this still more caution is necessary to guard against the occur-
rence of strangury.

« After a blister has been raised, it is often of advantage to con-
vert the serous discharge into one ofa purulent nature, by exciting
suppuration, or to form what is termed an issue: this can easily
be effected by the application of any acrid stimulating ointment:
one composed of wax and oil, with a small proportion of cantha-

200 CANTHARIS CINEREA,

rides, is commonly used for this purpose, as, by the irritation it
excites, it keeps up the inflammation, and at length produces sup-
puration. Any foreign body retained on the inflamed part answers
the same purpose, What are named Orange Peas, the small
unripe fruit of the orange, polished, are usually employed, as by
their odour they cover the foetor of the discharge. One of these
is retained on the blistered part by a slip of adhesive plaster, and
by the irritation it occasions, keeps up a constant discharge. A
seton, or cord introduced by a needle answers the same purpose.
When a puriform discharge is thus established in a part, considera-
ble effects arise from the morbid action which it continues, and
the evacuation it occasions. It is a practice often employed with
advantage in asthma, paralysis, and a number of chronic affections.”

Dosre.—The dose of the powder may be from one to three grains,
and of the tincture from ten drops to one drachm,

Orr. Prep.—Tinctura Cantharidis, L. E. D. Emplastrum
Cantharidis Vesicat. L. E.D, Empl. Cantharidis Vesicat. Comp.
E. Ceratum Cantharidis, LL. Ung. Cantharidis, L. Ung. infusi
Canth. Vesicat. E. Ung. Cantharidis, D.

CANTHARIS CINEREA.— Cinereous Blster-Fly.

Spec. Cuar. Black; margin of the ¢horav and elytra
cinereous.

Lytta marginata ; Fabr. Syst. Ent. p.260. Meloe cinereus; Forst. Nov. Sp. Ins.
p- 62, Cantharis marginatus; Oliv. Ent. iii. no. 46.

—

InHABITS South America; Fabricius speaks of it as a native of the
Cape of Good Hope. It is also said to be found, though far less
plentifully, in some parts of the east of Europe.

MYLABRIS CICHOREI. 201

CANTHARIS VITTATA.—A&iband Blister-Fly.

Spec. Cuar. Brown; thorax with three yellow lines ;
elytra black, with the margin of the suture and a lon-
gitudinal line yellow; /egs black.

Lytta vittata; Fabr. Syst. Ent. p, 260, n. 3; Pallas, Ins, Sid. t,£.£.33; Oliv. Ent.
iii. n. 46, f. 3.

Common in many parts of America, where, like the foregoing
species, it is used for exciting vesications, in place of the Cantharis
vesicatoria. These insects are said to blister more speedily and
with less pain, at the same time that they cause no strangury.*

MYLABRIS CICHOREI,
Banded Mylabris.

Pi. XXVI. fig. 5.

Gen. Cuar. Antenne composed of eleven joints, inserted
before the eyes on the rostrum, thickening towards
their points ; third joint elongate, cylindrical ; fourth,
fifth, and sixth, subcylindrical; the others broader
and gradually thicker, obconic ; the last larger, ovate
acute; rostrum elongate, narrow; eyes globose, pro-
minent ; ¢horaw small; body oblong; elytra elongate,
soft ; palpi villose, sub-filiform, with the last joint
compressed.

Spec. Cuar. Black; elytra yellow, with three trans-
verse toothed black bands.

* Illiger, Mag. i. p. 256.

202 MELOE PROSCARABAUS,

Meloe Cichorei; Syst. Nat. Gmel. i. p. 2018. Mylabris Cichorei; Fabr. Ent, Syst.
i, p. 88; Oliv. Ent, iii, no. 47, t. 1, f. 1, et t. 2, f 13,

Tus insect is very common in the East Indies, and is found on
the flowers of the Cichoreum or succory. It is somewhat larger
than our common Blister-fly ; but it varies very much in size and
in the colour of the elytra, which are elongate, smooth, yellow, and
marked with three undulating transverse black bands. It has long
been employed in China as an epispastic, and seems to have been
considered the most powerful vesicatory among the ancients.
“The most efficacious sort of Cantharides,” says Dioscorides, “ are
of many colours, having yellow transverse bands ; the body oblong,
large, and fat ; those only of one colour are without strength.’*
Though the generic term Cantharis seems to have applied indis-
criminately to several kinds of insects, the ancients were certainly
well acquainted with our common sort, and made use of it, as well
as Cetonia aurata, and some other species mentioned by Pliny.t

Another species of Mylabris has been described by Major-Gen.
Hardwicke in the Asiatic Researches,} plentiful in all parts of
Bengal, Bahar, and Oude, which is fully as efficacious as the com-
mon Spanish fly.

MELOE PROSCARABALUS,
Common Oil-Beeile.

Pu. SAVE. A, 7.

—EEEEEEE

Gen. Cuar. Antenne moniliform, tapering towards
their points ; pap: four, unequal, subclavate ; elytra
rounded at the apex, covering only a part of the
abdomen, short, oval, diverging at the suture; wings

* Mat. Med. \ib. ii. cap. 65.
+ Hist. Nat. lib. xix.c. 4.
t{ Vol v. p. 213.

MELOE PROSCARABAUS. 203

none; legs compressed; posterior tarsi 4-jointed;
anterior and middle tarsi with three joints ; abdomen
very large and soft.

Spec. Cuar. Black; head and thorax punctated ; elytra
rugose ; antenna, sides of the head, thorax, and feet
violaceous.

Meloe proscarabeeus ; Syst. Nat. Gmel. i, 2017; Fabr. Syst. Ent, 259; Oliv. Ent.

iii. 45, 5, t.1,f.1; Marsh, Ent. Brit. i. 481,15 Leach, Trans. Lin, Soc. xi.
p. 46, t.7.

Le Proscarabee; Canterelle; Scarabee onctueux des marechaux, Fr.; Der
Switlerkifer; Maywurm, Ger.; Oliebillen, Dan.,; Majbagge, Swed. ;
Maslianka, Russ.

Tux Oil-beetle is found very frequently in spring, in our meadows
and pastures, creeping slowly; and feeding on the leaves of the
violet, anemone, hound’s-tongue, and on the different species of
Ranunculus. 1 have frequently taken it on Hampstead Heath, and
in sand-pits near the seven-mile stone, on the lower road to Wool-
wich. The body is entirely of a black colour, the antenne, sides of
the head, and feet, are tinged with violet. The head is inflected and
gibbous, the antenne moniliform, the thorax somewhat cordate ;
and the elytra soft, rugose, and much shorter than the abdomen.
The female, when distended with eggs, is more than double the
size of the male.—Fig. (a) represents the antenne of the male ;
(J) antennee of the female.

This insect, when touched, _ exudes an acrid fluid, of an oily
consistence, and of an orange colour, from each joint of its legs,
which is a powerful rubefacient, and was formerly celebrated for its
supposed efficacy in chronic rheumatism, applied to the parts in the
form of anembrocation. It has been likewise recommended as a
diuretic in dropsies, and on the continent, particularly in Germany,
as a remedy in hydrophobia. The late King of Prussia (Frederick
the Great) purchased the nostrum from the discoverer for a valu-
able consideration, as a specific against this terrible malady ; and
in 1781, it was inserted in sect. ii. of the Disp. Boruss. Brand.
According to this publication, twenty-five of these animals that

204 COCCUS CACTI.

have been preserved in honey, are, with two drachms of powdered
black ebony, one drachm of Virginia snake root, one drachm of
lead filings, and twenty grains of fungus sorbi, to be reduced to a
very fine powder; the whole, with two drachms of theriace of
Venice, (and if necessary with a little elder root) are to be formed
into an electuary. Professor Christison in his excellent work on
Poisons, quotes an account from Rust’s Magazine, of four persons
who took the powder of this insect from a quack for spasms of the
stomach. The principal symptoms were stifling and vomiting ;
and two of the people died within twenty-four hours.* The Meloe
varialilis, which has been confounded by all the continental writers
who have noticed it with the M. maialis of Linn. is said to possess
the same acrid properties. Itis figured by Dr. Leach in the 1]th
vol. of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, t. vi. f. 1, 2, and
by Donovan under the name of Meloe variegatus.

COCCUS CACTI,

Cochineal Insect.

Pr. XXVII. fie. 2.

Order Hemiptera, Lin. Cuv. OMopTerRa. Family
Coccip&, Leach. Gaxurnsecta, Lair.

Gen. Cuar. Antenne 1 1-joitited, filiform or setaceous ;
tarst with one joint and one nail ; male destitute of a
rostrum, with two wings covering the body hori-
zontally ; abdomen terminated by two sete ; female
apterous, furnished with a rostrum.

Spec. Cuar. Male very small, with the antenna shorter
than the body ; body elongated, deep red, terminated

* Magazin fiir die gesammte Heilkunde, viii .109.

COCCUS CACTI. 205

by two long diverging sete; wengs large, white,
crossed over the abdomen; female nearly twice as
large as the male, deep brown, covered with a white
farina; antenne short; body flatted below, convex;
feet short.

Coccus Cacti; Lin. De Geer, Fabr.;. Thiery de Menonv. Traite de la Cult. du
Nopal, Latr. Hist. Nat. des Fourm., et Rec. de Mem. p. 326.

La Cochenelle du nopal, Fr.; Die Koschenille, Ger.; Koskenillen, Dan. et Swed.

CocuInEAL, so highly prized for its valuable properties in pro-
ducing the dye which bears its name, is a native of South America.
It comes to us in the form of a reddish grain, covered with a
white powder or bloom, and feeds on various species of Cactus or
Indian fig. In Mexico, where the insect is domesticated and
reared with the greatest care, the plant is called Nopal, and has
been generally supposed to be the Cactus cochinilifer, but accord-
ing to Humboldt, is unquestionably a distinct species, to which he
has given the name of C. Bonplandii. The female, which alone
is valuable for its dye, is about one-eighth of an inch in length ;
the body is depressed, downy, transversely rugose, of a purplish
red colour, flat below and convex above; the head is furnished
with a rostrum rising from the breast, with a vagina and sete ;
the legs are six in number, short and black. The male is a very
small fly, with long filiform autenne, and two erect wings; the
body is of a deep red colour, with two very long sete proceeding
from the apex of the abdomen. No good figure and description
of this interesting species has yet been published.

Cochineal is chiefly cultivated in the intendency of Oaxaca ;
and some plantations contain 50 or 60,000 nopals in lines, each
being kept about four feet high for more easy access in collecting
the dye. The cultivators prefer the most prickly varieties of the
plant, as affording protection to the cochineal from insects; to
prevent which from depositing their eggs in the flower or fruit,
both are carefully cut off. The greatest quantity, however, of
cochineal employed in commerce, is produced in small nopaleries
belonging to Indians of extreme poverty, called Nopaleros. They

206 COCCUS CACTI.

plant their nopaleries in cleared ground on the slopes of moun-
tains or ravines, two or three leagues distance from the villages ;
and when properly cleaned, the plants are in a condition to main-
tain the cochineal in the third year. As a stock, the proprietor
-in April or May purchases branches or joints of the Tuna de
Castilla, laden with small cochineal insects recently hatched
(Semilia). These branches, which may be bought in the market
of Oaxaca for about three francs (2s. 6d.) the hundred, are kept
for twenty days in the interior of their huts, and then exposed to
the open air under a shed, where from their succulency they con-
tinue to live for several months. In August and September the
mother cochineal insects, now big with young, are placed in nests
made of a species of Tillandsia called Paxtle, which are dis-
tributed upon the nopals. In about four months the first gather-
ing, yielding twelve for one, may be made, which in the course of
the year is succeeded by two more profitable harvests. This period
of sowing and harvest refers chiefly to the districts of Sola and
Zimatlin. In colder climates the semilla is not placed upon the
nopals until October or even December, when it is necessary to
shelter the young insects by covering the nopals with rush mats,
and the harvests are proportionably later and unproductive. In
the immediate vicinity of the town of Oaxaca the Nopaleros feed
their cochineal insects in the plains from October to April, and at
the beginning of the remaining months, during which it rains in
the plains, transport them to their plantations of nopals in the
neighbouring mountains, where the weather is more favourable.
Much care is necessary in the tedious operation of gathering
the cochineal from the nopals, which is performed with a squirrel
or stag’s tail by the Indian women, who for this purpose squat
down for hours together beside one plant; and notwithstanding
the high price of the cochineal, it is to be doubted if the cultivation
would be profitable were the value of the labour more considerable.
The cochineal insects are killed either by throwing them into
boiling water, by exposing them in heaps to the sun, or by placing
them in ovens (Temaxealli) used for vapour baths. The last of
these methods, which is least in use, preserves the whitish powder
on the body of the cochineal, which being less subject to the

Ccoccus CACTI. 207

adulterations so often practised by the Indians, bears a higher
price both in America and Europe.*

The quantity at present annually exported from South America
is said by Humboldt to be 32,000 arrobas, estimated at 2,400,000
piasters, about 500,000/. sterling.

Cochineal has a faint disagreeable and a bitter austere taste.
According to M. M. Pelletier and Caventou, the colouring matter
which composes the principal part of the cochineal is mixed with
a peculiar animal matter, a fatty matter, phosphate and carbonate
of lime, and muriate and phosphate of potass. The colouring
matter which they have named carminium is soluble in water,
alcohol, and solutions of pure alkalies. Carmine is prepared by
precipitating the colouring matter from its solution in water, by
means of alum or oxide of tin.

MepicaL Prorerties AND Uses.—Cochineal has been recom-
mended as an antispasmodic and anodyne in hooping cough ;
but its principal use is to impart a fine colour to tinctures and
other preparations. It is sometimes adulterated with an admix-
ture of a manufactured imitation, composed of coloured dough.
The fraud may be very easily detected by the action of boiling
water, which dissolves the spurious grains, while it has little action
upon the genuine insect.

Lac is the produce of an insect formerly supposed to be a kind
of ant or bee, but now ascertained to be a species of Coccus ; and
is collected from various trees in the East Indies, where it is found
so abundantly, that, were the consumption ten times greater than
it is, it could be readily supplied. This substance is made use of
in that country in the manufacture of beads, rings, and other
female ornaments. Mixed with sand it forms grindstones; and
added to lamp or ivory-black, being first dissolved in water with
the addition of a little borax, it composes an ink not easily acted
upon when dry by damp or water. In this country, where it is
distinguished by the names stick-lac when in its native state,
unseparated from the twigs to which it adheres ; seed-lac when
separated, pounded, and the greater part of the colouring matter

* Humboldt’s Political Essay on New Spain, iii, p. 72-9.

208 DIPLOLEPIS GALLA: TINCTORIA.

extracted by water ; dmp-lac when melted and made into cakes;
and shell-lac when strained and formed into transparent laminee.
It has hitherto been chiefly employed in the composition of var-
nishes, japanned ware, and sealing wax: but within these few
years it has been applied to a still more important purpose, origi-
nally suggested by Dr. Roxburgh—that of a substitute for cochineal
in dyeing scarlet. )

DIPLOLEPIS GALL TINCTORI,

Gall-nut Insect.

PL. XXVII. fig. 4.

Order HyMEnopTerRa. Family DipLoterip», Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Antenne filiform, thicker towards their
extremities, of 15 joints in the male; antenne in the
female with 14 joints; palpi very short, of 4 joints,
the last obconic; abdomen with the inferior part com-
pressed, triangular-ovoid ; inferior wings without dis-
tinct nervures ; upper wings with the marginal cells
linear-lanceolate.

Spec. Cuar. Body pale, testaceous, clothed with a very
short silky pubescence ; abdomen shining and blackish
at the base ; upper wings much larger than the infe-
rior ; /egs rather short.

Diplolepis galle tinctorie ; Oliv. Ency. Meth.; “Lair. Hist. Nat. des Crust, et
Ins. xiii, 206; Steph. and Church. Med. Bot. iv. t. 152.

Inuaszits Asia, on the Quercus infectoria, and produces the nut-
galls of commerce, See ‘ Medical Botany,” vol. iv. art. 152.

4

Drawn by Fottray

LVespa Crabre . 2. Bombus terrestris.
3. Apis metlifica

London Published by 7Vilsan, June 11831

VESPA CRABRO. 209

VESPA CRABRO.
The Hornet.

Pr. AMVIEL. fig. 1,

Order HyMenoprera. Family Vespapm, Leach.

Gen. Cuar. Mandibles with the second tooth much
broader than the two under ones, the upper one
obtuse; clypeus with the anterior margin broadly
truncate and somewhat emarginate, with a tooth on
each side; abdomen ovoid-conic, with the base
abruptly truncated, and very shortly pedunculated.

Spec. Cuar. Antenne obscure, with the base ferrugi-
nous ; head ferruginous, pubescent, with the upper
lip yellow ; mandibles black at the extremity ; thorar
black, pubescent, with the anterior portion brownish;
first segment of the abdomen black, with the base
ferruginous, and the margins yellowish, the other
segments black at the base, yellow at the extremity,
with a small black lateral point on each; feet
brownish. :

Vespa crabro; Lin. Geoff. Fabr. Lair. La Guepe Frelon, Cuv.

Le Frelon, Fr.; Calabrone,It.; Abispon, Sp.; Vespao, Port.; Die Hornis, Ger.;
Gedehams, Dan.; Bolgeting, Swed.; Truten, Russ.

Tue Hornet is a much more formidable insect than the com-

mon Wasp, and of considerably larger size. It is common

throughout Europe, building its nest in hollow trees. The females,

having passed the winter in torpidity, early in spring issue from

their hiding-place, and search out a convenient place for the esta-
T

210 VESPA CRABRO,

blishment of a colony, and begin the operation by building a thick
and solid pillar of the same materials as the other parts of the nest,
but much harder and more compact. The matter of which this
is formed consists principally of the bark of the ash detached in
filaments, and ground by their mandibles into a paste which hardens
as the work goes on. The column or pillar the female fixes in the
most elevated part of the vault, and attached to it is a kind of cap
or roof which protects their combs from above. These cells are
hexagonal, with their openings turned downwards, for the purpose
of containing her eggs, and the grubs which issue from them. As
in spring only female wasps are seen, it is conjectured that they
have been fecundated before winter, for they commence depositing
their ova as soon as the cells are ready. These ova are soon
hatched, and when the larve have acquired sufficient size, they
line their cell with a silky substance, and in this substance undergo
their metamorphosis into pup@e, and afterwards into perfect or
winged insects. The insects first produced are the neuters, work-
ing insects, or labourers. These occupy themselves in the con-
struction of the dwelling and feeding of the larvee. The female
continues to deposit her ova; the family is consequently augmented ;
and the nest becoming at length too small, necessity requires it to
be enlarged. When this is completed a new addition of pillars is
formed connected with the first, till the whole cavity is filled except
an entrance about an inch in diameter. In the month of Septem-
ber and beginning of October, the young males and females emerge
from their pupe state, and all the larvee which have not completed
their transformation perish from cold or want of food, for the
Hornets cease to feed them after this period, and even throw them
out of the nest. The males and neuters perish daily, so that
towards the end of winter the females, which are enabled to pass
that season in a torpid state are the only ones that remain alive
to propagate the race by the formation of new colonies.

The inflammation and swelling arising from the sting of the
Hornet is much more violent than that produced by the sting of
bees, and is often productive of very serious and even fatal conse-
quences.* The wounds occasioned by these insects are attended

* Amoreux, Anim. Venim, 242.

BOMBUS TERRESTRIS. 21

with a very acute pain in the part, very quickly succeeded by an :
inflammatory swelling, and more or less fever according to the
severity of the injury. In general it is sufficient to rub the part
with olive-oil, vinegar, or some spirituous embrocation, after
extracting the sting. In more severe cases emollient anodyne
applications should be resorted to, in order to allay the irritation
and swelling, and five or six drops of the volatile alkali administered
every fifteen minutes. The same mode of treatment is to be
adopted to relieve the pain and inflammation arising from the sting
of the common wasp, humble-bee, hive-bee, ichneumon HY, Bec.

BOMBUS TERRESTRIS,
Common Humble-Bee.
Po. SXAVIIL. fie. 2.

Order HymenorTera. Family Aptarie, Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Antenne filiform, broken ; dabtwm trans-
verse ; mandibles spoon-shaped, rounded at the apex,
toothed ; palpi four, the maxillary palpi spatulate ;
ocel disposed in a transverse line; body very hairy ;
hairs disposed in particoloured fascia or spots; pos-
terior t#bze terminated by two spines.

Spec. Cuar. Black, hairy; base of the thorax and
abdomen marked by a yellow bar; anus white.
Apis terrestris; Syst, Nat. Gmel, p. 2781. Bombus terrestris; Kirby, Mon. Apum.

Angl. ii. p. 350, sp. 97.
DT Abeille terrestie, Fr.; Die Erdhummel, Ger.

Tue number of British species composing the present genus, of
which Bombus ¢errestris is the type, amount to about thirty-nine.
They live in societies of from fifty to sixty or more individuals, in
an oval or roundish nest, in holes in the earth or beneath stones

a a

212 BOMBUS TERRESTRIS.

on the surface. When they do not meet with an accidental cavity
ready made they excavate one with great labour. It is of consi-
derable extent, broader than it is deep, and constructed in the
form of a dome, by a convex vault or coping of moss, the interior
surface of which is lined with a kind of coarse wax, to keep out the
wet. In this nest, which measures from four to six feet in dia-
meter, the female deposits little masses of brown wax, forming a
kind of irregular cells. In these cells, which are of three different
sizes according to the sex of the destined inhabitant, the eggs are
laid, and the larvee, having lived their appointed period in that
state, form each its coccoon, which is pierced at the bottom, and
through this opening the perfect insect finds its exit. In every
nest are placed a few cylindrical cells of coarse wax, filled with
pure honey, on which feed the complete insects.

The Humble-Bees consist of males, females, and two distinct
varieties of neuters or labourers. The females, of which there are
more than one in each society, are the largest, the males are of
middle size, as well as one variety of neuters, the smaller kind of
which are scarcely larger, indeed sometimes even less, than the
hive-bee. According to the observations of the younger Huber,
many of the labourers, which are produced in the spring, unite
with the males of the same race, and soon after lay their eggs,
which produce only individuals of the latter sex, and are destined in
the spring of the following year to lay the foundation of a new
colony.

The Poison of Bees and Wasps is a transparent fluid, contained
in a small vesicle, forced through the hollow tube of the sting into
the wound inflicted by that instrument. It is at first sweet to the
taste, but immediately afterwards hot and acrid, like the milky
juice of the Spurge. From the experiments of Fontana, we learn
that it bears a striking resemblance to the poison of the Viper,
which, however differs from it in being tasteless, and not affecting
vegetable blues.* That of the Humble-Bees is much less active
than that of the Hive-Bee and the Wasps.

* On Poisons, i. p. 265,

APIS MELLIFICA. 213

APIS MELLIFICA.
Common Honey or Hive- Bee.
Pi. XXVIT. fiz. 3.

Order HyMENopPTERA. Family ApiaRuE. Latr.

Gen. Cuar. Posterior tibia without spurs or heels;
posterior tarst with the first joint long and much com-
pressed ; wpper wings with three submarginal cells
complete, the last oblique and linear.

Spec. Cuar. Blackish; abdomen of the same colour,
with a transverse greyish band, formed by the down
at the base of the third and following segments.

Apis mellifica; Lin. Syst. Gmel, p.2774; Kirby, Monogr, Apium Angl.ii. p.312,
sp. 73.

Abeille ad miel, Fr.; Ape, Pecchia, It.; La Abeja comun 6 trabajadora, Sp.;
Abelha, Port.; Die Honigbiene, Ger.; Pschela, Russ.

Tue Honey-Bee is frequent in the wild state in the forests of
Russia, and in different parts of Asia, occupying cavities in trees
and rocks, but is very rarely to be found in Britain. Hence the
insect may have either been domesticated at a very remote period
by the inhabitants, or it may have been introduced from abroad.
To America, where it is very common in the woods, it is supposed
to have been carried in the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
“Tt is,” says Mr. Starke, “ of an oblong form and pubescent, with
a triangular head nearly the breadth of the thorax, bearing two
filiform geniculate and short antennz of from ten to twelve joints.
The eyes are large oval and entire, and there are three ocelli dis-
posed in a triangular form on the vertex. The mouth is com-
posed of a transverse labrum, two strong mandibles, two jaws, a
long and slender lip, and four palpi, of which the maxillary ones
are very small and the labial ones long. The lip is terminated by
a long tongue or probosis, striated transversely, hairy, with the

214 APIS MELLIFICA.

extremity truncated and slightly dilated. This tongue is inclosed
in a scaly semicircular sheath. The thorax is short, rounded, very
obtuse behind; and the abdomen conical or truncated before, and
rounded or convex above, is suspended at its posterior extremity
by a small filament or peduncle. The abdomen is composed of
from six to seven segments. The legs are less hairy than in the
other congenerous insects, and the first joint of the tarsi is large,
flattened, in the form of a square palette, a little longer than broad.
All the individuals have wings; the upper wings have a narrow
and elongated radial cell and three cubital cells, of which the first is
square, receiving the recurrent nerve, and the third oblique linear,
receiving the second recurrent nerve.

“The societies of Bees include three kinds of individuals :—the
workers or neuters, forming the greater portion of the population ;
the males or drones in limited number ; the females, of which there
is generally but one in each hive, known by the name of the
Queen-lee. The workers and the females are armed with a sting ;
and M. Huber, jun. has remarked a difference among the workers,
the largest being destined for out-door employment, and the smaller
busying themselves in cleaning the cells and feeding the larve
within. Of the number of Bees in a hive, from 15,000 to 30,000,
the males or drones form a portion to the extent of 200 to 1000
or upwards, the queen or female bee one, and the others are neu-
ters or workers. The males and females only are evolved for the
reproduction of the species. The female deposits a great number
‘of ova every day in spring, the cells for which are prepared by the
workers ; and the deposition of ova ceases in autumn, because the
pollen of flowers for the support of the larvee fails. The individuals
first produced are all workers ; about the end of two days the ova
for the males are laid, and afterwards those for the females, which
are all deposited in corresponding cells. The ova are of an elon-
gated form, slightly bent, of a blueish-white colour, about a line
long, and they are hatched in the course of three, four, five, or six
days, according to the temperature. The larve produced from
these ova are in the form of a small wrinkled white worm, without
feet ; and they are fed by the workers, who visit each cell for this
purpose with their appropriate food.

APIS MELLIFICA. 215

The cells not occupied by the larvee are filled with honey. The
combs are placed parallel to one-another, and the cells of which
they are composed are of a hexagonal form constructed with much
art and regularity.

“When deprived of a queen, another is soon produced by
the workers rearing one of their own larve for this purpose,
which, by a particular treatment, becomes a female. This
fact has led to the opinion that the neuters or workers are but
imperfectly developed females. At a certain period of the year,
the males, having fulfilled the purpose of their being, are put to
death, along with all their pupz and larve.”* The queen differs
considerably in size and appearance from the males and workers.
She is about eight lines anda half in length, while the males are
seven, and the workers six; her abdomen is proportionally longer,
her wings so short as scarcely to reach past the third segment, and
her colour deep brown tinged with yellow.

The general appearance and qualities of honey are familiar to
every one. That which runs from the comb without expression,
contains a less proportion of wax, and is considered the best. It
is at first thin and limpid, but-when kept, partly crystallizes into
little irregular concretions. It is of a whitish or yellowish
colour; it has a peculiar fragrant odour, and a sweet acidulous
taste. A less pure honey is obtained by cutting the combs in
pieces, and exposing them before the fire to render the honey more
liquid ; and a still inferior kind is obtained by heating the remainder
still more in a vessel over the fire, and then squeezed through a
canvass bag. The honey which is obtained from young hives that
have never swarmed is denominated virgin honey. To purify the
wax nothing more is necessary than boiling the empty combs, and
those deprived of the honey, in water, and removing the scum
which will rise in the successive meltings, Honey is frequently
adulterated with flour; the fraud, as Dr. Thompson observes, is
easily detected by mixing it with tepid water, which dissolves the
honey, while the flour remains nearly unaltered.

Honey is evidently a variety of sugar, containing a crystallizable
espn ates dice hee pre ee eh ee het apes eee ~

* Elements of Natural History, vol. ii. p.

2t6 APIS MELLIFICA.

and an uncrystallizable portion, mucilage, wax, an acid, and some-
times a little essential oil. It is soluble in water, and partially in
alcohol ; and, like sugar, when diluted with water, and subjected
to a proper temperature, passes into the acetous and vinous fer-
mentation, affording what is called mead and metheglin. Nitric
acid unites with honey, and converts it into oxalic acid.

The tongue is the principal organ in collecting the honey ; when
employed, it is extended, and the insect apparently licks the honey
and passes it down on its upper surface, which is at its base, con-
cealed by the mandibles. It is conveyed by this orifice through
the cesophagus into the first stomach, usually called the honey-bag,
which is swelled when full of it to a considerable size. All the
honey we observe in the combs is a vegetable product, being prin-
cipally collected by the bees from the nectaries of flowers, in which
it is abundantly secreted. After being swallowed by the bees, it
is disgorged into their cells; but it probably undergoes some
change in that organ before it is excreted, and deposited in the
comb. How the wax is secreted, or what vessels are appropriated
to that purpose, is not ascertained. There is reason to believe
that it transudes through two taper-form whitish pockets of a
membranaceous texture occupying the base of the rings connecting
the body in the form of wax.

The color and flavor of honey, and its effects on the human
constitution varies according to the nature of the flowers from
which it is collected. That of Narbonne, in France, where rose-
mary abounds, is said to have a very manifest flavour of that plant,
and to be imitable by adding to other honey an infusion of rose-
mary flowers. Many of the ancient writers, particularly Xenophon,
have mentioned instances of deleterious effects being produced by
honey, supposed to have been collected by bees from poisonous
plants. The Greek soldiers, in their celebrated retreat after the
death of the younger Cyrus, found a kind of honey near Trebisond,
on the shores of the Euxine or Black Sea, which rendered those
who ate of it like mad-men or persons inebriated; and numbers
lay upon the ground as if there had been a defeat. The same fact
is recorded by Diodorus Siculus. Pliny, who mentions this honey,
calls it Maenomenon, and observes that it is said to be collected from

APIS MELLIFICA. 217

a species of Rhododendron.* Dr. Barton, an American physician,
observed a poisonous kind of honey in the western parts of Pen-
sylvania, near the river Ohio, The usual symptoms produced by
honey of this description are dimness of sight, vertigo, ebriety, pain
in the stomach and intestines, low pulse, profuse perspiration,
foaming at the mouth, vomiting, diarrhoea, cold extremities, con-
vulsions, and in a few instances death. In these cases gentle
emetics, and purgatives of castor oil, together with the use of warm
fomentations were found to be the most efficacious remedies. The
plants from the flowers of which the bees are capable of extracting
a poisonous honey, are principally the Kalmia angustifolia and
latifolia, of Lin, ; the Kalmia hirsuta, of Walter; the Andromeda
mariana; the Rhododendron maximum+ or large Rose-bay ; the
Azalea nudiflora; and the Datura Stramoninum.t

The domesticated or Hive-bee, is the same, according to Latreille,
in every part of Europe, except in some districts in Italy, and
probably also in the Morea, and the Isles of the Archipelago, where a
different species (Apis ligustica, of Spinola) is commonly cultivat-
ed.§ Honey is obtained, however, in Asia and America, from many
other species both wild and domestic.||_ In South America, quanti-
ties are collected from the nests built in trees, by Trigona Amal-
thea, and other species of this genus recently separated from Apis.
The Apis fasciata, of Latreille, which is extensively cultivated in
Egypt, is supposed to have been attended to for ages before our
Hive-Bee. In Madagascar the inhabitants have domesticated Apis
unicolor; Apis Indica is cultivated in India, at Pondicherry, and
in Bengal ; A. Adansonii, at Senegal; and according to Fabricius,
the A. acraensis, laboriosa, and others in the East and West Indies,

* Xenoph. Anabas.\.iv. Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. xxi.c. 13.

+ Geo. H. Welchius, a learned German writer, quoted by Baron Haller, (Hisé.
Stirp. Indig. Helv. i. p. 433,) says that the flesh of a hare which was fed with the
leaves of the Rhododendron ferrugineum proved fatal to the guests.

t{ See Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. v. p. 51.

§ See an interesting account of a Mexican wild bee, (Melapona Beecheii,) with a
description of the insect and its hive, in Capt. Beechy’s Voyage to the Pacific, part
2, p. 613, by E. T. Bennet, Esq. F. L.S.

|| Latreille, in Humboldt and Bonpland, Recueil d’Observ. de Zoologie, ke.
p. 300.

218 APIS LIGUSTICA.

might be domesticated with greater advantage than even the Apis
mellifica.

MepicaL Properties AND Usrs.—Honey is demulcent, and
externally detergent and stimulant. It agrees in its alimentary
properties with sugar, and in some countries forms a nutritive
article of diet. According to Azara, one of the chief articles of
food of the Indians who live in the woods of Paraguay, is wild
honey.* With some constitutions honey proves a pretty active
aperient, and sometimes produces colic, and other disagreeable
symptoms, in which case, as Dr. Thompson justly observes, simple
syrup should be preferred in all cases for forming medicinal prepa-
rations for internal use. Combined with vinegar, either alone or
with the impregnation of the active matter of vegetables, it forms
the kind of composition named Oxymel. In pharmacy, it is occa-
sionally employed as a means of blending with and suspending
insoluble substances in water. As a local stimulant and detergent
it forms a useful adjunct to gargles, in cynanche, and apthous
ulcerations of the’ mouth and fauces. Combined with verdigris it
is applied as a stimulant and escharotic to foul ulcers. The empi-
rical nostrum sold under the name of balsam of honey, is merely
pound tincture of benzoin of the pharmacopeeias.

Wax has been given internally in diarrhea and dysentery, in the
form of emulsion, combined by means of soap, with mucilaginous
mixtures; but it is chiefly employed in the composition of oint-
ments and cerates.

Orr, Prep.—Mel. Despumatum, L. D. Mel. Boracis, L.
Mel. Rose, L. D. Oxymel simplex, L. D. Oxy. Colchici, D.
Oxy. Scille, L. D.

APIS LIGUSTICA, Spinol.— Nearly similar to the
preceding ; the first two segments of the abdomen,
except the posterior margin, and the base of the third,
pale reddish.—Inhabits Italy.— Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat.
i. 47.

* Voy. dans ? Amer. Merid, i. 162.

ENTOZOA, 219

APIS UNICOLOR, Latr.—Almost black, shining, the
abdomen without spots or coloured bands.—Inhabits
the Isle of France.— Nouv. Dict. i. 47.

APIS INDICA, Fabr.—Black, with a grey cinereous
down, the first two segments of the abdomen and the
base of the third reddish-brown.—Inhabits Bengal, &c.
—Nouv. Dict. i. 47.

Crass XII.—ENTOZOA.

Body soft, elongated, naked, smooth, without head,
properly so called, eyes, or feet ; mouth formed of one
or many suckers, and furnished in the greater number
with minute teeth, by which they attach themselves to
and pierce through the bodies of animals ; no tentacula
or distinct organs of respiration; intestinal canal without
coeca or convolutions, and in some scarcely perceptible ;
sexes distinct.

THE animals of this class are parasitic, or live and propagate only
in the bodies of other animals. It seems to be a law of nature
that all animals have other animals still smaller which reside within
them, and derive their nourishment from their various textures.
Of these, some are common to several classes of animals, while
others, again, are peculiar to, and are only found in particular spe-
cies. They occur not only in the alimentary canal and in the
vessels which communicate with it, but in the cellular tissue, in
the liver and gall-bladder, in the cornea of the eye, the bronchiz,
the fauces, the kidneys, in the parenchyma of all the internal organs,
and even in the brain itself. Goeze says, that worms have been
found in the intestines of the human embryo. Some of these
are evidently taken in with the food and drink, and are called

220 TRICHOCEPHALUS DISPAR.

ectoxoa ; while others originate from ova in the various textures
and cavities of the body, and are denominated entoxoa. The origin
of intestinal worms and all other entozoa, has long been involved
in great obscurity ; it is, however, now ascertained not only that
the greater part produce ova or living young, but many have sepa-
rate sexes, and couple as ordinary animals.*

Div. 1—Worms which inhabit the intestinal canal.

TRICHOCEPHALUS DISPAR,
The Long Thread-Worm.

Px, XXIX. fig. 1, 2.

Order NematoiwEA, Rudolph.

Gen. Cuar. Body round, elastic, the posterior part
thick and clavated; the anterior capillary sometimes
with a knob at the end; mouth orbicular; penis of
the male simple, inclosed in a sheath.

* Consult Redi, de Animalculis Vivis que in corporibus Animalium Vivorum
reperiuntur, 1708. Latreille, Fam. Nat. du Regne Animal, 1805. Clerc, Hist.
Nat. et Med. Latorum Lumbricorum, Geneva, 1715. J. A. Goeze, Versucheiner
Naturzeschichte der Eingeweidewurmer Thierischer Kérper, Blackenburg, 4to.
1782. Pallas, Diss. Inaug. de Infestis Viventibus Viventia, Lug. Bat. 1760.
Bloch, Abhandlung von der Enzegung der Eingeweideurmer, und dein Mittlen
wider Diselben, Berlin, 4to. 1782. Zeeder, Systema Entozoorum, 1800. Werner,
Intestinalium presertim Tenie Humane, brevis expositio, 4vol. 8vo. Leipsic, 1782,
1788. Modeer, Bibliotheca Helminthologica, Erlang. 1786. Muller, 0. F. Von
Wermern des Sussen und Salzingen Wassers, 4to. Copenhagen, 1771. Bruguiere,
in the art. Vers, in the Ency. Methodique. C. A. Rudolphi, Entozoorum, sive
Verm. Intest. Hist. Nat. 1808; and Entozoorum Synopsis, Berol. 1819. Bremser,
Traite Zoologique et Physiologique sur les Vers Intestinaua, par M. de Blain-
ville, 8vo. Paris, 1824; and Icones Helminthum, fol. Vienna, 1824. Rhiod, Trea-
tise on the Nature and Cure of Intestinal Worms. Hooper, in the Memoirs of
the London Medical Society, vol. vi. - "

fl. RAL

C. Soratt el e- Lethe.

Printed by C.F. Madeley 3. Welling ton 5S* Strano

A. Lilarva Medinersts.

2. Strongylus gigas; a, the lad, b, thehega .
O. DistonuhQPalecuMe, WAL. SEZE; C, TRAG
4. kahtnococttts omieres. c. wag
0. LATVA Of Lerc0rie OBSCUTILS.
OC Larva GY Oest7Tus doves.
J Larva Lf Helophalies Parails.
S Larva of Oestris hemorrhowdalis.

foe A ee ta

OXYURIS VERMICULARIS. 221

Spec. Cuar. Anterior capillary part the longest; head
pointed, indistinct; body of the male twisted in a
spiral form.

Trichocephalus hominis; Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 5037; Goeze, Eingew, p. 112, t.6,
f.15. Trichocephalus dispar; Rudol. Ent. p. 16. Trichurus vulgaris; Hoop.
Mem. T.ond. Med. Soc. v. p. 252. Ascharis trichuria; Wern. Verm. Intest.
p. 84.

La Trichiure de ’ Homme, Fr.; Der Peitschenwurm, Ger.

Turis Worm, when full grown, is about two inches in length, and
of a pale yellowish colour. The anterior end is capillary and
double the length of the posterior, terminating in an acute point,
where the mouth is situated. The posterior part is thick, and
swells out to a considerable size; and in the male it is twisted
round in a spiral form. Each sex is in a different individual ; the
alimentary canal is straight, and around it lie the organs of gene-
ration. The female is distinguished from the male by having a
somewhat larger anterior part, and from the posterior end being
rarely found bent. The Trichocephalus or hair-headed worm, was
formerly called érichurus, or hair-tailed, the head having been mis-
taken for a tail. This species was first discovered in 1761, by
Rheeder, at Goettingen, in the bodies of some French soldiers who
had died of a contagious disease. It is found chiefly in the ccecum ;
is generally numerous, and much more common in infants.
Rudolphi found more than a thousand in one individual.

OXYURIS VERMICULARIS,
The Maw, or Thread-Worm.
Pi. XXIX. fig. 3, 4.

Order NematToipEA, Rudolph.

Gen. Cuar. Body round, elastic; posterior part of the
female awl-shaped ; mouth orbicular; penes in a sheath.

222 ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES.,

Spec. Cuar. Head blunt; éail of the male convoluted,
obtuse; of the female awl-shaped straight.
Ascaris vermicularis; Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. 3029; Hoop. Mem. Med. Soc. v. p. 245;

Rudolp. Entoz. p.44, Oxyure vermiculaire ; Lamar. An. sans Vert. t. 3, p. 104.
DL) Ascarides, Fr.; Der Afterwurm, Ger.; Barnmask, Swed.

Tue Thread-Worm, commonly known as the ascaris, is a small
species, the female being four or five lines in length, and the
male only a line or a line anda half. The body is thread-like, very
elastic, and of a faint yellow colour, The posterior end is con-
voluted in a spiral form, and the organization is the same as in the
preceding species. They inhabit the intestines of children, even
of those newly born, especially the rectum ; they sometimes crawl
out upon the thighs, and enter thé vagina, the bladder, and the
urinary passages. Goeze, Hooper, and others, maintain that the
oxyures are viviparous ; while Rudolphi and Bremser are of opi-
nion that they are oviparous.

To expell the Thread-worm, colocynth, scammony, gamboge,
aloes, calomel, jalap, and indeed almost all the active and drastic
cathartics are occasionally employed. They are very readily
destroyed for a time by bitter and oily injections ; and their future
generation may be prevented by keeping up a regular action of the
bowels, by change of diet, by the use of powerful bitters, as rue,
tansy, and wormwood, together with whatever tends to strengthen
the general system.

ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES.
The Long Round Worm.
Pi. XXIX. fig. 5.

Order NematorpEa, Rudolphi.

Gen. Cuar. ody round, elastic, and attenuated at
each end; head with three valves; penis bifur-
cated.

>|

s aOeBOUURRECReSr ery yen :

‘OF

Grn

giv lane ae

Binted by CE Madeley Wellington sé

C Sorazé Gel.cé Leh,

Bothrvoceplt aes lati.s en heawd.aq.lail

S Ascarts lumbrecotdes with Phe head mag
& g read y Janta Soli

TED

Head of Tania soltam,with articdlakons

y Se Trichoccepht alits AtISPar. ale., Te77k 87 TOF
2 The VAM CC S/O 2 a shy Peu brs A the lat op : ( 0
7

: hx, He
Oxyures veriecilares, fem. AA. male; e€. reeag.”

* La \

P neces S&’ Dec. 7 IS 37

9
e?
ficb ay J Wilsore Lrtn

7

BE

ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES. 2238

Spec. Cuar. Body naked; with a small groove or
longitudinal depression on each side; ¢az/ obtuse.

A. lumbricoides, Syst. Nat. Gmelin. p. 3029. Hoop. Mem. Med. Soc. y. p. 233.
Rudolph. Entoz. p. 57, 267. Wern. Verm. Intest, p. 75. t. 7. f. 153, 159.

Lombricdes Intestines, Fr.; Verme Rondo Cambrico, It.; Lombrig. Sp. ; Rund-
wurm, Ger.; Menneskeorm, Dan.; Menisco-mask, Swed.

THe Lumbricus Yeres, or Round Worm, is about the thickness
of a goose-quill, and from twelve to fifteen inches long. It is gene-
rally of a brownish-red colour ; but it varies considerably according
to the nature of the aliment with which the animal is filled. When
recently passed they are quite transparent, and the viscera and organs
of generation may be seen through the integuments; but on ex-
posure to the air, they soon assume a light and opaque yellow
tinge. The head is distinguished from the rest of the body by a
circular depression, and it is furnished with three tubercles or
valves found in no other entozoa. In the centre of these tubercles
is a small tube, which is the opening of the mouth. The body is
cylindrical, tapering towards the two extremities, with a small
groove or depression extending on either side, from the head to the
tail. The animal has external integuments, muscles, digestive and
genital organs, and according to some authors, even a circulating
and nervous system.* The integuments consist of two distinct
membranes, the cuticle which is thin, smooth, and transparent,
and the cutis vera or true skin, which is somewhat thicker than the
former, very strong, elastic, and transparent. The muscles lie
throughout under the skin, and have longitudinal and transverse
fibres. The digestive canal is straight, extending the whole length
of the worm, and terminating by a transverse fissure in the anus,
near the extremity of the tail; each sex is in a different individual.
The male is smaller than the female, and is distinguished from the
latter by having the end of the tail bent. The organs of generation
are situated near the anus, and in the female fill a great part of the
animal. It resembles in its general aspect the common earth-
worm, but is readily distinguished from it by the want of sete or

* See Anatomie des vers Intestinaux, par Jules Cloquet, Paris, 1824.

224 BOTHRIOCEPHALUS LATUS.

feet-like processes along the sides, by its being less fleshy, by the
very slender rings round it, and by its being oviparous. These
worms are usually found in the small intestines, particularly in the
jejunum and ilium ; but as they escape from these, they are some-
times met with in the larger, in the stomach, cesophagus, pharynx,
and mouth. A case is mentioned by Andral, where they caused
sudden death by getting into the larynx. They are also reported to
have sometimes penetrated into the gall-bladder and ductus commu-
nis choledochus, and have perforated the intestine, escaping into
the cavity of the abdomen, bladder, vagina, and even through the
parities of the abdomen ; but this has almost always happened after
death. They are most common in children, and more rare as age ad-
vances. A few instances occur of its being solitary. In the gene-
rality of cases, there are from thirty to forty, and Dr. Hooper
knew a girl, eight years of age, who voided, per anwm, upwards of
two hundred in the course of a week. The celebrated Dr. Peter
Frank, of Vienna, also mentions a case in which the intestines were
crammed full of them. The Geoffroya inermis, or cabbage-tree
bark, given in powder or decoction, has been strongly recom-
mended for the expulsion of the round worm, It is, however, very
easily got rid of, by any brisk purgative.

BOTHRIOCEPHALUS LATUS.

The Broad Tape-Worm.
PL. XXIX. fig. 6.

Order CrsroipEA, Rudolph.

Gen. Cuar. Body elongated, depressed, articulated ;
head sub-quadrangular, with two and sometimes four
depressions.

Spec. Cuar. Head and marginal fossets oblong;
anterior articulations striated, the next very short,
sub-quadrate, broader; the last articulations the
longest.

TANIA SOLIUM. 225

Tenia vulgaris; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p. 3067. Tenia lata; Goere, Eingew.s. 290,
f.8. Tenia osculis superficialibus; Hoop. Mem. Med. Soc. v. p.276. Le Bot
de ’Homme; Lamar. An. sans. Vert. iii. p.167; Rudol. Eutoz. p. 136.

Le Ver Flat, Fr.; Der Breit Bandwurm, Ger.

Tue flattened, or riband-like entozoa, usually denominated Tape-
worms, consist of a series of articulations, each with lateral pores.
In the Lothriocephalus, or broad Tape-worm, the articulations are
generally broader than long, of an oblong square form, and studded
with minute papille. On the flattened surface, near the edge of
each of these joints, there is one or two small round openings or
pores, surrounded by the oviducts, which are disposed in the form
of a star. The anterior part is oblong, and furnished with two
and sometimes with four oval depressions, in the centre of which
is the mouth or opening into the alimentary canal. The tail is
generally round and simple, but sometimes bifurcated. It is
usually from three to fifteen or twenty feet in length, of a dirty
white colour, and occurs, either solitary, or in parties of three or
four in the same individual. It infests the small intestines of the
inhabitants of Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and some parts of
France, but is rarely found in this country.

TAENIA SOLIUM.
The common Tape-Worm.
Pi, XXIX. fig. 7, 8, 9.

Order CxstowwEa, Rudolphi.

Gen. Cuar. Body elongated, compressed, articulated ;
head with four oscula or suckers.

Spec. Cuar. Head sub-hemispherical ; rostrum obtuse ;
articulations longitudinally wrinkled, those next the

neck very short, becoming broader towards the tail ;
U

226 TANIA SOLIUM.

middle joints quadrangular, the others oblong ; mar-
ginal pores sometimes on one side, sometimes on the
other.

Teniasolium; Syst, Nat. Gmelin, p. 3962. Goeze, Eingew.s.269,t. 21, f.1,7, 9,12,
Trans. of Lin. Soc. ii. p. 247. T, cucurbitina; Pallas, Elench. Zoophyt.
p- 405, T. osculis marginalibus; Hoop. Lon. Med. Soc. v. p. 257- Der
Kurbisbandwurm ; Baisch, Bandwurmer, s. 117, f.1,6,9, &e. Rudol Entoz.
p- 162, 522.

Tuis species is distinguished from the preceding by the more
irregular form and structure of its articulations, which are transverse,
oval, rhomboidal, or somewhat quadrangular, wrinkled transversely,
and having the marginal pores placed sometimes on one side,
sometimes on the other. The mouth is situated on the anterior
part of the head; it is a small orifice, and when viewed with a
microscope exhibits a projecting margin, surrounding an excava-
tion of a striated appearance. On the head there are four orifices,
which are supposed to be suckers, by which the worm adheres so
closely to the coats of the intestines that it resists the most violent
medicines. On the margin of each joint is situated one, rarely
two, small openings or pores, on one side only, or on the opposite
side of each succeeding joint throughout the whole length of the
animal. The alimentary canal commences at the mouth by a
simple tube, that divides into two branches near the basis of the
proboscis, which proceed near the margin of the worm to the
other extremity. Each joint is composed internally of two distinct
sets of vessels—the alimentary canal and the ovaria; the ovaria,
which contains the eggs, are generally filled with an opaque whitish |
fluid, resembling chyle.* These worms are supposed to be
hermaphrodite ; but the sexual organs have not been observed.
This, like the Bothriocephalus, is much more frequent among
adults than in children, and is the species most common in
Britain. It occupies the small intestines, particularly of females,
and feeds on the chyle. It may be voided in lengths of several
yards, or in numerous fragments or detached joints, which, from
resembling gourd seeds, are by the common people called gourd-

NT i RT i NRT ay SNA i tN a Reece neoe aarp en
* See Rhind’s Treatise on the Nature and Cure of Intestinal Worms, p.73.

FILARIA MEDINENSIS. 227

worms. By some, as Blumenbach and Sir A. Carlisle, these arti-
culations, when separated from the body, are conjectured to
become distinct animals. This species was formerly imagined to
be solitary, and from this circumstance has been called the teenia
solium. It is now, however, ascertained to be gregarious, two or
three being generally found in the same individual.

The oil of turpentine, given in doses from half an ounce to two
ounces, is undoubtedly the most effectual remedy we possess for
directly: removing worms. Dr. George Gregory says it may be
safely given even to children in the quantity of six drachms, in
milk or mixed with water, either by means of mucilage or honey,*
Dr. Bremser considers the empyreumatic oil of Chabert as the
most effectual remedy for intestinal worms, and especially for tape
worms.f

Div. 1.—Worms that inhabit other structures and cavt-
ties of the body.

FILARIA MEDINENSIS.
The Guinea-Worm.

Pi. XXIX. A. fig. 1.

Order NematowEA, Rudolph.

Gen Cuar. Body round, elastic, entirely filiform ;
mouth orbicular ; penis simple.

Spec. Cuar. Body very long, filiform, smooth ; ¢ail

pointed, inflexed.
Se iar Rear Sa SE, ee ee ors ESSE Se

* Elements of the Theory and Practice of Physic, 3d ed. p. 535.

+ Huile Empyreumatique de Chabert. Take of empyreumatic oil, from harts-
horn, one part, oil of turpentine three parts, mix them in an iron retort, and distil
in a sand bath, until three-fourths come over. The distilled liquor is then to be
put into small bottles, and carefully excluded from the air and light, to prevent its
decomposition. Dose—Two tea spoonfuls morning and night ina glass of water.

228 STRONGYLUS GIGAS.

Filaria Medinensis; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p. 5039. Rudolph. Entoz.p.1; Sloane,
Jam. ii, p. 190, t. 233, f. 1.

Dragoneau, Fr,; Fadenwurm, Ger.; Naroo, Hind.

THe Guinea-worm occurs only amongst the inhabitants of Africa
and the southern parts of Asia. It is of white colour, of the size
of a violin string, tapering a little at the tail, which is slightly curved,
and grows to the length of several feet. It is found only in the
cellular tissues below the integuments, most frequently of the lower
extremities, but may be also found in all the other parts of the
body, exciting intolerable itching in the part, swelling, pain, sup-
puration, and fever. It is generally coiled up circularly, and may
easily be felt on pressure being made with the fingers. The
filaria differs from Gordius, or the hair-worm, with which it haS
been sometimes confounded, in its abode, and its tail not being
hooked. The usual remedies are stimulating liniments, the
internal use of mercury, bleeding, cathartics, and when sup-
puration has commenced, the frequent application of emollient
poultices and warm fomentations. When the tumour breaks, and
the head of the worm protrudes, it is to be laid cautiously hold of
and gently pulled, day after day, until the whole is extracted.

STRONGYLUS GIGAS.
The Large Strongyle.
Pu. XXIX. A. fig. 2.

Order NeEMATOIDEA, Ludolphi.

Gen. Cuar. Body round, elastic, tapering at each
extremity ; mouth round or angular; male organ of
generation at the end of the tail ?

DISTOMA HEPATICUM. 229

Spec. Cuar. Body clongated; mouth fringed at the
margin with six small papille ; ¢a¢/ of the male bifid,
in the female obtuse.

S. gigas; Rud. Entoz. p. 31,260. Le Strongle des Reins ; An. sans Vert. iii. p. 202.

—.

Tis species is found in the kidneys, and has been passed frequently
by the urethra, causing symptoms of great irritation in the urinary
organs and bladder. It is also met with in many of the lower
animals; in dogs, oxen, horses and sheep. It varies in length
from five inches to three feet, and in diameter from two to six lines.
The body is slender, cylindrical, tapering towards each extremity,
and composed of annular rings. The head or anterior part of the
animal is globular and truncated, with a circular aperture, furnished
with six minute papille. The female is larger than the male.

DISTOMA HEPATICUM.
The Liver Fluke.
Pi. XXIX. A. jig. 3,

Order Trematova, Rudolph.

Gen. Cuar. Body soft, rounded or compressed ; an-
terior opening single.

Spec. Cuar. Body obovate, flat; meck very short;
posterior opening of the belly large and slightly pro-

minent.

Fasciola humana; Syst, Nat. Gmelin, p. 3085. Fasciola hepatica; Joerdens,
Helminth.t.7, f.13, 14. Rudol, Entoz. p. 92, 363.

Fasciole Hepatique, Fr.; Bisciuola, It. ; Caracolillos, Sp.; Leberdoppelloch;
der Leberwurm, Ger.; Lever Mask, Swed,

230 ECHINOCOCCUS HOMINIS.

Tuis species is found in the gall-bladder, and Dr. Bremser supposes
also in the human liver. It is very common in sheep, generallyfound
adhering by a pore at the extremity and another at the end of the
abdomen, and is said to cause the disease called the rot in these
animals. It is three or four lines in length, of an oblong ovate shape,
obtuse at each extremity, and of a dirty whitish or brown colour.

ECHINOCOCCUS HOMINIS.
The Hydatid.

PL. XXIX. A. fig. 4.

Order Cystica, ERudolphi.

Gen. Cuar. Body ovate, vesicular, containing a fluid
which is generally transparent, inclosed by a capsule;
head furnished with retractile hooks, or crotchets, and
suckers as in the ¢enia.

Polycephalus hominis ; Joerdens, Helminth, t. 7, f. 21, 22. L’Echinocoque de
Phomme, Lamar. An. sans. Vert. iii. p.157. E. hominis; Rudol. Entoz.
p- 183, 55).

“Tue Hydatid,” says Mr. Rhind, “is a spherical body, consisting
of one and sometimes of two membranes, enclosing a fluid most
commonly limpid and transparent, but which is sometimes found
of a tough, hard, and opaque consistence. On the inner coat of
the membrane are attached a number of small granular bodies,
which are called the echinococct. Rudolphi divides the hydatids
into viventes and non viventes. He denies the vitality of the
hydatid, properly.so called, and:supposes that the small granular
bodies, or echinococci only, which cover the internal surface of
the membrane, are endowed with life. Bremser, on the other
hand, is of opinion, that the vesicle is a distinct animal, and that
the small granulations on its internal surface are hydatids in
miniature, which, gradually enlarging, and detaching themselves
from the parent covering, become in their turn independent ani-

ECHINOCOCCUS HOMINIS. 231

mals. Hydatids have been found in all the textures and cavities
of the human body, except the intestinal canal.” They are very
common in sheep, oxen, and in pigs, when the pork is vulgarly
denominated measley.

Ectoxoa,—With respect to the Ectozoa, it may be remarked,
that they are usually the darve of various species of insects, which
find their way into the body, and are often discharged in a living
state. It is well known that the larvee of the Tenebrio Molitor,
and T. Olscurus, or meal-beetle, (PL. XXIX. A. fig. 5.) has often
been voided, either by the mouth, or per anwm, and in one instance
is said to have occasioned death.* Dr, Martin Lister mentions
an instance of a girl who vomited up three hexapod larve, similar
to what are found in the carcases of dead birds, which is supposed
to have been either the genus Dermestes or Anthrenust. The
larvee of some insect, probably belonging to the genus Cistrus, or
gad-fly, have been discharged from the maxillary and frontal
sinuses. In South America, according to Humboldt, a species of
gad-fly, the Cistrus hominis, of Gmelin, deposits its eggs in the
skins of man, causing there painful tumours; and in this country
the gad-fly of the ox (istrus ovis) has been known to oviposit in
the jaw of a woman, and the bots (Pu. XXIX. A. fig. 6.) produced
from the eggs finally caused her deatht. The larvee of the com-
mon. cabbage butterfly (Pontia drassice) has frequently been dis-
charged from the stomach and bowels; and Linneus tells us that
the caterpillar of a moth (Aglossa pinguinalis), common in houses,
has been likewise found in a similar situation. The larve of
Helophilus pendulus, (Pu. XXIX. A. fig. 7), a fly peculiarly
formed by nature for inhabiting fluids, has been found in the
human stomach.§

* Tulpivs, Obs. Med. 1. ii. c. 51, t. 7, f.3. Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour. No. 35,
42, and 48. Derham, Physic. Theol. 378, Lowthrop, in Phil. Trans. iii, 135.
Pickells, Trans. of the Coll. of Phys. in Ireland, iv. art, vii. 1124.

+ Phil. Trans, 1665, x. 391.

t Clarke, in Lin. Trans. iii, 323, note.

§ Phil. Mag.ix. 366.

¢

232 SPONGIA OFFICINALIS,

Crass XITI.—ZOOPHYTA.

Aquatic animals of a plant-like form, generally com-
pound, and fixed by their base; mouth surrounded by
a circle of tentacula or cilia, for attracting and seizing
their prey; digestive organs consisting of numerous small
superficial sacs, termed polypi; no distinct organs of
sense, nor trace of a nervous, muscular, or circulating,
system; body for the most part supported by an axis
or skeleton, composed of cartilaginous, horny, calcareous
or silicious substance.

SPONGIA OFFICINALIS,
Officinal Sponge.
Pu. XXX. fig. 3.

: Order Carnosa. Family SponGIAD.

Gen. Cuar. Polypiferous mass fixed, soft, gelatinous,
tenacious, very flexible; the cartelaginous matter sup-
ported by calcareous or siliceous spicula; pores very
numerous, irregular.

Srec. Cuar. Sessile, subturbinated, rounded, slightly
convex above, soft, tenacious, with wide pores ; fora-
mina large.

Spongia officinalis ; Lin.? Spongia communis, Lamar. Hist. Nat, des Anim. sans
Vertebd. ii. p. 353.

Eponge commune, Fr.; Spugna, It.; Esponga, Sp.; Der Saugeschwamm, Ger.;
Bodiaga, Russ.; Isfunge, Arab.

THE common Sponge is universally known from its utility in
various domestic purposes. It is a soft, light, very porous, elastic,

PLO.

Drawn by Joftroy- Engelmann & Ge. bith

lGorralina Officunalis . 2.tsis nobilis .
3B Spongra officinalis .

London. Published by John Wilson, July 1831.

ee a ee ee ee

SPONGIA OFFICINALIS, 283

and compressible substance, readily absorbing any fluid in which it
is immersed, and again yielding it up on being compressed. It
grows into irregular lobes of a woolly consistence, and is found
generally adhering by a broad base to submarine rocks. ‘‘ When,”
says Mr. Bingley, ‘ sponge is cut perpendicularly, it is found to con-
sist internally of numerous small anastomosing tubes, which divide
into branches as they appear on the surface of the sponge, and
ending in the outside in an infinite number of small holes, which
are the proper mouths of the animal. Each of these holes is
surrounded by a few erect pointed fibres or little spines. The tubes
in the living state of the sponge, are filled with a gelatinous sub-
stance, which may be called the flesh of the animal.”

Sponge is found in the Indian, American, and Norwegian seas ;
it is an object of commerce in the Mediterranean, and in several
of the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. Sponge yields, on
analysis, an animal gluten, albumen, carbonate of lime, some traces
of phosphate of soda, carbonate of ammonia, and ioduret of iron.

Usrs.—Sponge, in its unprepared state, is frequently employed
in surgery as a compress for suppressing hemorrhages, and for
absorbing the acrid discharge from ulcers. Prepared Sponge is
sometimes used as a tent for dilating sinuses and small openings.
For this purpose the sponge is immersed in melted wax, and
subjected to pressure between two iron plates. As soon as cold,
the substance thus formed may be cut into pieces of any shape,
so as to be introduced where necessary. From the melting of the
wax, in consequence of the heat of the part, the Sponge gradually
expands, and thus distends the opening. Burnt Sponge has been
celebrated as a remedy in bronchocele, scrofulous affections, her-
petic eruptions, and in cases of chronic enlargement of the pros-
tate gland. Dr. Thompson assures us he has witnessed its efficacy
in scirrhous testicle, when given in combination with cinchona
bark. In bronchocele, it is said to be most effectual when given
in the form of electuary and lozenge, and allowed to dissolve slowly
in the mouth. The mode of its operation has not been hitherto
ascertained, By some, the virtues of burnt sponge are supposed to
reside in the alkali, or in the charcoal which it contains; and later

x

234 CORALLINA OFFICINALIS.

theorists seem to regard iodine as its active principle. It may be
given in a dose from 3i. to 3iii. mixed with some aromatic.
Orr. Prer.—Spongia usta, L. D.

CORALLINA OFFICINALIS.
Officinal Coraline.
PL. XXX. fig. 1.

Order Corticirera, Lamarck. Fam. CoraLuinape.

Gen. Cuar. Polypiferous mass fixed, much branched, :
composed of a central axis, and an interrupted in-
crustation ; a@wis filiform, inarticulated, solid, car-
talaginous or horny ; incrustation calcareous, dense,
united at the surface without distinct cells, interrupted
and as if jointed longitudinally ; polypt unknown.

Spec. Cuar. Trichotomous, greenish or redish coloured;
branches pinnated; pinnule distichous, cylindrico-
clavate, the terminal ones sub-capitate ; joints of the
stem and branches wedge-shaped, compressed.

C. officinalis; Syst. Nat. Gmel. 3838 ; Mull. Sool. Dan. 3056; Ellis, Coral.
t. 24, n. 2, f. a, A.t.8, f.4; Lamour. Polyp. Flexib. p. 283; Lamar. Anim.
Sans, Veried. ii. p. 238; Raii, Hist. p. 65; Dale, Pharm. p.112.

La coraline officinale ou blanche, Fr ; Coralina, It.; Das Korallemos, Ger.;
Koralmossa, Swed.

Tue Officinal Coraline, placed in the class Zoophita, is a marine
production, common on rocks and shells, in shallow water, on all
our coasts. [t resembles a small plant without leaves, consisting of
several jointed branches, generally of greenish or reddish colour ;
and it appears, from the experiments of Professor Scheweigger, of
Konigsberg, to be only a calcified vegetable. M. Lamouroux,

CORALLIUM RUBRUM. 235

however, has observed minute filaments projecting from the crust,
which were retracted on the slightest agitation of the water.

This species of Coralline consists chiefly of an animal matter,
which possesses the properties of coagulated albumen, and carbonate
of lime. It was once in use as an antacid in calculous complaints,
but is altogether inert, and is now entirely banished from British
practice.

CORALLIUM RUBRUM.
Red Coral.
PE. aN eee

Order Corticirera, Lamarck.

Gen. Cuar. Polypary fixed, plant-shaped, branched,
not articulated, covered with a cortical crust; avs
caulescent, branching, stony, solid, striated on the
surface ; crust soft and fleshy in the recent state, in
which are the polypi; thick, porous, and reddish
when dried; polypt with eight ciliated and radiated
tentacula at the mouth.

Spec. Cuar. Branches cylindrical, bright red, rose-
coloured, or whitish.

Kuupaddwov et Kopaddwy; Theophr. Diose. v. 1389. Curalium et Gorgonia,
Plin. Isis nobilis; Syst. Nat. Gmelin, p. 3805. Gorgonia nobilis; Soland.
and Ellis. t. 15. Corallium rubrum; Rati, Hist, i. p. 66; Bauh. Pin. p.366;
Aldrov. Mus. Metall. 290; Gans. Hist. Corall. Francof. 1669; Lamour.
Polyp. Flex. p.456; Lamar. Anim. sans Verteb. ii. p. 297.

Rep Coral, the Isis nobilis of Linneus, is principally found in the
Indian and Mediterranean Seas, and forms an important article of
commerce.* Its general appearance is that of a small shrub,

* See Poiret’s Voyage en Barlarie, and Spallanzani’s Travels in the Two Sict-
lies, §e. vol. iv. p. 308.

236 CORALLIUM RUBRUM.

divested of its leaves, being usually about two inches in diameter
at its base, and seldom exceeding three feet in height. The axis
or central portion is stony, solid, with a vitreous fracture, and of a
bright crimson colour. Tn the recent state, the stem and branches
are covered with a soft cortical substance or epidernus, which is
the habitation of numerous small, whitish, soft, semi-transparent
polypi. The coral is said to be fixed, by its base, to submarine
rocks and other solid bodies, always in a pendant or reversed
position.

According to the analysis of M. Vogel, the components
of Red Coral are 27°50 of carbonic acid, 50°50 of lime,
3°00 of magnesia, 1°00 of oxide of iron, 5°00 of water, 0°50 of
animal matter, 0°50 of sulphate of lime, with a trace of muriate of
soda.* Though it has been regarded as an antacid, and as such
was at one time used in medicine, it does not appear to possess any
advantages over other calcareous productions, and is now dis-
carded from the British pharmacopeeias. It was also considered
a powerful tonic, and extolled as a remedy against disorders of the
most opposite kinds. The Roman ladies suspend it round their
neck, as a charm to ward off diseases, and other evils, to which
infancy is subject. Gansius, who has written very fully on its
properties, in his “ Corallium Historia,” thinks it an admirable
remedy against demoniacal possession; and in this notion he is
supported by Marbodeeus.

Fulmina, Typhones, Tempestatesque repellit
A rate viletecto.. * Rat .*
Umbras, demoniacas, et Thessala monstra repellit
Collo suspensus pellit de ventere dolorem.
De Lapidibus pretiosis, xx.
The use of red Coral is now confined to ornaments of dress, and
for these it is as universally employed as in the days of Pliny.

* Annales de Chimie, 1xxxix. p. 118.

237

Besides the animal substances already considered, there are
others generally enumerated by writers on the materia medica
and toxicology. Thus the Phosphate of Soda, used in medicine
as a cathartic, is procured by a complicated process from the
burnt bones of quadrupeds; and Phosphoric Acid, which enters
into many chemical compounds, and from which that remarkable
inflammable substance phosphorus is obtained, is procured by a
chemical from animal substances. Empreumatic animal oil which
has been employed as an antispasmodic and vermifuge, is obtainad
by distillation from the bones and horns of animals, The basis of
Sal Ammoniac, or Muriate of Ammonia, which is used internally
as a diuretic and diaphoretic, and externally as a discutient to
indolent tumours, is procured by distillation from the urine and
bones of animals. And Prussic Acid, the most powerful of all
narcotic substances hitherto discovered, is obtained from animal
matter, in a state of putrefaction.*

* Fora full account of the medical properties and uses of Prussic Acid, see
Medical Botany, vol. iii. art. 117.

238

PART II.—THE MINERAL KINGDOM.

Orver I—METALLIC MINERALS.

This order includes all metals that are found either in
a pure state, or combined with other substances forming
metallic ores; 10 the former case they are said to be
native, and in the latter they are said to be mineralized.
In general they are combined with sulphur, © with
oxygen, or with acids, and they are sometimes found
alloyed with other metals. The metals and metallic
ores are distinguished hy their bright colours, their
peculiar lustre, their opacity, their hardness, and their
great specific gravity, which exceeds that of the minerals
of the other classes.*

e

Genus I.—GOLD.

Or. Fr.; Gold, Ger.; Gould, Swed. Dan.; Arany. Hung.; Soloto, Russ.

THE first of the mineral substances which we have to notice, is
Gold. This metal was known to the ancients, and appears to have
been as highly prized, on account of its scarcity, beauty, ductility,
and indistructibility, in the time of Moses, as at the present day.

* With respect to specific gravity, as a character of the metals, it may be proper to
observe, that the recently discovered alkaline and earthy metals, or the metallic
basis of the alkalies and earths, are distingnished by their great levity, many of them
being lighter than water.

, oe 3
Drawn by Joffrey Engelmann b Co.ath .

12.3 Native Gold. 4 Argentiterais Gelder Electrum

I Native Platina.

London, Published by Join Wilson July 1831.

i

ae as ee ye nee ‘
= Sar = Steal Sy, ow

“€ i :
ig ee eS
Sy

a
Se caer oe
Ft er eer

GOLD. 239

It is probable, as Mr. Bakewell justly observes, that gold and silver
were, in the earliest ages of civilized society, the only metals used
by mankind, as they are the only metals that exist in any consi-
derable quantities in a native state, on or near the surface of the
earth ; hence originated the tradition of the golden, the silver, and
the brazen ages. Gold is characterised by its fine yellow colour,
its easy fusibility, and its great specific gravity, which, except
platina, exceeds that of all known minerals. It exists only in the
native or metallic state, but is commonly more or less alloyed by
other metals. It is distributed over almost every part of the
known world, either in veins,-in primitive, and the older secondary
rocks, or disseminated through the sands of rivers in loose grains
and detached masses, Next to iron and manganese, it is probably
the most generally diffused metal. The greatest part of the gold of
commerce, usually called gold-dust, is obtained by washing the
sands of rivers in South America and Brazil. Rich mines of gold
were formerly wrought in the province of Gallicia, in Spain; but
the most considerable mines in Europe, at present, are those of
Transylvania and Hungary.

Sp. 1. Hexaueprat, or Native Goup. Pu. XXX. fig. 1, 2, 3.
—Aurum, Plin. Hist. Nat. cap. iv. p. 593; Gediegen gold, Werner ;
Hexaedrisches Gedigen gold, Mohs.; L’Or natif, jaune d’Or,
Broch. i. p, 89; Hauy, 374; Native gold, Jameson, Syst. iii. 2d ed.
p- 8; Sowerby, Brit. Min. 1. p. 112 t. 52.—Its colour is bright
yellow, orange yellow, in some varieties passing into yellowish-grey.
It occurs in grains and in small rounded or angular pieces, (tig. 1,}
and sometimes in masses weighing several pounds; it is also
found regularly crystalized, in reticular plates, foliated, (fig. 2
and 3,) capillary, ramified, and pulverulent. The crystals are
octahedrons, tetrahedrons, rhomboidal, dodecahedrons, double
eight-sided pyramids, and cubes, variously modified. Some of the
most common forms are represented Plate 31: thus, fig. a, repre-
sents the regular octahedron ; fig. J, the same, having the solid
angles replaced by square planes, forming the passage into the
cube, fig. c. Fig. d, represents the rhomboidal dodecahedron,
and fig. e, an octahedron, of which each solid angle is replaced by
four triangular planes. As it does not possess a lamellar structure,

240 GOLD.

the primitive form has not been determined. The fracture is fine
hackly. It is soft, difficultly frangible, and malleable. The lustre
is splendent, and it does not tarnish on exposure to the air. The
specific gravity varies according to the quantity of alloy it contains,
from 12 to 19 or 20. Itis sometimes nearly pure, but is generally
alloyed with small portions of silver and copper. It is distin-
guished from native copper by its greater density, and insolubility
in nitric acid; and from copper pyrites, and iron pyrites, by its
specific gravity and malleability.

Native gold occurs in veins, and disseminated in primitive and
transition rocks, more particularly granite and porphyry. It is
generally associated with quartz and felspar, and some of the ores
of iron, copper, silver, lead, cobalt, antimony, and nickel. It
occurs in gneiss and mica slate in Mexico; in the latter in
Salzburg and the Tyrol; in quartz with needle ore, (acicular
sulphuret of bismuth,) and also in hornblende rock, at Schlangen-
berg, in Siberia, In the Bannat it occurs filiform and disseminated
in pale flesh red and greenish-white limestone, with white cobalt
ore and copper nickel. In the mines of Nagyag and Offenbauch, in
Transylvania, it principally occurs in clay-porphyry, greywacke, and
greywacke slate. Gold is most commonly found in alluvial
deposits among sand in the beds of rivers, derived from the disin-
tegration of rocks in which it formerly existed. It is fonnd in
large quantities in the rivers and alluvial soil in many parts of
Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru; sparingly in the sands of the
Danube, the Rhine, and other European rivers. It is occasionally
found in the stream works in Cornwall; in alluvial land in the
mining district of Leadhills, in Scotland, where, in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, extensive works were carried on for the purpose of
collecting this precious metal, In the county of Wicklow, in
Ireland, gold has been found in a ferruginous sand, in masses of
considerable size. A rounded mass from this locality, in the
collection of the British Museum, is represented Plate 31, fig. 1.

Sp. 2. ArcentireRous NATIVE Goup.—Electrum, Plin*
Hist. Nat. lib. xxxiii. cap. iv. p, 6243 Elecktrum, Klaproth, b.
iv. 8.1. Its colour is pale brass-yellow, passing into silyer-white.
It seldom occurs massive, generally in small plates, dentiform, or

GOLD. 241

crystalized in imperfect cubes. Its constituents are, 64 gold, 36
silver=100. According to Klaproth, it is acted on neither by
nitric nor nitro-muriatic acid. It occurs with massive heavy spar,
on ash-grey splintery hornstone, at Schlangenberg, in Siberia.

Gold is generally separated from accompanying impurities by the
process of amalgamation, similar to that described for extracting
silver from its ores. After it has been freed by pounding and
washing from stony matter, the ore is roasted, to disperse the
volatile matter, and oxidize the other metals; it is then amalga-
mated with mercury. The more fiuid part of the amalgam is
forced through leather, and the remainder subjected to distillation,
by which means the mercury is sublimed, and the gold remains in
a state of fusion. When the gold is alloyed with silver, the latter
metal is removed by parting and quartation. In quartation, one
part of the gold is combined with three parts of silver—the object
being to reduce the gold to a very minute state of division—and
then exposing this compound previously rolled out into thin
plates, to the action of boiling nitric acid, which oxidates and
dissolves the silver, but leaves the gold in a pure state.

Pure gold is remarkable for its immutability on exposure to air and
moisture, for its bright yellow colour, and for its exceeding ductility
and malleability. A single grain of gold may be extended into a leaf
which will cover 544 square inches, and not more than 1°283‘000th
part of an inch in thickness; excepting platina, it is the heaviest
of all known metals, its specific gravity being 19°3. It melts at
32 of Wedgewoods’ pyrometer, and at a very intense temperature
it is volatalized; but it does not appoar to be oxidated by this
process. Most metals unite with gold by fusion. None of the
acids, except the nitro-muriatic, have any action on gold. A
mixture of one part of nitric acid, and two of muriatic acid, has
been long known under the name of aqua regia, from its power of
dissolving this precious metal. Chromic acid added to the muriate,
and aqueous chlorine, also dissolves gold. The solution of nitro-
muriate of gold is of a fine reddish-yellow colour ; it tinges animal
substances of a deep purple colour; and when concentrated by
evaporation, the chloride is slowly deposited in pyramidal crystals.
The alkalies, most of the metals, the essential oils, ether, naphtha,

242 GOLD.

the sulphate of iron, and many other substances, cause its precipi-
tation ; ether. however, speedily redissolves it, forming a solution
which is used for coating metallic substances with gold. If gold
be heated in chlorine, in a state of minute division, a deep yellow
coloured compound is produced, which, when dissolved in water, is
a chloride of gold; and by adding a solution of potash to the
chloride, a precipitate is formed, which is oxide of gold. If a plate
of tin be immersed in a solution of muriate of gold, a purple
powder is thrown down, which is much used for enamel painting,
and for tinging glass of a fine red colour, a compound generally
known as the purple powder of Cassius. The etherial solution of
gold, or aurum potalile, which was at one time given internally as
a medicine, is an inert compound of nitro-muriate of gold, ether,
and some essential oil.

Salts of Gold.

Meratuic gold has no action on the human body; but some of
the compounds, more particularly the chloride of gold and soda,
have been occasinally used in medicine. The Salts of Gold are in
general formed by digesting the oxides of gold in the acid with
which they are to be combined.

CHLORIDE oF Goutp.—This is a compound of chlorine and
metallic gold. It is prepared by dissolving pure beaten gold, cut in
small pieces, in nitro-muriatic acid, concentrating the solution by
evaporation, and then setting it aside to crystalize. The solution
affords small prismatic crystals of a beautiful ruby-red colour ;
but they are so deliquescent, that they can only be preserved in
close-stopped phials. The taste is astringent, and very disagreeable,
and acts when taken into the stomach, even in very small doses, as
a local irritant and corrosive poison. Three grains of the chloride
injected into the veins of a very strong dog, occasioned the death
of the animal ; and the lungs were found, on dissection, so gorged
with blood as to sink in water. The chloride of gold is regarded as
a powerful stimulant and antisyphilitic. As an antisyphilitic it
was employed as early as the 16th century, by Gabriel Fallopius ;
and it has been lately much extolled by M. Christen, in scrofula,
bronchocele, herpetic eruptions, scirrhus, and even in-tubercular

PLATINA. 243

phthisis. The dose is from #5 to 4 of a grain, mixed with
sugar or formed into a pill with cramb of bread. According to
the French physicians, the best mode of exhibiting the salts of
gold is by means of friction on the gums, and the chloride of gold
and soda is the preparation which ought to be preferred.*

Cu Loriwe or Gop anv Sopa.—The following is the formula
for preparing this salt, which is given by Mr. Faraday in the Journal
of Science for 1816:—Dissolve 96 grs. of pure gold in nitro-
muriatic acid, evaporate and crystalize; dissolve the crystals of the
chloride of gold obtained in distilled water ; add 30 grs. of decre-
pitated chloride of soda; evaporate the solution and crystalize.
The crystals are long quadrangular prisms, of a fine yellow colour,
which deliquesce on exposure to the atmosphere. ‘The chloride
of gold and soda may be used in the same manner and in the same
cases as the oxide and chloride of gold. The dose is from #; to
4 of agrain, mixed with a little refined sugar.

Ammontvret or Gotp.—This is a compound of ammonia and
the oxide of gold. It is prepared by adding liquid ammonia to a
solution of gold in nitro-muriatic acid, diluted with about three
times its weight of water ; a brown precipitate is formed, which,
if carefully dried at a temperature of 212°, explodes violently when
struck with a hammer, and is commonly called fulminating gold. It
was formerly employed, in very minute doses, as a remedy in some
convulsive diseases, particularly in chorea. When taken into the
‘stomach in too large a dose, the ammoniuret of gold causes
griping, diarrhoea, vomiting, great anxiety, fainting, convulsions, and
sometimes has proved fatal.t

Genus IJ]._—PLATINA.

Tuis metal is found in grains and rolled pieces, alloyed with
small portions of three other metals, viz. palladium, iridium, and

a a ee a re

* Orfila, Towicologie Générale, i. 593, + Plenk’s Towicologia.

244 PLATINA.,

osmium. When pure, it is the heaviest of all known substances.
Its colour is steel-grey, and its specific gravity from 16°0 to 20 0.

Spec. 1. Native PLatina.—Pu, XXXL. fig. 5, Gediegen Platin,
Werner; Platina aurum album, Wallerius, ii. p. 365 ; Platine natif,
Brong.ii. p. 275; Hauy, ii. p. 365 ; Jameson, Syst. 2d ed. ii. p. 2.
—lIts colour is between steel-grey and silver-white. Externally it is
shining or glistening, and the lustre is metallic. It is nearly as hard
as iron, very malleable and ductile. Its specific gravityis]7°7. It
is infusible by the common blow- pipe, and is soluble in the nitro-
muriaticacid. It is never obtained pure, being always alloyed with
small portions of other metals, more especially palladium and gold.
Native platina occurs in irregular flatted grains, and in masses as
large as a pigeon’segg. It was supposed till lately to be the exclusive
product of South America, where it is met with in various places,
particularly in Choco, one of the provinces of New Granada, in
the province of Barbacoas, between the 2° and 6° of north latitude,
and in the gold mines of Brazil. In these situations it occurs
only in alluvial deposits, generally accompanied by grains and
loose crystals of chrome ore, magnetic iron ore, copper pyrites,
zircon, spinel, quartz, and native gold, with fragments of green-
stone and sienite. M. Boussingault is said to have discovered
native platina zz situ, m decomposed sienitic rocks at Santa Rosa,
about thirty miles north east from Medellin, in the province o
Antioquia, in north latitude 6°37 43”, situated 7462 feet above
the level of the sea.* About the year 1820 it was discovered on
the east side of the Oural.mountains, between Nyné-Tajibskoi and
Kuschtunskoi, in Siberia. According to Vauquelin, the grey silver
ore of Guadalcanal, in Spain, contains from 1 to 10 per cent. of
platina.t It is distinguished from silver by its colour, external
shape, hardness, great specific gravity, its infusibility, and insolu-
bility in nitric acid.

The process for obtaining Platina in a pure state was first pointed
out by Dr. Wollaston. It consists in dissolving the grains of
crude platina in’ nitro-muriatic acid, and adding a solution of
mutiate of ammonia in excess; a yellow powder falls down, which

* Ann. de Chim, ce? Phys. xxxii. p. 204. + Id. 1x. 317.

N
=
~
xy

HATO

Einge

Draw by Joffrey

12.3 Native Silver

4. Antimental Silver.

July 1831.

son.

-by John Wil

hed

3S.

ndon, Pub

Lo.

SILVER. 245

is a triple muriate of ammonia and platina. The precipitete is
then exposed to a strong heat, which expels the acid and alkali, but
leaves the platina in a pure state. Platina is thus obtained in the
form of a spongy mass, which is rendered more compact by
pressure while red hot. It is of a white colour, like silver; it is
very malleable and ductile; its specific gravity is 21°5. It is not
oxidized by exposure to air or moisture, and requires an intense
heat for its fusion. Next to iron, it is the hardest of the metals,
and like it admits of being welded. It is insoluble in all the acids,
except the nitro-muriatic, which dissclyes it with facility. It
enters into combination with sulphur, phosphorus, and many of
the metals. The salts of platina are formed by digesting its oxide
in the acids with which it is to be combined. The most delicate
test for the detection of platina is the muriate of tin, which gives a
bright red colour to any of its solutions.

Uses.—Metallic Platina, like gold, has no action on the human
body ; but it is stated by the French physicians that the medicinal
and poisonous properties of the salts of this metal are nearly allied
to those of the salts of gold, From its extreme hardness and
infusibility, platina is employed in making chemical apparatus,
particular crucibles, where these require to be exposed to intense
heat, or to the action of corrosive liquids; and for coating steel,
copper, and various metallic substances, to protect them from the
atmosphere. It is also used in the construction of Professor
Daniell’s pyrometer, the best instrument which has hitherto been
invented for measuring high temperatures, Davy’s safety lamp,
Clarke’s night light without flame, the wheels of watches, telescope
mirrors, and for a variety of other useful purposes.

Genus IIL.—SILVER.

Argent, Fr.; Argento, It.; Plata, Sp.; Silber, Ger.; Rupah, Hind.

THE ores of Silver are numerous; it is sometimes found native,
but more frequently mineralized with oxygen, sulphur, and with
the carbonic and muriatic acids. It occurs also combined with the

244) "SILVER,

ores of other metals, particularly with antimony, arsenic, bismuth,
and lead; but occasionally the proportion of silver is insufficient
to repay the expence of extracting it. Silver ores occur princi-
pally in veins in primary and transition rocks, associated with
various earthy and metallic minerals. It has been remarked that
the warmer regions of the globe afford the greatest quantity of
gold, but the richest repositories of silver are situated either in the
higher latitudes, or in elevated regions. The most celebrated silver
mines of Europe are in Sweden and Norway, at no great distance
from the polar regions, and those which are in warmer latitudes are
almost all situated near the summits of alpine mountains, as at
Allemant, in France, and the mines of Mexico and Peru. Before
the blow-pipe, nearly all the ores of silver yield a globule of
metallic silver. ‘They dissolve in nitric acid, and the silver is
precipitated by the muriatic acid, forming a white insoluble matter,
that is reducible to a globule of metallic silver, which is not altered
by acontinuance of the heat. The solution of silver in nitric
acid, tinges animal substances black, and deposits a coat of silver or
copper when immersed in it. These properties characterise the
ores of silver when they contain any notable portion of that metal.”

Sp.1. Native Sirver. PL. XXXII. fig. 1,2,3.—Gediegen Silber,
Werner; Hexaedrisches Silber, Mohs. ; Argent natif, Hauy, iil. p.
384 ; Brong. ii. p. 248 ; Native Silver, Jameson, Syst. p. 42; Sow-
erly Brit. Min. iv. p.327,—Its colour is silver-white ; by exposure to
the air it becomes yellowish, or greyish black. It occurs massive and
crystalized in cubes, octahedrons, either regular or truncated on
the angles (Pu. 32, figs. l and a), four or six-sided prisms ; also in
tables and six-sided pyramids. It is frequently found in thin
membranes, capillary or reticulated, also dendritical and in leaves.
Native silver is softer than iron or copper, flexible, and malleable.
Its specific gravity is about 10. It is generally alloyed with a
small portion of antimony, gold, copper, or arsenic. [t occurs
sparingly in veins, traversing clay-slate in several of the mines in
Devonshire and Cornwall; in lime-stone, sand-stone, and
clay porphyry, in Stirlingshire, and other districts in Scot-
land; in granite, in the Saxon Erzgebirge; in gneiss and
mica slate at Konigsberg, in Norway, Saxony, and Bohemia. It is

Drawn. by Jettrey

Engelmann k Co. lith
/ Sulphuretted Silver. 2Nalive Bismuth.

2ked, or Ruby Silver. 4. Sulphurelied Bismuth.

London, Pubhshed by John Wilsan, July 1831.

SILVER, 247

found in the greatest abundance in the mines of South America.
Native gold is distinguished from antimonial silver and native
antimony, by its hackly fracture, tenacity, and malleability,

Sp.2. ANTIMONIAL Sitver. Pi, XXXII. fig.4.—Spieglas Silber,
Werner ; Argent Antimonial, Hauy. iii. p. 391; Brong. ii. 249 ;
Antimonial Silver, Jameson, iii. p. 53.—Its colour is intermediate
between silver-white and tin-white; the lustre is shining, but
frequently tarnished reddish or yellow externally; internally
shining and splendent, with a metallic lusture. It generally occurs
massive, or in grains ; sometimes disseminated, globular, tuberose,
and crystalized. The most frequent crystalizations of this mineral
are the cube, the double six-sided pyramid, and the four-
sided or six-sided prism. The structure is laminar; it is soft,
sectile in a slight degree, but is easily frangible. The specific
gravity varies from 9°40 to 10°00. According to K!aproth, the
constituents of the ore from Altwolfach are, silver 84, antimony
14; that from Andreasberg, silver, 755, antimony 243. Antimo-
_ nial silver ore occurs in veins traversing granite, greywacke and
clay slate at Konigsberg, in Norway; also in Spain, Germany, and
France. It is distinguished from native silver and white cobalt ore
by its sectility and foliated fracture, from arsenical pyrites by its
foliated fracture and inferior hardnes,

Sp. 3. ARSENICAL SitveR Ore.—Arsenik Silber, Werner ;
Argent Antimonial Arsenifere, et ferrifere, Hauwy, iii: p. 112;
Argent Arsenical, Brong. ii. p. 250; Arsenical Silver, Jameson,
ili. p. 76. Its colour on the fresh surface is tin-white, but tarnishes
greyish-black.—It is found massive, disseminated, globular,
reniform, and crystalized, in rectangular four-sided prisms. Its
fracture is imperfect foliated. It is harder than antimonial silver,
but is sectile, easily frangible, and the specific gravity is about
9°44, The antimony and arsenic are volatalized before the blow-
pipe, with a garlic smell, and a globule of silver more or less pure
remains. Its constituents are, arsenic 35, iron 44°25, silver
12°75, antimony 4, It occurs in veins in primitive and transition
rocks, in Germany and Spain.

Sp. 4.—Sutpnuretrep Sitver, Virreous SILVER, oR
SitveR Giance. Pu. XXXIII. fig. 1.—Glaserz, Werner ; Argent

248 SILVER.

sulfure, Hauy, iii. p. 398-402; Brong. i. p. 251; “Compact
Silver-glance, Jameson, ill. p. 68.—This is one of the most fre-
quent of ores of silver. It is of a dark lead grey colour, often with
an irridescent tarnish. It is found crystalized, and in amorphous
masses ; also disseminated, in plates, dentiform, capillary, reticu-
lated, dendritical, stalactitic, and in leaves. The crystals are
cubes, octahedrons, rhomboidal dodecahedrons, double eight-sided
pyramids, or three and six-sided tables. The fracture is fine
grained and uneven, with a more or less shining lustre. It is
soft, very malleable, and flexible, but not elastic. Its specific
gravity is from 5°7 to 61. Before the blow-pipe the sulphur is
volatalized, and a globule of pure silver remains. According to
Klaproth its constituents are, silver 85, sulphur 15. Sulphuretted
silver occurs in yeins traversing primitive and transition rocks, in
the Hartz, Saxony, Bohemia, and other mining districts on the
continent. It is also met with in small quantities in Cornwall
and America. [tis very common in the mines of Mexico and Peru,

Sp. 5. Brirrte Sitver Guance.—Spréd Glaserz; Werner.
Argent antimonié sulfure noir, Hawy. Rhomboidal Silver Glance,
Jameson.—The colour of this species of dark-lead grey, passing
into iron-black. It occurs massive, disseminated in thin plates,
and also crystalized. The primitive form is a rhomboid; the
secondary figures, an equiangular six-sided prism, an equiangular
six-sided table, and a double six-sided pyramid. It is soft and
brittle. The fracture is somewhat conchoidal or uneven; and the
lustre splendent and metallic. The specific gravity is 5°7 to 6:1.
Before the blow-pipe it melts, the sulphur, antimony, and arsenic
are driven off, and there remains a globule of silver, surrounded
by a slag. According to Klaproth,’ it contains, silver 66, sulphur
12, antimony 10, iron 5, copper and arsenic 0.50, earthly matter
1, It occurs in veins, principally in gneiss and clay-slate, in
various mines of Hungary, Saxony, Bohemia, Siberia, Mexico,
and Peru.

Sp. 6. Rep orn Rusy Sitver, Pl. XXIII. fig. 2.—Sprod Glaserz,
Werner ; Argent antimonié sulfure, Hany ; Argent rouge, Brong.
i, p. 254; Red Silver Ore, Jameson, iii. p. 78.—It is divided by
Werner into two sub-species, or varieties, dark red silver ore, and

SILVER. 149

light-red silver ore, and is characterized by the red colour which
all the varieties yield when powdered. The prevailing colour is
cochineal red, passing into lead-grey and iron-black. It occurs
crystalized in a great variety of forms, also disseminated, amor-
phous, in grains, or botryoidal, dendritical, reniform, cellular, and
in leaves. According to Hauy, the primitive form is an obtuse
rhomboid (fig. 4.) The number of secondary forms known to
mineralogists are 14. The most common are an equiangular,
six-sided prism, or a six-sided prism terminated by three rhom-
boidal faces, (fig. c.) In dark red silver ore the streak is cochineal
red; in the light red variety the streak is aurora red. The struc-
ture is laminar. The fracture is uneven or imperfectly conchoidal
with a shining lustre. It yields easily to the knife, and is very
brittle. The specific gravity is about 5°6. It decrepitates before
the blow-pipe, and melts with a slight effervescence, emitting a
white vapour, and leaving behind a globule of metallic silver. It
consists according to Thenard, of 58°4 oxide of silver, 23°5 oxide
ofantimony, 16 of sulphur. With respect to its distinctive charac-
ters, Mr. Bakewell observes, “‘ Cinnabar ,realgar, red antimony, red
copper ore, black sulphuret of copper, and sulphuret of silver, have
some resemblance to red silver, but may be distinguished by the
following characters :—Cinnabar, realgar, and red antimony, are
entirely volatalized by the blow-pipe if pure; their specific gravity
varies considerably from that of red silver; red or ruby copper
effervesces in nitric acid, and the solution communicates a blue
colour to ammonia; black sulphuret of copper or vitreous copper
yields a blackish streak. Sulphuret of silver has a greater specific
gravity, and does not yield a red streak. Red silver ore accompa-
nies other ores of silver in veins traversing gneiss, mica slate,
porphyry, and greywacke, in many of the mining districts, as Corn-
wall, Hartz, Saxony, Hungary, Mexico, and Peru.

Sp. 7. Warre Sirver OreE.—Weissgultigerz, Werner ; Plomb
sulfuré antimoniferé et argentiferé. Hauy; Argent blanc, Brong.
—The prevailing colour is pale lead-grey. It occurs massive and
disseminated, and always associated with lead glance. The fracture
is even and fine grained, sometimes fibrous. It is soft and
somewhat brittle. The specific gravity is 5°3. An analysis of

Y

250 SILVER.

Klaproth gives, lead 41, silver 9°25, antimony 21°5, iron 1°75,
sulphur 22, alumina 1, silica 0-75. It is found near Freyberg, in
Saxony.

Sp. 8. Grey Sitver Ore.—Argent carbonaté, Hawy.—Its
colour is ash-grey; it occurs massive and disseminated. The
fracture is fine-grained, uneven, with a glistening metallic lustre.
It is soft, sectile, and somewhat brittle. Its constituent parts are,
silver 72°5, carbonic acid 12, oxide of antimony and a trace of
copper 15:5. It is found in a vein at Altwolfatch, in the Black
Forest.

Sp. 9. Horn Sitrver.—Hornerz, Werner; Argent muriate,
Hauy, iii. p. 418-422; Brong. ii, p. 256; Corneous Silver Ore,
Jameson, iii. p. 60.—Its colours are pearl-grey, greenish-grey,
also blue and leek-green. It occurs massive and crystalized, in
small cubes, octahedrons and rhomboidal dodecahedrons. It is more
or less translucent, with a glistening or waxy lustre. It is very
soft, and yields to the pressure of the nail. Its specific gravity is
about 4°8. It is fusible inthe flame ofa candle; before the blow-
pipe on charcoal it yields a metallic globule, giving out at the same
time yapours of muriatic acid. A specimen from Peru yielded,
silver 76, muriatic acid 16°4, oxygen 7°6. It is found sparingly at
Huel-Mexico, in Cornwall; but is very abundant in some of the
silver mines of Potosi, in South America.

Sp. 10. Bismutuic Sitver.—Wismuth Silbererz, Werner ;
Bismuthic Silver Ore, Jameson, iii. p. 58.—Its colour is pale lead-
grey. It occurs disseminated; and rarely crystalized in acicular
and capillary crystals. Its lustre is glistening and metallic. Its
fracture is fine-grained, uneven. It is soft, sectile, and somewhat
brittle. It consists, according to Klaproth, bismuth 27, lead 33,
silyer 15, iron 4, copper 0:90, sulphur 16°30. This ore has been
found only in one mine, in the Schapbach, in the Black Forest,
where it occurs in veins that traverse gneiss, along with copper
pyrites, quartz, iron pyrites, and galena, or lead glance.

«Silver is extracted from its ores by two processes which are
essentially distinct; one of them being contrived to separate it
from lead, the other, the process by amalgamation, being especially
adapted to those ores which are free from lead. The principle of

SILVER. 251

its separation from lead is founded on the different oxidability of
lead and silver, and on the ready fusibility of litharge. The lead
obtained from those kinds of galena which are rich in sulphuret of
silver, is kept at a red heat in a flat furnace, with a draught of air
constantly playing on its surface; the lead is thus rapidly
oxidated ; and as the oxide, at the moment of its formation, is
fused, and runs off through an aperture in the side of the furnace,
the production of litharge goes on uninterruptedly till all the lead
is removed. The button of silver is again fused in a smaller fur-
nace, resting on a porous earthen dish, made with lixiviated wood-
ashes, called a ¢est, the porosity of which isso great, that it absorbs
any remaining portions of litharge, which may be formed on the
silver.”

‘The ores commonly employed in the process of amalgamation,
which has been long used at Freyberg, in Saxony, and is exten-
sively practised in the silver and gold mines of South America, are
native silver and its sulphuret. The ore in fine powder is mixed
with sea salt, and carefully roasted in a reverberating furnace.
The production of sulphuric acid leads to the formation of sulphate
of soda, while the chlorine of the sea salt combines with silver.
The roasted mass is ground to a fine powder, and, together with
mercury, water, and fragments of iron, is put into barrels, which
are made to revolve by machinery. In this operation, intended to
insure perfect contact between the materials, chloride of silver is
decomposed by the iron, the silver unites with the mercury, and
the chloride of lime is dissolved by the water. The mercury is
then squeezed through leathern bags, through the pores of which
the pure mercury passes, while the amalgam of silver is retained.
The combined mercury is then distilled in close vessels, and the
metal obtained in a separate state.*”’

Silver may be obtained free from copper, for chemical and phar-
maceutical purposes, by dissolving it in nitric acid, diluted with
its weight of water; then adding a solution of muriate of .soda,
and exposing the precipitate to heat, with three parts of the carbo-
nate of potash. Pure silver has considerable lustre, and a brighter

* Turner’s Elements of Chemistry, p. 560.

252 SILVER.

white colour than any of the metals. It is insipid, inodorous, and
not oxidated by air or moisture, but soon becomes tarnished from
the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen. It is much harder than
gold, of considerable malleability, and may be extended into leaves
not exceeding the ten thousandth part of an inch in thickness.
It melts at a high temperature, assuming a crystaline appearance
as it cools, and is volatalized by a very intense heat. It combines
with iodine, sulphur, phosphorus, and many of the metals. Silver
is oxidized by several of the acids, and the oxide may be easily
obtained, by adding lime-water to the solution of nitrate of silver,
and washing the precipitate.

Salts of Silver.

The salts of silver may be formed either by the direct action of
the acids on the metal, or by digesting the oxide of silver in the
acid with which they are to be combined, None of the salts of
this metal, however, except that formed with the nitric acid, are
employed in medicine.

Nirrate or Sirver.—The London College directs this salt to
be prepared by pouring one ownce of nitric acid, diluted with tio
ounces of distilled water, on an ounce of metallic silver. <A
violent effervescence takes takes place, and the solution proceeds
rapidly, especially if it be assisted by a moderate heat, acquiring
at the same time a temporary green colour. In this process the
silver decomposes a portion of the nitric acid, attracting oxygen from
it, attended at the same time with the evolution of a large quan-
tity of nitrous oxide gas; the oxide so formed combining with
another portion of acid, and remaining in solution. The solution
should be perfectly clear and colourless ; if the silver, however, be
contaminated with any copper, it will have a permanent greenish
tint ; the nitric acid must <also be very pure, for if it contains any
sulphuric or muriatic acids, the solution will be turbid and will
deposit a white powder. The metal is generally flatted into thin
plates, which are cut in pieces to facilitate the action of the acid ;
and when the solution is completed, it is evaporated to dryness.
The dry mass is then exposed to a gentle heat in a porcelain
crucible, which is gradually increased till it is fused and flows like

SILVER. 253

oil, when it is poured into iron tubes previously heated and greased,
to prevent the nitrate from adhering to its sides. When fused,
and cast into small cylinders, it is called the lunar caustic, or the
argenti nitras of the pharmacopeias. In this state it is of a
blackish colour externally, and when broken, it presents internally
a radiated appearance. It is inodorous, has an intensely bitter
metallic taste, and tinges animal substances of a yellow colour,
which, by exposure to light, becomes purple, and ultimately black.
It is soluble in about its own weight of water at 60°, and is also
soluble in alcohol. It is decomposed by heat, by many of the
acids, by the alkalies, and many neutral salts, and by astringent
solutions. Some of the metals, also, particularly copper and
mercury, precipitate the silver from its aqueous solution, in a
metallic state. Inthe form of crystals, it consists of 64 parts of
oxide of silver, 22 of nitric acid, and 14 of water.

The Nitrate of Silver was introduced as an internal remedy by
Angelus Sala, in the commencement of the seventeenth century.
Boerhaave highly extols it as a diuretic in dropsies ;* in modern
practice it has been prescribed as a tonic and antispasmodic in
epilepsy, chorea, and angina pectoris. [ft is given in the dose of
+ of a grain, gradually increased to 4 grains or more, three times
a-day, in the form of a pill. A singular blueness of the skin is
sometimes observed after the protracted use of the nitrate of silver,
the whole surface of the body, especially those parts that are most
exposed to light, acquire a leaden-grey or livid hue, which often
continues for a long time after its disuse. When taken in an over-
dose, it acts as a corrosive poison ; the antidote for which is the
muriate of soda. Externally the nitrate of silver has been much
used as an escharotic, to change the surface of foul ulcers, and to
destroy strictures in the urethra, warts, fungous excrescences, and
incipient chancres. [ts solution, in the proportion of from one
to five grains to the ounce of distilled water, is sometimes used as
an injection in fistulous sores, and as a stimulating application to
indolent ulcers, to apthous affections of the mouth, and to that
disease of the gums generally denominated scurvy. One scruple

jettilcypeny eps catty ES hoe
* See Boerhaave'’s Chemistry. pt. ii, p. 297.
z

rad

254 BISMUTH.

of the nitrate of silver, dissolved in 3ss of distilled water, is recom-
mended by Mr. Samuel Cooper, as one of the best external appli-
cations to noli me tangere, and to cancerous ulcers about the nose
and neighbouring parts of the face. The lotion is sometimes applied
by a pencil to the part, but more commonly by dipping pieces of
lint in the fluid and covering them with a pledget.

A solution of the nitrate of silver stains animal or vegetable sub-
stances ofa deep black colour, hence it is frequently used for marking
linen in apermanent manner. For this purpose the clothis moistened
with a liquid made by dissolving two ounces of subcarbonate of soda
and two drachms of gum arabic in four ounces of water, and the solu-
tion of the salt itself thickened with a little gum, and coloured with
Indian ink. A solution of this salt is also resorted to for the manu-
facture of those compounds employed to change the colour of the
hair. When applied recently to grey hair, after exposure to light,
it renders it black ; but the colour soon changes, the grey reots of
the hair again appear, giving the person the singular appearance of
having hair half grey and half black. According to Mr. Brande,
the hair sometimes becomes purple; at other times there are
patches of purple and grey, giving such victims of vanity a very
ludicrous appearance, The preparations for changing the colour
of the hair are sold under the names of Grecian Water, Essence of
Tyre, and other high-sounding titles,

Genus IV.— BISMUTH.

Bismuth, Fr.; Wismuth, Ger.

Bismuru is a metal of no very considerable importance in medi-
cine and the arts. It appears to have been unknown to the ancients,
and even so late as the seventeenth century was considered as a
species of lead. It exists somewhat sparingly in nature, and is
found native and combined with sulphur and with oxygen.

Sp. 1. Native Bismorn., Pu. XXXIII. fig. 3.—Gediegen
Wismuth, Werner; Bismuth natif, Hawy; Brong, ii. p. 131.

BISMUTH. 255

Octahedrisches Wismuth, Mohs.—Its colour is silver-white, ocea-
sionally tinged with red; the lustre is metallic and splendent. It
is seldom massive generally disseminated, in plates having plum-
osely-streaked surfaces, reticulated, and crystalized. The crystals
are regular octahedrons, which is the primitive form, acute rhom-
boids, (fig. a,) cubes, and tetrahedrons. Its specific gravity is 9-02.
Its fracture is foliated, with a cleveage in three directions : it is soft,
sectile, and somewhat malleable. It is very fusible, and melts
even in the flame of a candle. Before the blow-pipe it is vola-
tilized, in the form of white vapours, which have an arsenical
odour. It dissolves with effervescence in nitric acid, and the
solution is decomposed when water is added, and a white preci-
pitate is formed. This precipitation of the nitric solution by the
addition of water, is the distinctive character by which bismuth is
distinguished from most other metals. It occurs in veins in pri-
mitive rocks in Cornwall, and other mining districts in Europe
and North America, but its chief localities are at Joangeorgenstadt
and Schneeberg in Saxony, from whence the supply of Bismuth in
commerce is principally obtained. To procure the metal, the ore
merely requires to be reduced to small fragments and exposed to a
moderate heat in a furnace, with a quantity of reducing flux, when
the bismuth separates from the earthy matter in which it is disee-
minated, and flows out into cast iron moulds prepared for its
reception.

Sp. 2. SuLPHURETTED BismutH, or BismutH Giance.—
Wismuth Glanz, Werner; Prismatischer Wismuth Glanz, Mohs.;
Bismuth sulfuré, Hawy.—lts colour is pale lead-grey. It occurs
amorphous, in granular and radiated concretions, and erystalized
in oblique four-sided prisms. ‘The fracture is foliated, and it is
divisible into slightly rhomboidal prisms. The lustre is splendent
and metallic. It is sectile, brittle, easily frangible, soft, and soils
the fingers. The specific gravity is from 671 to 6-4. It melts in
the flame of a candle. Its constituents are bismuth 60, sulphur 40.
It is rather a rare mineral ; and chiefly occurs in veins traversing
primitive rocks in various parts of Cornwall; in granite at Car-
rock-fell in Cumberland, and other countries.

Acicular Bismuth, Plumbo-cupreous Bismuth or Needle-ore.

256 BISMUTH,

—Its colour is dark lead-grey, with a shining metallic lustre. It
occurs disseminated, and crystalized in oblique four or six-sided
acicular prisms. It is opaque, brittle, and yields easily to the
knife. The specific gravity is 6-2. It fuses before the blow-pipe
into a steel-grey globule. Its constituents are bismuth 43°2, lead
24-3, copper 12°, sulphur 11:3, nickel 1°5, tellurium 1°3, gold
07:9. This variety occurs near Beresof, in Siberia, imbedded in
rhomboidal quartz, which in the specimen here represented (PI.
XXXIII. fig. 4,) is tinged with carbonate of copper.

Cupreous Bismuth.—Its colour is pale lead-grey, with a yel-
lowish or reddish tarnish. It occurs massive and in small acicular
scopiformly aggregated crystals. The lustre is shining and metallic.
It is soft, and yields easily to the knife. It contains, bismuth 47,
copper 47, sulphur 60. It has hitherto been found only in the
principality of Furstenberg, and is extremely rare.

Sp. 3. BismurH Ocure.—Wismuthoker, /Verner; Bismuth
oxydé, Hauy.—Its colour is straw-yellow. Its structure is lami-
nar, fin-grained, or earthy, with a glimmering lustre. It is opaque,
very soft, and sometimes friable. Its specific gravity is 4°37. It
dissolves with effervescence in acids. It is easily reduced before
the blow-pipe, on charcoal. Its constituents are, oxide of bismuth
-86°3, oxide of iron 5*2, carbonic acid 4"1, water 3-4. It is found
at St. Agnes, in Cornwall.

Bismuth, when pure, has a reddish-white colour, and its texture
is foliated. Its specific gravity is 9-8. It is very brittle, breaks
under the hammer, and cannot be drawn into wire. It is very
fusible, and melts at a temperature of 476° Fahrenheit; by a
strong heat it is volatilized. If it be exposed to the air while in
fusion, it attracts oxygen; a greenish-grey powder being formed
on its surface. Bismuth takes fire and burns with a blue flame
at a higher temperature, and a yellow oxide is obtained, known by
the name of flowers of bismuth. When bismuth, in a state of fine
division, is exposed to chlorine gas, it takes fire, burns with a pale
blue light, and is converted into a chloride. Nitric acid acts pow-
erfully on bismuth, oxidating and dissolving it, while nitric oxide
is disengaged, and a considerable heat produced. Sulphuric an
miuriatic acids, haye comparatively little action on bismuth. Bis-

BISMUTH. O57

muth also combines with iodine and sulphur, but not with carbon,
hydrogen, or phosphorus. Bismuth is. capable of being alloyed
with most metals, and forms with some of them compounds of
remarkable fusibility. Bismuth enters as an ingredient into the
composition of printing-types, and of pewter ; it is used as solder
in the construction of mirrors, and for the refining of gold and
silver. The old pharmaceutical writers describe Bismuth under
the names of tin-glass and marcasite ; but the metal itself is not
used medicinally.

Salts of Bismuth.

The only preparation of this metal employed as an article of the
materia medica is the subnitrate. ,

SuBNITRATE of BismutH, Bismuthi Subnitras. Ph.—lIf the nitric
solution, or the crystals which it deposits, be acted on by a large por-
tion of water they are decomposed, and the subnitrate isthrown down
in the form of a fine white powder. When washed and dried it is
inodorous and insipid. It was known formerly under the name of
blanc de fard, and blanc de perle or pearl powder, and magistery of
bismuth, and is used as a paint for the complexion; but like the ox-
ides of lead, is liable to become black on exposure to the sulphuretted
hydrogen gas. Medicinally, the sub-nitrate of bismuth has been em-
ployed as a tonic and antispasmodic, with considerable advantage, in
pyrosis, gastrodynia, and other affections, attended by loss of tone
and increased irritability of the stomach,* The best form for its use
is that of a pill, with any bitter extract. The dose may be from
gr. ii. to gr. xii. twice or thrice a-day. From the experiments of
Orfila on brute animals it would appear that in large doses this
salt proves an active poison. Dr, Kerner, of Weisenberg, in
« Heidelbergen Klinische Annalen,” relates the case of a man who
took, by mistake for magnesia, a large quantity of the subnitrate of
bismuth : soon afterwards he felt a burning sensation in the throat,
and was affected with singultus, frequent vomiting of a brownish

+ See Odier, Manuel de Medecine Pratique, 1805. Carminati, Opuscula The-
rapeutica, 'Marcet, Mem. Lond. Med. Soc. Bardsley’s Med, Reports, 1807.
Yeats, Quarterly Journal, vol: viii, p. 295.

258.9" COPPER.

matter, and diarrhoea; the pulse was small and intermittent; the
face pale, and the whole body cold and clammy ; the voluntary
muscles, especially those of the lower extremities, were spasmodi-
cally contracted; the throat and pharynx were inflamed; deglutition
was lost, and he complained of much pain in the throat, a nauseous
metallic taste, and intolerable thirst. The respiration became
laborious, the abdomen became swelled and tender, there was con-
stant retching and hiccup, complete suppression of urine super-
vened, the symptoms of enteritis increased, and he died on the
evening of the ninth day after the accident. On examination,
almost the whole of the abdominal canal from the throat down to
the, extremity of the rectum was found inflamed and in many
places gangrenous. The lower portion of the spinal chord,
and the internal membrane of the heart, also exhibited traces of
inflammation. Orfila remarked that two drachms, when mixed
with water and introduced into the stomach of a dog, caused death
in twenty-four hours.

Genus V.—COPPER.

Cuyvre, Fr.; Rame, It.; Cobre, Sp.; Kupfer, Ger.; Tamba, Hind.

Copper, like tin, has been long known ; it is extensively used in
the arts, and many of its compounds for medicinal purposes. It
occurs native, in combination with several of the metals, and with
sulphur, oxygen, and various acids ; hence its ores are numerous.
It is found in most parts of the globe, but the richest copper-mines
are situated in Cornwall. Nearly all the copper of commerce is
obtained from copper pyrites and grey copper ore.

Sp. 1. Native Copper. Pu. XXXIV. fig, 1, 2.—Gediegen
Kupfer, Werner; Cuivre Natif, Hauwy.—It has the lustre and
the yellowish red colour of metallic copper ; it is frequently tar-
nished or incrusted with green or black. It occurs crystalized in
the form of the cube and octahedron, the dodecahedron, and the

/ 2 Native COppe is I. Dlack Sulphure? of Compe?
4. Veltow Siulphure’ a Cyperlytes.

, iy
naoz rub. Léa Dy 2m Vial

Spa acre Pe

oF

COPPER. 259

rectangular four-sided prism. The crystals are generally aggregated
in groups, and variously modified by truncation and bevelment.
Thus fig. a, represents a cube truncated on the angles ; fig. J, an
octahedron truncated on the lateral edges, forming the passage of
that solid into the rhomboidal dodecahedron, fig. c. It occurs
also capillary, dendritic, botryoidal, in thin plates, disseminated,
and in amorphous masses. It is softer than native silver, sectile,
perfectly malleable, and flexible, but not elastic. It is very tough
and its fracture is hackly. Its specific gravity varies from 7*7 to
8°5. Before the blow-pipe, it melts into a bead of apparently pure
copper. It may be distinguished from copper nickel by its mal-
leability and inferior hardness ; from native gold by its inferior
specific gravity and its solubility in nitric acid. Native copper
occurs in yeins, and imbedded in various primitive, transition, and
secondary rocks. It is occasionally accompanied by several of the
ores of copper, and sometimes those of other metals. It also occurs
in large blocks in alluvial soil, in various parts of the globe. One
of the largest masses hitherto noticed was discovered by School-
eraft, the North American traveller, about thirty miles from Lake
Superior, on the western bank of the river Ontonagon. It weighs
by estimation 2200 pounds. Native copper is frequently found in
connexion with the secondary green-stone, and red sand-stone
formation in the United States. It is likewise found in several
different mining districts in Germany and in Norway; but its
greatest known depositaries in England are the mines of Cornwall.

Sp. 2. Brack SuLpHurer or Coprer, Virreous Copper, or
Copper GLANCE. PL. XXXIV. fig. 3.—Kupferglanz, Werner ;
Cuivre sulfuré, Hauy.; Cuivre vitrieux, Brongniart.—Its colour
is blackish lead-grey. It occurs massive, disseminated, and crys-
talized in six-sided prisms, (fig. 2,) and six-sided pyramids.
According to Hauy, the primitive form is a six-sided prism. One
of the varieties of this figure, a flattish dodecahedron is represented
at fig. e; fig. f, a six-sided prism truncated on the terminal edges;
fig. a, an acute dodecahedron with triangular planes. The struc-
ture in some varieties is distinct laminar. The fracture is imper-
fectly conchoidal, with a glistening or vitreous metallic lustre.
This ore varies considerably in density, hardness, and colour. It

260 COPPER.

sometimes yields easily to the knife ; and its specific gravity varies
from 4°8 to 5'4. Before the blow-pipe it melts into a grey glo-
bule containing iron, and is frequently magnetic. A specimen
analysed by Chenevix, contained copper 81, sulphur 12, iron 4.
This ore is found abundantly in Cornwall; also at Middleton, in
Yorkshire, and other mining districts.

Sp. 3. YELLow SutpHuret or Copper, or Copper Pyrires.
PL. XXXIV. fig. 4.—Kupferkies, Werner ; Octaedrischer Kup-
ferkies, Mohs. Cuivre pyriteux, Brong.—Its colour is_ brass-
yellow, but is often externally tarnished. It occurs massive,
disseminated, in various particular forms, and crystalized, in tetra-
hedrons, which are frequently truncated on the angles or edges,
more rarely in cubes, octahedrons, and rhomboidal dodecahedrons.
Internally it is shining, with a metallic lustre. The fracture is
commonly uneven, sometimes conehoidal. The structure of the
crystals is laminar, of the mamillated and botryoidal varieties, fig.
a4, granular. The specific gravity varies from 4°1 to 4°2. It is
harder than calcareous spar, brittle, and yields to the knife. Before
the blow-pipe it decrepitates, emits a green-coloured sulphureous
vapour, and melts into a black globule. Its composition varies
considerably ; a specimen analysed by Chenevix yielded, copper 30,
iron 53, sulphur 121. Copper pyrites is one of the most abun-
dant metalliferous minerals ; and, according to professor Jameson,
occurs in almost every kind of repository, in all the great classes
of rocks. ‘‘ It may be distinguished,” says this celebrated mine-
ralogist, ‘‘ from native gold by its fracture and also by its tenacity,
it being brittle, whereas gold is malleable. It is distinguished from
tron pyrites by its hardness, it being rather soft, whereas iron
pyrites give sparks with steel; also by its colour, and the form of
its crystals.”

Sp. 4. Purpte Corpgr. Pu. XXXV. fig. 1.—Buntkupfererz,
Werner ; Cuivre pyriteux hepatique, Hauy; Variegated Copper
Ore, Jameson.—This ore is merely a variety of copper pyrites.
Its colour is intermediate between copper-red and_pinchbeck
brown, with an iridescent tarnish of violet-blue or yellow. It
occurs massive, and crystalized in cubes, fig. a, frequently trun-
cated on the angles, fig. J, and also in tables. Its constituents are

Purple COPP CT.

‘Gray Sulphurel of Copper

3d Copper. cr Ruby CLP EF

COPPER. 261

copper 69°5, sulphur 19, iron 7°5, oxygen 4. It is found with
several of the other ores of copper, in Cornwall, Norway, Saxony,
and other countries.

Sp. 5. Grey SULPHURET OF CoppER. PL, XXXV. fig. 2.—
Fahlerz, Werner ; Cuivre gris, Hauy.—Its colours are steel-grey,
lead-grey, or iron-black. It occurs massive, disseminated, and
crystalized, in small tetrahedrons, variously truncated, fig. c, d, e;
also in rhomboidal dodecahedrons. It is brittle; the fracture is
uneven or imperfectly conchoidal, with a shining or metallic
lustre. It yields to the knife. The specific gravity is 4°5. Before
the blow-pipe it gives out arsenical vapours, decrepitates, and melts
into a brittle grey globule. It varies greatly in its chemical com -
position, one variety, according to Chenevix, yields copper 52,
jron 33, sulphur 14. It is found in Cornwall, and various other
countries.

Sp. 6. Rep Copper or Rusy Copper. Pu. XXXV. fig. 3.—
Rothkupfererz, Werner; Cuivre oxide rouge, Hauy ; Octaedris-
ches Kupfer erz, Mohs.—The colour of this mineral is dark cochi-
neal red of various shades, passing into lead-grey or brown. It
occurs massive and crystalized in the form of the octahedron,
which is the primitive form ; also in cubes and rhomboidal dode-
cahedrons. The crystals are small and transparent or translucent,
externally splendent, sometimes iridescent or superficially tar-
nished, with a metallic lustre. The structure of the crystals is
laminar ; the cross fracture is uneven, sometimes conchoidal. It
yields easily to the knife, and gives a brownish streak. The specific
gravity is from 5*6 to 6:0. It dissolves with effervescence in nitric
acid. Before the blow-pipe on charcoal it is easily reducible to
the metallic state. It consists of copper 88°5, oxygen 11°5. Che-
nevi. This species is found in veins in primitive, transition, and
secondary rocks, associated with other ores of copper, in Cornwall,
Germany, Siberia, Norway, and other countries.

Compact Red Copper Ore is of a dark red colour, with a semi-
metallic lustre. It occurs in amorphous masses, disseminated, and
also reniform. It is opaque or translucent on the edges ; and the
fracture is even or granular.

Capillary Red Copper Ore, consists of very minute capillary

562 COPPER.

crystals, or thin tables of a carmine red colour, which are some.
times aggregated into amorphous or scopiform flakes. The crys-
tals are translucent with an adamantine lustre.

Ferruginous Red Copper, or Tile Ore, is of a reddish-brown
colour, lead-grey or blackish, It occurs massive, disseminated,
and incrusting copper pyrites. The lustre is dull or glimmering.
The fracture is earthy or imperfect flat conchoidal ; it yields easily
to the knife, and sometimes to the nail.

Sp. 7. Buue Carponate or Copper. PL. XXXVI. fig. 1.—
Kupferlazur, Werner; Cuivre carbonaté bleu, Hauwy,—Oxide of
copper combined with carbonic acid forms two species, the blue
and the green carbonate. Of the blue carbonate of copper there
are two varieties :—the radiated has an asure blue colour, which
often passes into blackish-blue, Berlin-blue, ‘and smalt-blue. It
occurs massive, imitative, in prismatic distinct concretions, and
very frequently crystalized. The crystals are minute, and generally
in the form of oblique four-sided prisms. Exterfially the lustre is
shining, in the massive and particular,external shapes dull; internally
between vitreous and resinous. The crystals are semi-transparent
or translucent. The fracture is small and imperfect conchoidal.
This ore is brittle and rather easily frangible. The specific gravity
varies from 3°2 to 3°6. It dissolves with effervescence before the
blowpipe. Its constituents are, copper 56, oxygen 14, water 6.
This mineral occurs in veins with other ores of copper, in Corn-
wall, in Scotland, and in many places on the continent.

Earthy Blue Carbonate of Copper has a smalt-blue colour, and
eccurs in friable incrustations or masses, composed of dull earthy
particles.

Sp. 8. Green Carbonate OF Copper, or MALAcHITE.—Fas-
richter Malachat, Werner; Cuivre carbonaté vert, Hauy.—This
ore of copper is divided into two sub-species, viz. fibrous malachite
and compact malachite. Fibrous malachite, has an emerald- green
colour, It is seldom massive, sometimes disseminated, tuberose,
stalactitic, reniform, botryoidal, and in fibrous distinct concretions ;
but it is most commonly found forming an incrustation on the
surfaces of other ores. The fibres are slender scopiform, or stel-
lular, and the lustre is generally silky. It occurs also crystalized in

P1356.

Drawn by Joffrey. ingeimann k Co beth
Carbonate of Copper. 2. oreen Carbonate of CYP e cr Malachite

J Arseniale of Copper . A. Shosphate of Cope.

London, Published by John Wilson September 15° 1631.

Peo

COPPER. 263

oblique four-sided prisms. The crystals are translucent, the mas-
sive varieties only translucent on the edges or opaque, It is
brittle, and yields to the knife. Its specific gravity is 3°66. Before
the blow-pipe it decrepitates, and becomes black. Its constituents
are, copper 58, carbonic acid 18, oxygen 12°5, water 11°5. Kla-
proth. It occurs principally in veins, with other ores of copper in
various parts of the world.

Compact Malachite. Pt. XXXVI. fig. 2, occurs most frequently
in mamillated or reniform concretions, botryoidal, tuberose, sta-
lactitic, cellular, and amorphous. Its colour is emerald and verdi-
gris green, and the lustre is shining and silky. It is opaque, rather
brittle, and easily frangible. Compact malachite bears a fine polish,
and is sometimes used as a green pigment.

Sp. 9. ARSENIATE OF Copper. PL. XXXVI. fig. 3.—Strahlen-
kupfer, Karsten; Cuivre Arseniaté, Hauwy.—Copper combined
with arsenic presents several sub-species or varieties, differing greatly
in form and colour. The arseniate of copper may, however, be
readily distinguished from the carbonates by the following chemical
characters : “ When pulverised,” says Mr. Bakewell, ‘it imme-
diately communicates a blue colour to ammonia; it decrepitates
on charcoal before the blow-pipe, emitting arsenical vapours, and
the parts in contact with the charcoal, are reduced to the metallic
state ; and it dissolves without effervescence in nitric acid.” All
the varieties are found in the copper-mines of Cornwall.

Octahedral Arseniate Diprismatic, Olivenite, or Lenticular
Copper.—Linsenerz, Werner ; Cuivre arseniate primitif, Hauy.—
Its usual colour is sky-blue; it occurs sometimes apple or grass-
green, crystalized in obtuse octahedrons, nearly lenticular. It is
semi-transparent or translucent; the lustre is vitreous ; it is brit-
tle: the fracture is uneven; and it yields to the knife. The spe-
cific gravity is 2°88. It contains peroxide of copper 49, arsenic
acid 14, water 35. Chenevix.

Hexahedral Arseniate,—Cuivre arseniate lamelliforme, Hawy ;
Copper mica, Jameson.—This variety is generally of a pure eme-
rald green colour, with considerable lustre and transparency. It
occurs massive, and in thin hexagonal tables, with a distinct
lamellar structure parallel to the hexagonal planes. It is softer

264 COPPER,

than calcareous spar. Before the blow-pipe with borax, it yields
a globule of copper. Its specific gravity is 2°5. It consists, accord-
ing to Chenevix, of 58 oxide of copper, 21 of arsenic acid, and
21 of water.

Trihedral Arseniate of Copper occurs massive, and crystalized
in irregular octahedrons, tetrahedrons, and in acute rhomboids. Its
colour is deep blueish-black, with a shining lustre. The specific
gravity is 4°2, It consists of oxide of copper 54, arsenic acid 80,
water 16. Chenevia.

Prismatic Arseniate, or Oliven Ore. The colour of this variety
is olive-green or blackish-green. It occurs crystalized in small
acute octahedrons; also granular and capillary. The specific
gravity is 4°2. Its constituents are, oxide of copper 60, arsenic
acid 39°7.

Wood Copper, or Fibrous Oliven Ore, occurs of various shades
of brown, green, and yellow, and is found incrusting other arsenites
of copper, and also in mamillated concretions. It consists-of 50
oxide of copper, 29 arsenic acid, and 21 of water.

Amianthiform Arseniate of Copper has usually a blueish or
grass-green colour. It occurs in fine parallel or diverging flexible
fibres, or in plates. Tts chemical composition is the same as that
of the preceding variety.

Martial Arseniate of Copper is of a pale blue or greenish-blue
colour. It occurs crystalized in minute rhomboidal prisms, which
are sometimes grouped in globular concretions. The lustre is
vitreous. It is transparent, or translucent, and harder than cal-
careous spar. Its constituents are, oxide of copper 22:5, oxide of
iron 27°5, arsenic acid 23, water 12, silex 6. Chenevix.

Sp. 10. Prismatic Oxivenrre, or Puospuare or Copper,
PL. XXXVI. fig. 4,—Phosphorkupfererz, Werner; Cuivre phos-
phate, Hauy.—The colours vary from emerald-green to blackish
or yellowish-green. It occurs massive, reniform, in fibrous dis-
tinct coneretions, and ecrystalized in oblique four-sided prisms. It
is opaque, translucent, with a vitreous lustre, inclining to pearly.
The fracture is splintery ; the fragments wedge-shaped, splintery, or
indeterminate angular. The streak is verdigris-green ; it is brittle,
and easily frangible. Before the blow-pipe it melts into a brownish

COPPER. 265

globule. Its constituent parts are, peroxide of copper 68°13,
phosphoric acid 30°95. Klaproth. Phosphate of copper is a
rare mineral, and is found principally at Virneberg, on the Rhine.
where it occurs along with quartz, calcedony, red copper ore, and
malachite, in greywacke.

There are some other species, but they are of little importance
to the metallurgist, being never worked exclusively as ores of
copper. The sulphurets are the ores from which the metal is
usually extracted. The method of reducing them consists essen-
tially in driving off the sulphur, oxidizing the iron, and converting
it into silicate, while the metal is separated in a tolerably pure
state. In Cornwall the ore is broken into small pieces, and
roasted in a reverberatory furnace for about twelve hours, occa-
sionally stirring it, so as to expose new surfaces to the air. It is
then put into a small furnace, and brought to a state of fusion,
sometimes mixed with a little lime, to increase the fusibility. As
the impurities collect at the top, they are raked out, and put into
oblong moulds, in which they are allowed to cool: they then form
a hard mass, which is used in building. The fused copper is
drawn out through a hole in the lower part of the furnace into an
adjoining pot filled with water; fresh quantities of roasted ore are
then put in, and the process is in this way carried on for a consi-
derable time. By this process the metal is reduced to the gra-
nular state; it is still, however, impure, being mixed with sulphur
and arsenic. To free it from these the metal is repeatedly sub-
jected to the heat of a reverberatory furnace, and each time put
into the well. During these processes, the slag (silicate of iron)
collects on the surface of the fused metal, but as this contains a
considerable quantity of copper, it is kept, and mixed with the
fresh ore, previous to its being put into the furnace. The copper,
after this, is kept at a low red heat for two days, and is then
repeatedly fused, and cast into moulds about fourteen inches in
length. It is lastly put into the refining furnace, with a little char-
coal, in which it is again fused. If, after this, it bear the hammer,
it is fit for sale.

Pure copper has a yellowish-red colour, and considerable lustre.
It has a disagreeable styptic taste, and emits a peculiar foetid odour

266 COPPER.

when warmed or rubbed. It is hard, sonorous, ductile, and very
malleable. Its specific gravity is about 88. Tt melts at a tempe-
rature equal to 27° of Wedgewood’s scale: by a more violent heat
it may be made to boil, and to evaporate in visible fumes. It is
oxidized when heated in contact with atmospherical air, at a tem-
perature far below that of ignition. Many of the acids oxidate it,
and render it soluble in water. When exposed to air and moisture,
it attracts oxygen, and a green crust is formed on its surface, which
is a carbonate of copper. Fat substances are said to favour its
combination with the oxygen, and to cause it to tarnish and rust
more speedily. It combines with phosphorus, and forms, by ad-
mixture with other metals, several important alloys.

Salts of Copper.

The saline combinations of copper are usually of a blue or green
colour. They are decomposed by the alkalies and earths, Ammo-
nia added to the solutions produces a deep blue colour, and the:
ferro-prussiate of potash a reddish-brown precipitate. A plate of
iron or zinc immersed in these solutions is immediately coated with
copper. Metallic copper is also obtained when they are exposed
to a strong heat along with charcoal.

SULPHATE oF Copper, Cupri Sulphas. Ph.—This is the most
important of the salts of copper. In commerce it is called dlue
vitriol, and is generally prepared by roasting copper pyrites, and
exposing it ina humid state to the action of air, in which case the
metal is oxidized by absorbing oxygen; at the same time the
sulphur is changed into sulphuric acid, and the sulphate of copper,
thus formed, is procured by lixiviation and crystalization. The
sulphate of copper is in the form of rhomboidal prisms, of a deep
rich blue colour. It is inodorous, and has a nauseous metallic
styptic taste. It is soluble in four parts of water at 60°, and the
solution reddens litmus paper. It is insoluble in alcohol. It is
decomposed by the alkalies and alkaline carbonates, by the acetates
of lead and iron, by the oxymuriate of mercury, nitrate of silver,
acetate of ammonia, and tartrate of potass, and is precipitated by
all the astringent vegetable infusions. This salt is sometimes
prescribed internally as an emetic, in the early stages of phthisis,

COPPER. 267

and in cases where the stomach has been paralyzed by narcotic
poisons, in doses of from two to fifteen grains, dissolved in water.
It has also been employed as an astringent and tonic in dysentery,
intermittent fever, chorea, epilepsy, and some other spasmodic
affections. In these cases it is sometimes combined with opium,
to prevent the nausea and vomiting which it is apt to excite. As
a tonic it should be given in the form of a pill, in a dose of half a
grain twice or thrice a day, increasing it gradually as far as two
grains. Externally, sulphate of copper is used as an escharotic to
destroy fungus, and in solution is applied with adyantage to givea
healthy stimulus to foul indolent ulcers. This salt, dissolved with
alum in water, is sometimes employed as a styptic to restrain
external hemorrhages, and a very dilute solution is sometimes used
as an astringent injection ; sometimes as a collyrium in the puru-
lent opthalmia of children.

SuBACETATE OF Copper, /Erugo, Ph. L.D. Sudbacetas Cupri,
E.—This salt, commonly called verdigris, is prepared by covering
copper-plates with the husks of the grape after the juice has been
expressed. These plates, with the interposed husks, being occa-
sionally moistened with water, are left at rest for fifteen or twenty
days, at the end of which time the vegetable matter passes into
fermentation, and a portion of acetic acid is formed. In this pro-
cess the copper is oxidized, and the oxide combined with a portion

of the acetic acid, forming a subacetate. The crust of this is scraped
off, and beat into masses, which are dried by a gentle heat. By
dissolving in distilled vinegar, and evaporating the solution, the
subacetate is obtained in a crystalized mass of a deep blueish-
green colour. It is inodorous, and has an austere metallic taste.
Boiling water, according to Dr. Ure, dissolves one-fifth of the salt,
of which it deposits the greater part on cooling. It is also soluble
inalcohol. Its specific gravity is 1°78, The subacetate of copper
has been administered internally, as a tonic, in epilepsy, in a dose
of half a grain. In large doses, as from one to two grains, it has
been given as an emetic in incipient phthisis ; but for this purpose
it is inferior to sulphate of zinc, and is therefore now seldom pre-
scribed. Externlly it is occasionally employed by surgeons as an
escharotic ; and mixed with an equal quantity of powdered can-

268 COPPER.

tharides, it is sometimes used as an application for destroying warts
and other excrescences. It is also used as a useful stimulant to
change the surface of foul ulcers, and for checking the growth of
fungus, being applied under the form of ointment, mixed with lard.
Combined with vinegar and honey it forms the Oxymel Abruginis
of the pharmacopeeias, and has long been applied to the same pur-
poses ; but a solution of the sulphate of copper in common oxymel,
is recommended by Mr. Brande as a preferable substitute.

AMMONIATED Copper, Cuprum Ammoniatum, Ph. L.—This
salt is usually prepared by triturating two parts of the sulphate
of copper with three of the carbonate of ammonia, the carbonic
acid of the latter being disengaged, while the ammonia combines
with the sulphate. It is of a rich blue or violet colour, and has a
saline styptic taste. The ammoniated copper has been given,
apparently with advantage, as a tonic and antispasmodic, in chorea,
epilepsy, and dysphagia. The dose is half a grain, gradually
increased to five grains, given twice or three times a-day, in the
form of pill.

All the salts and oxides of copper are poisonous. Verdigris,
which is one of the most active of these poisonous preparations, is
sometimes taken in the food in a state of solution in wine or
vinegar, or in combination with oily matters. The ordinary
symptoms are a peculiar coppery taste in the mouth, dryness and
constriction of the throat, nausea, constant ptyalism, violent head-
ache, vomiting, and griping pains in the stomach and bowels. The
alvine dejections are sometimes bloody, sometimes black; the
pulse small, hard, quick, and irregular ; ardent thirst, cold sweats,
vertigo, cramps in the lower extremities, jaundice, and, when the
case ends fatally, convulsions very generally precede death. The
appearances after death are chiefly marks of inflammation, or of
gangrene in the alimentary canal. In some instances the intes-
tines have been found perforated by ulceration, and their contents
discharged into the sac of the peritoneum. Sugar and syrups have
been considered the best antidotes for the poison of copper. From
the experiments of M. Orfila on dogs, however, it appears that sugar
onlyacts as an emollient after the poison has been expelled from the
stomach, and that it produces no effect if retained by a ligature on

Pl.37

ST ANTY DF TTF

LL Cede of lin, or Tinstone. 3 Sulphuret of lin or Tin Prites

4 Grey Sulphuret of Antimony.

aondon, Published by John Wilson, Sept 11831

TIN. 269

the gullet.* He found that albumen, or the white of eggs, given
in large quantities of water, is the most effectual counter-poison
for all the preparations of copper. The ferro-prussiate of potash
has likewise been found an equally powerful antidote.+

Genus VI.—TIN.

Etain.¥r.; Stagno, It.; Estano,Sp.; Zinn, Ger; Tin, Sax. Dut. Dan.; Teun,
Swed.; Olowo, Russ.; Resass, Arab.; Runga, Hind.; Yang-seih, Chin,

Tr appears to have been known from the most remote antiquity,
for we find it mentioned in the works of Moses,t and both the
coins and the weapons of the ancients were made of an alloy of
tin and copper. According to Pliny, the Pheenicians and Cartha-
ginians procured it from Spain and Britain, with which nations
they carried on a lucrative commerce. Tin has never been
discovered pure in nature, but exists either in the state of a perox-
ide, or of a double sulphuret of tin and copper. The ores of this
metal are by no means universally diffused ; they have been found
and worked chiefly in England, in Germany, and in many parts of
the East Indies; and they occur only in that description of rocks
which geologists call primitive, from supposing them to constitute
the most ancient parts of the earth’s surface. The ores of tin
are distinguished by their great hardness and specific gravity.
Nearly all the tin of commerce is obtained from the ore denomi-
nated tin-stone, or the peroxide of tin and iron.

Sp. 1. Trnstone, or OxipE or Tin. Pui. XXXVII. fig. 1, 2.—
Zinnstein, Werner; Etain oxidé, Hauy; Tinstone, Jameson,
iii, p. 439.—The prevailing colours are yellowish-brown, dark-
brown, or reddish-brown, hair-brown, and velvet-black. It occurs
in rounded masses, which are in general more or less crystaline ;
but commonly in regular crystals. The most common form of the

* Toxicologie Generale, vol.i. p. 535. + bid. vol. i. p. 541.
{ Numbers xxxi. cap. 22.
|| Hist. Nat, lib. iv. cap. 34, and lib, xxiv. cap. 47.
2A

270 TIN.

crystals is a rectangular four-sided prism, terminated by four-sided
pyramids, fig. / ; another form, the dodecahedron, with triangular
planes, is represented fig. c. The primitive form is an obtuse
octahedron, fig a. The structure of the crystals is lamellar ;
externally they are splendent, the cross fracture is uneven, and the
lustre shining or resinous. ‘Tinstone varies from semitransparent
to opaque: it gives sparks with steel; it is very heavy, brittle, and
yields a greyish-white streak. Its specific gravity is 6°970.
Before the blow-pipe pulverised tinstone decrepitates, and is
reduced to the metallic state. Its constituents are, tin 77°5,
iron 0°25, oxygen 21°5, silica 0°75. Klaproth.—This ore occurs
disseminated, in veins or beds, in granite, gneiss, mica-slate, and
clay-slate. Cornwall is the most considerable repository of this
mineral in Europe. It is also found in considerable abundance in
the Saxon Erzgebirge ; in Monte Rey, in Gallicia, in Spain, and
in various parts of Asia,and South America. The grains and
fragments of tinstone found in alluvial soil are separated from the
earthy matter by passing streams of water over them, whence these
grains are called stream-tin. Tinstone is readily distinguished
from wolfram by its extreme hardness ; from Llende by its superior
hardness, and by its not emitting a sulphurous odour when tritu-
rated; from garnet by its peculiar lustre and density; and from
shorl by its colour, form, and greater specific gravity.

Woop Tin.—Kornisch Zidnerz, Werner; Etain oxidé con-
cretionne, Hawy.—It is found with stream-tin in reniform,
globular, botryoidal, and wedge-shaped pieces. Its most common
colour is hair-brown. The structure is divergingly fibrous, with
concentric lamelle ; the lustre is glistening and silky: it is opaque,
softer than common tinstone, and brittle, Its specific gravity is
6:4. It consists, according to Vauquelin, of tin 91, oxide of
iron 9. It is readily distinguished from brown hematite by its
greater hardness and superior specific gravity.

Tin Pyrites.—Zinnkies, Werner; Etain sulphuré, Hauy.—
The colour of this ore varies from steel-grey to brass-yellow ; the
lustre is glistening and metallic. It occurs massive and dissemi-
nated, Its fracture is even, and sometimes conchoidal. It yields
easily to the knife, and is brittle. Its specific gravity is 4°3. Its

TIN. 271

constituents are, tin 34, copper 36, sulphur 25, iron 2. Klaproth.
It has been found only in Cornwall.

The purest and best metal, known in commerce by the name of
_ grain tin, is smelted from stream tin, whilst the article called block
tin is extracted from the ore dug out of veins. After the ore is
obtained from the mines, it is reduced to powder in a stamping~
mill; it is then washed carefully, and the oxide being mixed with
one-fifth of its weight of coke, is roasted ina reverberatory furnace,
through a hole in the bottom of which the metallic tin flows into a
vessel below. It is afterwards fused in an iron boiler, where it is
freed from the scoria which covers it, and finally purified by the
addition of charcoal. The metal is usually cast into small bars, or
ingots for exportation.

Tin has a silvery-white colour, which, by exposure to the air, ac«
quires a slight superficial tarnish. It feels greasy, and emits a pecu-
liar and rather fetid odour when rubbed. It is very soft and mallea-
ble, but has little ductility and tenacity. When bent backwards and
forwards, it occasions a peculiar crackling noise. Its specific gra-
vity is 7°3; it melts at 442; and if it be then stirred rapidly while
it gradually cools, it is obtained in the form of a fine granular pow-
der, which is the Pulvis Stanni of the pharmacopeeias. There are
two oxides of tin, When tin is exposed to heat in an open vessel,
it absorbs oxygen, and is converted into a grey powder. The pro-
toxide may also be obtained by pouring diluted muriatic acid upon
tin filings, and leaving them in contact forty-eight hours. It may
then be separated from the acid by decomposing it by the action of
an alkali. The peroxide may be obtained either by heating the
protoxide, as we have just stated, or by the action of nitric acid,
slightly diluted, upon the metal. A white powder is produced,
which is a hydrate of the peroxide, from which the water may be
expelled by a red heat, The peroxide of tin is of a straw-yellow
colour: it is commonly known under the name of putty powder, -
and is used for staining glass and polishing silver-plate. Both of
the oxides of tin form salts by uniting with acids. Tin combines
with chlorine in two proportions, The protochloride may be
obtained by boiling tin in a state of minute division, in muriatic
acid; the perchloride may be obtained by exposing tin to the

272 ANTIMONY.

action of chlorine, and heating it. The salts formed by the solu-
tions of the chlorides of tin in water are much used in dyeing, in
consequence of the strong affinity they have for colouring matter.
Several of the acids act very readily on tin: the nitro-muriate
of tin is used as a test of gold and platina, giving a purple precipi-
tate with solutions of the former, and an orange one with those of
the latter. Tin forms two compounds with sulphur : one of these,
the bi-sulphuret, may be made by heating together, in close vessels,
the peroxide of tin and sulphur. It is well known by the name of
Mosaic gold, and is used as a pigment for giving a gold colour to
some works of art. The alloys of tin with copper in various pro-
portions form brass. An amalgam of tin and mercury is largely
employed for silvering the backs of mirrors, and for other purposes
in thearts. It forms pewter with zinc and small portions of other
metals, and an alloy of tin with antimony is used for the reflectors
of telescopes.

Mepicau Properties.—Tin, in its metallic state, has no action
on the human body; but it was formerly esteemed tonic, and
employed as a remedy in chorea and epilepsy. The powder of tin
and tin filings have been recommended by Dr. Alston as powerful
anthelmintics, given in doses of two or three drachms in a morning,
and followed by a brisk cathartic. Both these preparations, how-
ever, have been known to prove highly deleterious, the metal being
rendered poisonous by slight oxidation, when given in the first form,
and creating great irritation in the last. The oxide and hydrochlo-
rates of tin are poisonous. They have been found to occasion violent
local irritation, colic, diarrhoea, and other dangerous symptoms.

Genus VIL—ANTIMONY.

Antimoine, Fr., Antimonie, lt.; Antimonio,Sp.; Spiessglas metall, Ger.

Antimony is found in small quantities native, and in occasional
admixture with ores of silver, lead, and copper, but it is from its
combination with sulphur, in which state it occurs abundantly in
Auvergne, Hungary, and Scotland, that the antimony of com-
merce is obtained. The ancients were unacquainted with metallic

ANTIMONY. 273

antimony, but they appear to have used some of its ores medi-
cinally.

Sp. 1. Native Antimony.—Gediegen spiesglas, Werner ;
Antimoine natif, Hauy,—Its colour is tin-white, sometimes ex-
ternally tarnished. It occurs massive and cerystalized in octahe-
drons and rhomboidal dodecahedrons. Its structure is lamellar,
with a splendent metallic lustre. It is harder than calcareous
spar. The specific gravity is 6-7. It consists of 98 antimony,
1:0 silver, and 0°25 iron.

Sp. 2. Grey Sutpnuretor Antimony, or ANTIMONY GLANCE.
Pi. XXXVI. fig. 4.—Grau Spiesglaserz, Werner; Antimoine
sulfuré, Fawy.—Its colour is lead-grey. It occurs massive dissemi-
nated, in distinct concretions, which are radiated, fibrous, and gra-
nular; also crystalized in four, six, ten, or twelve-sided rhomboidal
prisms, The lustre varies from glistening to splendent and me-
tallic. It is extremely soft, yields easily to the knife, and soils the
fingers. The specific gravity is from 4:10 to 4°50. It melts in
the flame of a candle, and when placed before the blow-pipe on
charcoal it is principally volatilized in the form of a white vapour,
with a sulphureous odour. Its constituent parts are antimony
74, sulphur 26100. Bergman. Sulphuret of antimony is
found in beds and veins in transition rocks. In Dumfrieshire,
it occurs in veins traversing greywacke; in Cornwall, in veins
accompanying copper and tin. There are considerable deposits of
it on the continent, and also in America.

In its impure state this mineral is very rarely used, but it forms
the basis of several important and valuable medicinal preparations.
To free it from the earthy matters with which it is naturally com-
bined, the ore, mixed with charcoal, is exposed to heat in a covered
earthern crucible perforated at the bottom; the sulphuret is melted
and is received into another crucible, placed below the former,
while the impurities remain. It is then cast into the form of
loaves or large cakes, and is termed crude antimony, to distinguish
it from the pure metal or regulus as it was formerly called. These
loaves have a grey or blueish-black colour externally ; they are
opaque, and when broken present a striated texture and metallic
lustre. When reduced to powder and thrown into water, the

274 _ ANTIMONY.

coarse part of the powder immediately falls to the bottom, while
the finer particles are kept suspended for some time; and on
pouring off the water, and allowing them to subside slowly at the
bottom of the vessel, an inodorous, insipid, blackish powder is
obtained, which is the Sulphuretum Antimonii preparatum of the
Edinburgh and Dublin Colleges, This substance was used by the
ancients in collyria against inflammations of the eyes; and for
staining the eye-brows black. Internally, it has been prescribed
as a remedy in gouty and rheumatic affections, in scrofula, and
particularly in chronic cutaneous eruptions. In a dose of from
gr. x. to 3il. it acts as a sudorific, but the uncertainty of its opera-
tion and its occasional violent action, prevents it from being gene-
rally used in practice. When there is no free acid present in the
stomach it produces scarcely any sensible effect on the system ; but
when this is the case, it becomes oxidated, and proves violently
emetic and cathartic.

From the grey sulphuret all the preparations of antimony
which have been applied to medical use are directed to be made
in the British pharmacopeias. They have been divided into
those in which the metal is combined with oxygen, and those in
which it is brought into a saline state by combination with acids.
Though these preparations are of very different degrees of strength,
they all retain the same mode of action, and possess, therefore,
the same medicinal virtues. They do not exert any general ope-
tation on the system, but are always directed in their action to
particular parts, so as to occasion some sensible evacuation. Their
general effects are diaphoresis, nausea, full vomiting, and purging ;
but their determination to particular organs depends partly on the
dose, partly on the state of the stomach, and partly too on the
nature of the preparation. In all cases where it is desirable to pro-
mote the secretions in general, and those of the skin and alimentary
canal, in particular, it is proper to have recourse to antimonial
remedies. In the treatment of intermittent as well as continued
fever, in the phlegmasie and exanthemata, antimony has long been
more or less extensively used. It is given either so as to excite dia-~
phoresis, or in larger doses to induce nausea, vomiting, and purging,
which may perhaps be best obtained by the form of emetic tartar.

ANTIMONY. 245

Oxides of Antimony.

Oxipe or ANTIMONY. Antimonii Oxydum. Ph. L.—If toa
solution of tartarised antimony we adda solution of subcarbonate
of ammonia, and gently boil the mixture, a protoxide of antimony
will be precipitated, which should be washed with plenty of hot
water, and then dried. Itis ofa dirty white colour, fuses at a red
heat, and forms on cooling an opaque crystaline mass. The oxide
of antimony is very violent in its operation, and is scarcely ever
employed in practice. Its dose is from one to ten grains. A
similar preparation has a place in the Dublin Pharmacopaia,
under the name of Oxidum Antimonii Nitro-Muriaticum. It is
used merely for preparing tartar-emetic.

SunpHURETTED OxipE oF ANTIMONY. Antimonii Oxydum
sulphuretum vitrificatum. Antimonti vitrum, L. E. Guass oF
Antimony.—According to Proust, this is a compound of the pro-
toxide of antimony with about an eighth part of sulphuret of anti-
mony. It is a transparent glass of a reddish-brown colour, and is
prepared by exposing the sulphuret to a high temperature in an
open vessel. The sulphur is dissipated, the antimony is oxidated,
and, by the intensity of the heat, the oxide is vitrified. It acts asa
diaphoretic, emetic, or cathartic, but its operation is so violent, and,
at the same time, so uncertain, that it is never prescribed. Its
chief use is for the preparation of some other antimonials, and itis
employed by the Edinburgh College for the preparation of emetic
tartar. The Crocus, or Saffron of Antimony, (Crocus Antimonii),
or what is now named by the Edin. College, Oxidum Antimonii
per Nitratem Potasse, consists of four parts of the protoxide and
‘one of the sulphuret of antimony. It is obtained by throwing
equal parts of nitre and the sulphuret of antimony into a hot
crucible, and separating the scorie and other saline substances by
water. In this process, the greater part of the antimony is con-
verted into a protoxide by the oxygen of the nitre, while the
sulphur is at the same time acidified ; part of it being dissipated in
the form of sulphurous acid, and the rest entering into combina-
tion with the potash ef the nitre. A compound which has long

276 ANTIMONY.

been known by the name of Crocus metallorum, or Liver of Anti-
mony, is merely the glass of antimony containing a larger quantity
of the sulphuret. The Pulvis Algarotti is a protoxide of antimony,
with a small portion of the muriatic acid; and is the Oxidum
Antimonit Nitro-muriaticum of the Dublin College, and:is used
only in the preparation of emetic tartar.

VirRIFIED Ox1DE oF ANTIMONY WITH Wax, formerly Vitruwm
Antimonii Ceratum, is prepared by adding eight parts of vitrified
oxide of antimony, with sulphur, to one part of melted wax, and
exposing them to a moderate heat for a quarter of an hour, stirring
constantly with a spatula. The matter is then poured out, and,
when cold, it is ground into a fine powder. By this process, the
antimony is rendered much milder in its operation. It was
formerly regarded as a specific in dysentery, but as it possesses no
advantages over other antimonials, and is moreover very uncer-
tain in its operation, it is never employed in the present practice.
Its dose was from five to fifteen grains, and its principal operation
was that of a cathartic.

PRECIPITATED SULPHURET oF ANTIMONY. Antimonium Sulphu-
retum Precipitatum.—Ofthis there are three varieties, differing in the
proportion of their elements, The first is what used to be named
Kermes Mineral, and is now called by the Dublin College
Sulphur Antimoniatum fuscum. It is a compound of the pro-
toxide of antimony with sulphuretted hydrogen, and a small portion
of sulphur. To prepare this compound, sulphuret of antimony
must be fused with an equal weight of subcarbonate of potash, and
boiled in water; the liquor is to be strained while hot, and, on
cooling, the kermes is deposited of a brick-red colour. In ‘this
process a portion of the water is decomposed, its oxygen combines
with the antimony, and its hydrogen with the sulphur ; the anti-
mony being converted into a protoxide, and the sulphur into sul-
phuretted hydrogen, the latter partly combining with the pro-
toxide and partly with the potash. If dilute sulphuric acid be
added to the cold liquor, a precipitate is obtained which has been
called the Golden Sulphuret of Antimony ; it is of a bright orange
colour, and differs from kermes in containing a larger quantity of
sulphur. When a diluted acid is added to the liquor while it is

ANTIMONY. 277

~

hot, and before any kermes is precipitated, a compound is thrown
down, which is the Sulphuretum Antimonii precipitatum of the
pharmacopeeias. It is of a brown colour, and consists of protoxide
of antimony, sulphuretted hydrogen, and sulphur, the quantity of
the latter ingredient being intermediate between that in the kermes
and the golden sulphuret. These preparations of antimony possess
the same medicinal qualities, and are used in the same cases as the
crude sulphuret. They have been used principally as a diaphoretic
and sudorific ; but they are liable to the same uncertainty in their
operation as the other oxides, and are therefore seldom prescribed.
Combined with calomel, the yellow hydro-sulphuret has been em-
ployed as a useful alterative in porrigo, herpetic and other cuta-
neous eruptions, in obstinate ulcers, in many anomalous diseases,
in glandular affections, and morbid enlargements of the breast and
testicle. It is given in a dose of from gr. i. to gr. iv., twice a-day,
usually under the form of a pill. |

ANTIMONIAL PowbEr. Pulvis Antimonialis, Ph. L.—This is a
peroxide of antimony, combined with phosphate of lime, and is
intended as a substitute for an emperical remedy called James’s
Powder, which still maintains a deserved celebrity as an antimonial.
It is prepared by exposing equal weights of the sulphuret of anti-
mony and hartshorn shavings to a red heat in an iron pot, stirring
it till it becomes of an ash-grey colour; it is then exposed, under
cover, to a white heat for two hours, a small aperture being left to
allow the escape of any gas. In this process the sulphur of the
sulphuret is expelled, and also the gelatin of the hartshorn, the
phosphate of lime remaining, either mechanically mixed or che-
mically combined with the antimony in the state of protoxide.
The antimonial powder, however, when prepared in this manner,
is far less uniform in its operation than James’s powder, the
antimony being either volatalized during the operation, or a
mixture of the peroxide of antimony and lime is obtained, which
is nearly, if not altogether inert. Antimonial powder has been
given as a sudorific in the commencement of fevers and inflam-
matory affections. Its dose is from grs. ili. to grs. vill., repeated
every four or six hours, till its effects are obtained. In large doses
it operates as an emetic and cathartic. It is sometimes prescribed
in acute rheumatism, combined with camphor, calomel, and

278 ANTIMONY.

opium; and with calomel and guaiacum in several cutaneous
diseases.
Salts of Antimony.

TarTARIzED ANTIMONY, Antimonium tartarizatum. LL.—This
compound, commonly called Tartar Emetic, is by far the most
important and valuable of all the antimonials. It is usually pre-
pared by boiling the protoxide of antimony along with the bi-tartrate
of potash, the oxide combining with the bi-tartrate, and forming a
soluble compound, which erystalizes on cooling. The London Col-
lege uses (wo ounces of the sulphuret of antimony, one ounce of
nitrate of potash, and éwo ounces of sulphuric acid, boiling them in
a pint and a half of distilled water. The process recommended by
Mr. Phillips, consists in oxidizing the sulphuret of antimony by
boiling it to dryness with twice its weight of sulphuric acid. The
gross weight of which, obtained in this manner, being well washed,
is then digested in a quantity of boiling water, with its own weight
of cream of tartar, and evaporated to the density of 1:161, after _
which it is filtered hot. On cooling, crystals of the triple tartrate
are obtained. Pure tartar emetic crystalizes frequently in small
triedral pyramids: The primitive form of its crystals is the regular
tetrahedron, but it assumes a variety of secondary forms. The

-erystals are colourless, transparent, inodorous, and have a somewhat

nauseous, styptic, metallic taste. They effloresce slightly when
exposed to the air, and, when pounded, form a powder of a fine
white colour. According to Dr. Duncan, they are soluble in fifteen
parts of cold water, and in three parts of water at 212°. The
solution is transparent and colourless, and is decomposed when
kept for a considerable time ; and is also decomposed by heat, the
mineral acids, alkalies, and earths. The hydro-sulphurets, bitter
and astringent vegetable substances, and many salts, produce the
same effect. The infusion of galls is the most delicate test by which
the presence of this compound is detected, giving a dirty white
precipitate.

The tartarized antimony is emetic, diaphoretic, expectorant,
alterative, and externally rubefacient. It is, says Dr. Murray,
superior to all the other antimonials in the certainty of its operation
at least as an emetic, and, from its solubility, is more manageable
with regard to the dose. It usually excites vomiting in the dose of

ANTIMONY. 279

from one to two grains ; but the proper mode of administering it
is in divided doses, three or four grains being dissolved in four
ounces of water, and one ounce of this solution being given every
quarter of an hour till it operates. It is more severe in its opera-
tion than the milder emetics, such as ipecacuanha, evacuating not
only the contents of the stomach, by inverting even the motion of
the duodenum ; it also frequently acts as a cathartic. In smaller
doses, it has been employed as a nauseating remedy in fevers, and
to diminish the frequency of the pulse in many inflammatory
diseases. Assisted in its operation by tepid diluents, it is given in
the dose of from one sixteenth to one fourth of a grain as a
diaphoretic; and the same, or a smaller dose, combined with
squill, ammoniacum, or camphor, is frequently prescribed as an
expectorant. In still smaller doses, combined with calomel, it is
employed as an alterative in many cutaneous diseases; and in
rheumatism and gout it is frequently combined with opium.
Applied to the skin by friction, it excites inflammation, and occa-
sions a local pustular eruption; hence it is frequently used in
phthisis, mania, some diseases of the eyes and joints, and in many
deep seated inflammations, as a counter-irritant. For this pur-
pose, it is usually employed in the form of ointment, made by
rubbing 3i. of tartarized antimony with i. of prepared lard.

This salt, when taken in an over-dose, acts as a corrosive poison.
The best antidote is a strong decoction of yellow cinchona bark, or,
when this is not at hand, a strong infusion of tea may be admi-
nistered ; and any signs of inflammation left will be subdued by
venesection.

CutoripE or Antimony, formerly Muriate or ANTIMONY.
Murias Antimonii, Ph. Ed.—This salt is generally prepared by ex-
posing one part of metallic antimony to heat with rather more than
two parts of corrosive sublimate (bi-chloride of mercury.) The
chlorine of the latter combines with the antimony, and is separated
by distillation. Itis at first of a peculiar soft consistence, and was
formerly called Butter of Antimony. On exposure to the air, it
slowly deliquesces, and then forms a dense heavy liquid of a deep
brown or blackish colour. This preparation is sometimes used
externally as a caustic.

280 ZINC.

Genus VIII.—ZINC,

Zinc, Fr.; Zinco, it.; Zink, Ger.; Tootanagum, Tam.; Pi-yuen. Chin.

Tu1s metal exists in_nature mineralized with sulphur or with
oxygen, and also with carbonic and sulphuric acids. The zinc of
commerce is principally obtained from calamine, a native oxide
of zinc, which contains a portion of carbonic acid. The ores
of zinc are generally associated with lead-ores, and are found abun-
dantly in various parts of England, particularly in veins in the
mountain limestone of Derbyshire, Durham, Cumberland, York-
shire, Somersetshire, and North Wales.

Sp.1. SuLPHURET oF Zinc, or BLENDE. Pi. XXXVIII., fig. 1.
—Granat-Blende, Mohs. ; Zinc sulfuré, Hauy.—Its colours are
yellow, brown, and black. It occurs massive, disseminated, in
granular concretions, and crystalized, in many varieties of form,
of which the primitive is, according to Hauy, the rhomboidal
dodecahedron. Mr. Phillips says the varieties amount to not
fewer than fifty, some of which are represented on the annexed
plate. Fig. a, represents the primitive; fig. J, the same with
the solid angles replaced by triangular planes, which, in fig. c, are
increased greatly, forming the passage of the rhomboidal dodeca-
hedron into the regular octahedron, fig. d. Fig. e, is an octahe-
dron, which has received an increase of the crystaline laminz, pro-
gressively diminishing in size, on two opposite faces of the upper
pyramid, and on the other opposite faces of the lower pyramid ;
this crystal forms the passage of the octahedron into the tetra-
hedron, fig, f. Fig. g, isa regular octahedron, of which the solid
angles are replaced by quadrangular planes, which are increased in
fig. h, the cube. Fig. i, is a variety of the rhomboidal dodecahe-
dron; and fig, 7, a crystal bounded by twenty-four equal and simi-
lar triangular planes. The lustre varies from resinous to metallic,
and from shining or splendent to adamantine, It is translucent
or opaque. The structure is laminar, with six distinct cleavages.
It yields readily to the knife, which distinguishes it from tinstone ;

FLOO.

1. Sulphured of Linc, er Blende.

2. Carbonate of Linc, or Catamice,
wralt, del. cb bith. Printed by C.£ Madeley 3 WellengZon Sat

London .Pub? by John Wilson, Oct™ 1.1831.

SEES.

ZINC. 281

it is moderately brittle and easily frangible. The specific gravity
is from 3°7 to 4. It is infusible before the blow-pipe. The
massive brown blende of Allonheads in Northumberland, consists
according to Dr. Thomson, of zinc 58°8, sulphur 23°5, iron 8°4,
silica 7°0. Blende may be distinguished from galena by its streak
and powder, which are yellowish grey, and from other ores which
resemble it by the sulphureous odour it emits when thrown into
an acid, or triturated in a mortar. Blende is found in all the lead-
mines in England and Scotland, and also in; those on the conti-
nent. The common name given to this mineral by the English
miners is black jack.

Sp. 2. Carponate or Zinc, or CALAMINE.—This ore, as Mr.
Bakewell justly observes, has not the appearance of a metallic
mineral. The colours are various shades of white, grey, greenish
or yellowish-grey and also brown. It is divided by some mine-
ralogists into three sub-species ; viz. sparry calamine, compact
calamine, and earthy calamine. Sparry Calamine occurs crysta~-
lized in acute or obtuse rhomboids and in four-sided tables, either
perfect or variously modified. The external lustre of the crystals
is between vitreous and resinous; the structure is imperfectly
laminar ; it is more or less transparent, and yields easily to the
knife. The specific gravity is about 4°30. It is infusible, but
looses about 34 per cent. by ignition ; it dissolves with efferves-
cence in muriatic acid. Its constituents are oxide of zinc 65+2,
carbonic acid 34°8—100. Smithson. Compact Calamine is opaque
and has less lustre than the crystalized; its colours are grey,
yellow, and yellowish-brown. It occurs in stalactitical, reniform,
or botryoidal masses, also cellular, and in pseudo-morphous crys-
tals, (Pl. XXXVIII. fig. 2,) and incrusting other minerals. It is
opaque or slightly translucent on the edges, dull, very feebly glim-
mering and resinous. The fracture is granular, splintery, even or
flatly conchoidal. Earthy Calamine is greyish, yellowish-white, or
yellowish brown, and is earthy, dull, and soft, yielding to the nail.
That of Bleiberg, in Carinthia, consists, according to Smithson, of
oxide of zinc 31°4, carbonic acid 13°5, water 15°1—100°0.

Calamine, after it has been calcined and reduced to a fine
powder by levigation, (Calamina preparata, Ph, L,) is used medi-

282 ZINC.

cinally as an external application to superficial inflammations and
excoriations, dusted on the part, and it forms the basis of the com-
mon healing cerate.

Sp. 3. Evecorrsc, or Prismatic CALAMINE.—Prismatischer
Zink-Baryt, Mohs.; Zine oxydé, Hauy.—This species is so called
from its becoming strongly electric when gently heated. Its most
common colours are white and yellow ; it also occurs green, grey,
yellow, and brown. It occurs massive, disseminated, laminar,
stalactitic, reniform, botryoidal, cellular, corroded, and crystalized,
either in small crystals or in groups scopiformly aggregated like
zeolite. The secondary forms are numerous, but, according to
Hauy, the octahedron is the primitive form. The lustre is pearly,
inclining to adamantine; it varies from transparent to opaque. It
yields to the knife, but is harder than calamine. The spe-
cific gravity is 3°4. It is infusible; but dissolves in muriatic acid.
Its constituents are oxide of zinc 68°3, silica 25, water 4:4. Smith-
son. It is found in small quantities principally along with the ores
of lead. ;

Sp. 4. Rep Zinc Ore. Itis of a blood or aurora red colour. It
occurs massive and disseminated. The fresh fracture is shining,
foliated ; the cross-fracture is conchoidal. It is translucent on the
edges, or opaque. It is brittle, easily scratched by the knife, and
gives a browish- yellow streak. The specific gravity is 6°22. Its con-
stituents are zinc 76, oxygen 16, oxides of manganese and iron 8
=100. Bruce. This ore has been hitherto found only in North
America, where it occurs in great abundance in several of the iron-
mines in Sussex county, New Jersey.

The most valuable ores of zinc from which the metal is extracted
are Calamine and Blende. The ore, after being reduced to small
fragments, and separated as much as possible from foreign matter,’
is commonly roasted, by which the sulphur of the former, and the
acid of the latter, are expelled. The product is then washed, in
order to separate the lighter matter, and the heavy part which
remains is mixed with one eighth of its weight of charcoal. The
mixture is next reduced to powder in a mill, in which state it is
introduced into the pots or crucibles to be smelted. These pots
resemble oil-jars in shape, and ‘are arranged round a circular fur-

ZENC. 283

nace, vaulted above. Through the bottom of each there passes a
tube of iron, the upper end of which terminates by an open mouth
near the top of the pot. The lower end goes through the floor of
the furnace into a vessel of water, situated in an apartment below.
The pots are left open for about two hours, till the flame begins to
assume a blue colour; indicating that the zinc is beginning to be
reduced. They are then covered up on the top. The zinc is
reduced, and gradually escapes through the iron tube into the water,
where it is condensed in the form of globules. These are after-
wards melted and cast into ingots.

Zinc is known in commerce by the name of Spelter ; but usually
contains an admixture of lead and sulphur. When purified from
these, it is of a brilliant white colour, inclining to blue. Its specific
gravity is about 6-8. It is brittle, except at a temperature between
200 and 300° of Fahrenheit, when it becomes both ductile and
malleable, and retains its tenacity when slowly cooled. It is the
most inflammable of the metals, burning with a brilliant flame
when heated to ignition. It melts at about 725° of Fahrenheit’s
scale, and crystalizes on cooling. The principal use of zinc is in
the formation of galvanic apparatus, and in electrical experiments.
It has no sensible action on the system in its metallic state; but
some of its‘compounds have been much used in medicine.

OxipE or Zinc. Zinci Oxydum, L. E. D.—When zinc is
exposed to a temperature very little above its melting point, it
attracts oxygen from the atmosphere, and burns vividly with a daz-
zling flame of a blueish tint, producing an oxide in the form of
very light floeculi, formerly called flowers of xinc or philosophical
wool, It is directed to be prepared by throwing the metal into a
red hot crucible with another inverted over it to receive the oxide
as it forms. This oxide, which is the only one known, is of a
snow-white colour; it is inodorous, insipid, insoluble in water and
alcohol, but entirely soluble in acids, and is not altered by exposure
to the air. According to Proust, it consists of 80 of zinc, and 20
of oxygen in 100 parts. The oxide of zinc is tonic and antispas-
modic, and has been employed in chorea and epilepsy in a dose of
from one to five grains. The Unguenitwm Oxidi Zinci composed of
one ounce of oxide of zinc and six ounces of prepared lard, is used

284 ZINC.

as a moderately astringent and stimulant application in some forms
of cutaneous eruptions, ring-worm, sore nipples, and chronic
inflammation of the conjunctiva, depending on a relaxed state of
the vessels.

Impure Oxipe or Zinc, or Tutry. Oxidum Zinci impurum,
E. Tuttia, D.—The nature and origin of this substance has not
been well ascertained. According to Dr. Murray, it consists of
oxide of zinc with argillaceous earth, and is supposed to be an
artificial compound, prepared from the sublimed oxide of zinc
that collects in the chimneys of the furnaces in which the metal is
roasted, mixed with clay and baked. It is of a grey or brown
colour, and earthy texture, and, when levigated, it is used for the
same purposes as calamine.

Salts of Zinc.

Nearly all the acids act with energy on zinc, and form salts
some of which have been used in medicine. They are, in general,
soluble in water, and their solutions are colourless. They are de-
composed by the alkalies, and afford white precipitates; with
sulphuretted hydrogen and the ferro-prussiate of potash.

SuipHate or Zinc. Zinci Sulphas, L. E. D.—This salt is pre-
pared by pouring diluted sulphuric acid on zinc, and evaporating the
solution so far that, on cooling, the sulphate is obtained in acicular
crystals. In thiS process, the metal combines with the oxygen of
the water and with the acid, a sulphate of zinc being formed while

hydrogen gas is disengaged. It is usually prepared on a large scale
from the common sulphuret or blende. The ore is roasted, wetted
with water, and exposed to the air. The sulpburet attracts oxygen,
and is converted into sulphuric acid; and the metal being at the
same time oxidized, combines with the acid. After some time, the
sulphate is extracted by solution in water; and the solution being
evaporated to dryness, is run into moulds. When procured in
this way, it generally contains a small portion of iron, and some-
times of lead. This salt, known in commerce under the name
of white vitriol, is said to have been discovered in Germany about
the middle of the 16th century. The form of its crystals is that
of flat quadrangular prisms, terminated by four-sided pyramids.

Pia 9.

1, Galena, or Subphuret of Lead. 2, Compact Galena.
3, Native Minium.

Printed by 6 £E.. Wadeley.3 Wellington S¢ Strand C Sorat del et. Lath

London Pub.by John Wilson, Oct.1. 1831.

LEAD. 285

At atemperature of 60°, it dissolves in about 2°5 times its weight
of water, and in about an equal weight at 212°. It reddens the
vegetable blues, and has a slightly acidulous, styptic, metallic
taste. It is decomposed by the alkalies, earths, and hydro-sul-
phurets, and by astringent vegetable infusions. The sulphate of
zinc is used internally in medicine as an emetic, astringent, and
tonic. In a dose of from grs. x. to ss. it operates almost instan-
- taneously as an emetic, and is frequently employed as such in cases
where the stomach has been rendered torpid by the action of
narcotic poisons. In a dose of one or two grains, given twice a-
day, it has been employed as a tonic in intermittent fevers, dyspnoea,
phthisis, fluor albus, and some convulsive affections, as pertussis,
chorea, and epilepsy ; also as an astringent in chronic dysentery.
As an external application, a solution of this salt in water, in the
proportion of grs.iss. to 3i. of fluid, is the common astringent
injection in gonorrheea, and a little diluted forms a useful collyrium
in the latter stages of ophthalmia. It is also used as a lotion in
excoriations, and some kinds of superficial inflammations.

AcETATE oF Zinc. Acetitis Zinci.—This salt is formed by
adding acetate of lead to a solution of sulphate of zinc, when sul-
phate of lead is precipitated, and the acetate of zinc remains
dissolved. It is frequently used as an excellent collyrium in
ophthalmia, and an astringent injection in gonorrhea, and is less
irritating than the solution of the sulphate,

Genus VIJI.—LEAD.

Plomb, Fr.; Piombo, It.; Plomo, Sp.; Chumbo, Port. ; Blei, Ger. ; Swinez, Russ.
Soorb, Pers.; Antk, Arab, ; Sisa, Hind.; Hihk-yen, Chin.

Lead very rarely occurs in the native or pure state ; it is gene-
rally found mineralized with sulphur, with oxygen, and with
various acids, forming a great variety of ores.

Sp. 1.—Sutenuret or Leap, or Garena, Pi. XXXIX. fig.
1, 2.—Bleischweif, Werner; Plomb sulfuré, Hawy.—The colour

2B

286 LEAD.

is lead-grey ; the lustre metallic, and varying from splendent to
glistening. It, occurs in amorphous masses, disseminated and
crystalized, in cubes and octahedrons. Fig. a represents the cube,
which is the primitive form ; J, the same truncated on the angles,
forming the passage into the octahedron, fig. c. Fig. d, e, and TF
represent various modifications of the octahedron. The structure
is lamellar, granular, or compact. It is soft, sectile, and easily
frangible. The specific gravity is 7°5. Before the blow-pipe it
decrepitates and melts, emits a sulphureous odour, and globules of
metallic lead are formed on the charcoal. A specimen from
Durham, analysed by Dr. Thomson, contained, lead 85°13, sulphur
13'2. Somé varieties, particularly the granular galena, or steel-
grained lead ore, often contain a very considerable portion of
silver. Sulphuret of lead occurs in beds and veins in primitive,
transition, and secondary rocks, in various parts of the globe.
The most productive lead veins in England intersect mountain-~
limestone in Derbyshire, Northumberland, Durham, Cumber-
land, and Yorkshire. Nearly all the lead of commerce is obtained
from galena. After being broken in pieces the ore is washed, and
then exposed to a strong heat in a reverberatory furnace, till the
sulphur is all separated ; it is then brought into a state of fusion
with lime, and the scoria is raked off, while the lead is run out into
moulds through an aperture near the bottom, in this state it is
called pig lead. The silver is separated by converting the lead
into litharge, and separating the silver from what remains by
cupellation.

Sp. 2. Native Minium, or Native Rep Oxripr or Leap.
PL. XXXIX. fig. 3.—Plombe oxyde rouge, Hauy.—This is a
scarce ore of lead; its colour is scarlet; it is massive, amorphous,
and pulverulent. It occurs incrusting sulphuret of lead, and its
properties are the same as the common red-lead of commerce.

Sp. 3. CARBONATE OF Leap, or Wuite Leap-spar. PL.
XL. fig. 1.—Weiss Bleirz, Werner; Plomb carbonate, Hauy.—
Its colours are white, yellow, brown, and grey; sometimes coloured
green or blue by copper. It occurs massive, disseminated, in
membranes, and crystalized. The primitive, a cuneiform oc-
tahedron, is represented fig. a, and some of the more common

1. Carbonate of Lead. Oo. Arsencate of Lead.

a Fhosphate of Ltdck. BE e hromate of ‘Lead.

G Sprac, Acl. e& kth Printed. by GE Maddey 3 Wellington St

London Pub by John Wilson,Frinees St* Oct.1.1831.

LEAD. 287

\

secondary forms are given on the same plate, fig. l, c, and d.
The crystals are small, often long and acicular ; also broad and
tabular. It varies from translucent to transparent, and it refracts
double ina high degree; the fracture is small conchoidal, and the
lustre resinous or adamantine. It is brittle, and very easily fran-
gible. The specific gravity is’ 6°72. Before the blow-pipe, it
decrepitates and melts into a metallic globule. It consists of,
oxide of lead 82, carbonic acid 16, water 2100,—Klaproth.
This ore occurs in small quantities in several of the English lead
mines.

Sp. 4. PHospHATE or Leap, or Green Leap-Ore. Pu. XL.
fig. 2.—Grun bleierz, Werner; Plomb phosphate, Hauwy.—Its
colours are various shades of green, yellow, and white. It seldom
occurs massive; sometimes stalactitic, reniform, and botryoidal ;
but most commonly crystalized in the form of a six-sided prism,
fig. e; variously modified, fig. f; g,andh. The crystals are small,
super-imposed, and sometimes form velvetty or mossy-like drusy
crusts. They are smooth and shining, or splendent, externally ;
internally, glistening, and the lustre is resinous. It is more or less
transparent, brittle, and easily frangible. The specific gravity is
64, It dissolves in acids without effervescence. It contains,
oxide of lead 80, phosphoric acid 18, muriatic acid 1:62.—
- Klaproth. It occurs along with galena and other ores of lead in
the northern counties of England; and also in Scotland.

Sp. 5. Arsenrate or Leap. Pu. XL. fig. 3—Plomb arsenie,
Hauy.—The prevailing colours are pale-yellow and green. It
occurs massive, in granular concretions, in small acicular six-sided
prisms, or in’ very delicate capillary silky fibres, which are trans-
parent, slightly flexible, and easily frangible. The specific gravity
is 50, 64. Its constituent parts are, oxide of lead 69°76, arsenic
acid 264, muriatic acid 1°58.—Gregor. It is found in the mine
of Huel Unity, in Cornwall; also at St. Prix, in France. Renz-
form Arseniate of Lead is of a reddish-brown colour, and has
hitherto been found only in Siberia. Earthy Arseniate of Lead
has a yellow colour, and occurs in crusts along with filamentous
arseniate of lead, at St. Prix.

Sp. 6. Curomate or Leap. Pu. XL. fig. 4.—Rotlr Bleierz,

288 LEAD,

Werner; Plomb chromate, Hauy; Prismatic Lead-Spar, or Red
Lead-Spar, Jameson.—Its colour is hyacinth-red. It seldom
occurs massive, generally in flakes; and crystalized in many
varieties of form, of which the primitive is an oblique four-sided
prism, fig. 7. The lateral planes of the crystals are longitudinally
streaked, the other planes smooth, shining, or splendent, and the
lustre adamantine. The structure is distinctly lamellar; the frac-
ture is small-grained, uneven. It is more or less translucent, and
gives a pale orange-yellow streak. It is almost sectile, and easily
frangible. The specific gravity is 5°7 to 6. Before the blow-pipe
it tinges borax green, and on charcoal it is reduced to the metallic
state. It does not effervesce with acids. It consists of, oxide of
lead 63°96, chromic acid 36°40.—Vauquelin. Chromate of lead
is found in veins, in gneiss, at Beresofsk, in Siberia. In Russia, a
pigment is prepared from it of a very beautiful orange-yellow
colour.

Sp. 7. Sutpuate or Leap.—Vitrol Bleirz, Werner; Plomb
Sulphaté, 4Yauy.—The colours are yellowish and greyish-white.
It occurs massive, disseminated, and crystalized, in oblique four-
sided prisms, and broad rectangular four-sided pyramids. The
crystals are small; externally splendent ; internally shining, and
the lustre adamantine. The cross fracture is conchoidal; it
varies from transparent to translucent ; it is brittle, and yields to
the nail. Before the blow-pipe it melts, and is soon reduced to
the metallic state. It consists of 70°50 oxide of lead, 25°75 sul-
phuric acid, 2°25 water.—Klaproth. Sulphate of lead is found at
Pary’s mine in Anglesey, and Penzance, in Cornwall; at Wan-
lockhead and Lead-hills, in Scotland.

The physical characters of lead in its metallic state are univer-
sally known. It has a blueish-white colour, and, when recently
melted or cut, exhibits considerable lustre, which it looses when
exposed for some time to the air. [t is nearly insipid, and, like
copper, emits, when rubbed, a peculiar unpleasant odour. It
stains the fingers, and paper, ofa blueish colour, and its specific
gravity is 11°35. It is very soft and flexible, and, though it has
little tenacity, it is very malleable, and may be beaten into thin
leaves and drawn into wire. It melts at about 610° of Fahrenheit,

LEAD. 289

and is capable of uniting with at least three proportions of oxygen,
forming three distinct oxides. At ahigh temperature, it absorbs
oxygen very rapidly, and, when fused in open vessels, a grey film
forms upon its surface, which is a protowide of lead. By con-
tinuing the heat, the protoxide assumes a uniform yellow colour ;
it may also be formed by exposing the carbonate of lead to a red
heat, or it may be precipitated from a solution of the nitrate, by
potash, of a whitish colour, and in a state of purity. It is well
known in commerce by the name of massicot, and when exposed
to a strong heat it is partially melted into a semi-transparent glass,
which is called litharge. It is insoluble in water, but is dissolved
by the alkalies, and constitutes the basis of the salts of lead. The
deutoxide is obtained by exposing the protoxide, or massicot, to
heat, with a large surface, and free access of air. It is then con-
verted into the well-known pigment, red lead, or minium. Ata
red heat it gives off this second dose of oxygen, and returns to the
state of protoxide. When digested in nitric acid it is decomposed ;
the greater part is reduced to the state of protoxide, which is dis-
solved by the acid, while the other portion combines with the
excess of oxygen and is converted into a peroxide. It is
of a dark brown colour, and, when strongly heated, it
gives off three or four per cent. of oxygen gas. The oxides
of lead are easily vitrified, and have the property of com-
bining with all the metals except gold, silver, and platina. Gold
and silver may thus be purified by melting them with lead; the
process is called cupellation. The metal to be purified is wrapt up
in a sheet of lead, and laid upon a crucible made of some very
porous substance; they melt together, the lead becomes first
oxidated, then vitrified, and sinks into the cupel, carrying along
with it all the baser metals, and leaving the gold or silver upon its
surface. Lead also combines with chlorine, iodine, sulphur, and
phosphorus, and with several of the metals.

Lead, in its pure metallic state, does not appear to exert any
deleterious influence on the animal system ; but when oxidized, or
in combination with acids, it acts as a powerful poison. It is
probable that all the preparations of lead are poisonous, when ad-
ministered internally, or when applied externally for a length of

290 LEAD.

time to the surface of the body. ‘‘ Even those places which are
near lead mines, are by no means healthy, though they are not
exposed to any of the fumes arising from the furnaces; and it has
also been proved that people sitting in a room adjoining one that
has recently been oil-painted, are often affected with the usual
symptoms which lead produces when it has been taken into the
system, although they have not come directly in contact with it,
or any of its preparations. These facts seem to prove the accuracy
of the opinion, that a poisonous emanation arises from lead, or its
compounds, though we are totally ignorant in what. it consists,
The most probable opinion is, that the lead or its compounds exist
in a state of minute division in the atmosphere, but are not held
in solution by any chemical agency. Lead itself is perfectly inso-
ble in water, but is soon oxidated and converted into a carbonate
by aerated water, (water containing free carbonic acid) ; in this
state, however, it is likewise insoluble in water, but is often me-
chanically suspended while in a state of minute division,* and is in
this manner introduced into the system. The carbonate has been
detected in water conyeyed through leaden pipes for culinary pur-
poses, and in a ship where the water was kept in leaden vessels, all
the crew were soon affected with cholic. These circumstances
shew the impropriety of allowing water to stand for any length of
time in leaden cisterns, especially if they be exposed to air; but if
the water contain any acidulous substance, the oxidation and solu-
tion, or diffusion of the lead in the water, will proceed much more
rapidly ; thus, vinegar oxidates and dissolves lead, forming an
acetate of lead, which is a soluble salt, and it is owing to its pre-
sence that wines act so readily on this metal. Any saline impreg-
nation also seems to favour its oxidation.’’+

The effects of the preparations of lead on the animal economy
vary with the rapidity with which it enters the system. In large
doses the soluble salts of lead act as powerful irritant poisons,
causing inflammation of the stomach and alimentary canal. When
introduced slowly into the system, the intestines are first affected,
obstinate constipation from diminished action takes place, accom-

* Brande’s Journal, vol. xiv. p 240.
+Reid’s Academical Examinations, vol. ii. p. 39.

LEAD. 291

panied frequently with severe and almost constant pain about
the navel, giving rise to what is named Colica pictonum. The
stomach is generally more or less disordered, the appetite is im-
paired, and there is sometimes, though not constantly, vomiting.
The skin has a dull, dirty, cadaverous appearance, and is often
bedewed with a cold clammy perspiration. The pulse is sometimes
retarded, but more commonly small and quick ; the respiration is
laborious ; tremors and debility of the voluntary muscles succeed,
and are often followed by partial paralysis, and in violent cases by
apoplexy.

The best antidote to the soluble salts of lead, is a solution of the
sulphates of soda or of potash, as it immediately decomposes them,
producing an insoluble sulphate of lead, which is comparatively
inert. In the treatment of the colica pictonum, the principal
object is to allay the spasm, and to evacuate the bowels by mild
cathartics, particularly of sulphate of magnesia, or castor oil, com-
bined with opium. The plan of treatment usually adopted in
Edinburgh consists in giving a large dose of some neutral laxative
salt, and, an hour afterwards, a fulldose of opium. ‘‘ Sometimes,”
says Professor Christison, “ alvine discharges take place before the
opium acts, more commonly not till its action is past, and occa-
sionally not for a considerable time afterwards. But the pain and
vomiting subside, the restlessness and irritability pass away, and
the bowels return nearly or entirely to their natural condition.
Sometimes it is necessary to repeat the practice. It is almost
always successful. I have never seen the second dose fail to
remove cholic, leaving the bowels at worst in a state of constipa-
tion. When the pulse is full and strong, I have seen venesection
premised with apparent advantage.” Where all fluids are rejected
by vomiting, a pill of calomel, colocynth, and opium, may be
given, anda return of the disease isto be guarded against by the
constant use of some aperient medicine.

Sulphuretted hydrogen, added to liquids containing lead, gives a
blackish precipitate, but a similar effect is produced when iron,
silver, and some other metals are present; hence it cannot be
relied on as a test for discovering lead. The subcarbonate of
_ ammonia will precipitate lead from its solutions in the form of a

292 LEAD.

white carbonate, and chromate of potash will throw down a beau-
tiful orange-yellow powder. When the presence of any of the
oxides or salts of this metal are suspected in a dry substance,
it may be reduced to a metallic state by subjecting it to the action
of heat by means of a blow-pipe upon charcoal. For an account
of several ingenious processes for discovering the presence of this
metal in mixed fluids, the reader may consult Dr. Christison’s
valuable ‘ Treatise on Poisons.’’

The officinal preparations of lead are the semi-vitrified oxide,
the red oxide or minium, the white oxide or sub-carbonate, and the
acetate and sub-acetate,

Oxides of Lead.

SEMI-VITRIFIED Oxipe or Leap, or Litruarce. Plumbi
oxidum semi-vitreum, L.E.D.—This is a protoxide of lead in the
form of semi-transparent scales, of a reddish-yellow colour. It is
usually obtained during the calcination of lead, when separating
the silver with which the metal is often combined. The lead is
placed in a wind furnace, on a large dish, or cupel, exposed to a
strong heat, with a current of air from a large pair of bellows
directed upon its surface. It is used only in some pharmaceutical
preparations, particularly for forming, when boiled with oil, a
plaster, (Emp. plumbi, Ph.) which has been Jong known under the
name of Diachylon, and is used as a common application in exco-
riation of the skin, as a dressing to wounds, and for forming the
basis of other compound plasters.

Rep Oxipe or Leap. Oxidum plumbi rubrum, Ph. E.—
Minium, the deutoxide of lead, or red lead, is obtained by exposing
the yellow oxide to heat and atmospheric air in a reverberatory
furnace, until it acquires a bright red colour. It is in the form of
a very heavy scaly powder, its specific gravity being 8°94. It is
sometimes applied to the same purposes as litharge, and is used in
considerable quantities as a flux.

SuBCARBONATE or Leap. Plumbi subcarbonas, Ph. L.—This
preparation, well known by the name of Cerusse, or white lead,
is prepared by suspending thin sheets of lead in the vapours of

LEAD. 293

vinegar: the vinegar acts chemically on the lead, a white
crust is formed on its surface, which, when it has accumulated
sufficiently, is scraped off, and reduced to a fine powder by leviga-
tion. According to Mr. Brande, it consists of one proportional of
oxide of lead=112, and one of carbonic acid=22, and is, there-
fore, a carbonate of lead. It is never given internally, but it forms
the basis of an ointment, (Ung. Cerusse, Ph. D.) which is princi-
pally used as an application to burns and superficial inflammation.
It is sometimes applied in fine powder to the excoriated cuticle of
infants, a practice, however, which appears not to be altogether
without danger, and is now very generally exploded.

Salts of Lead.

Acetate or Leap. Plumbi Acetas.—This salt is prepared by
boiling the carbonate of lead in distilled vinegar, until the acid
acquire a sweet taste, and evaporating the liquid, which, on cool-
ing, affords crystals. It is prepared on a large scale for the use of
the calico-printers, and is known in commerce under the name of
sugar of lead. When pure it is inodorous, and has a sweet astringent
taste : it crystalizes in flat, shining, acicular, four-sided prisms, with
dihedral summits, which are generally aggregated in irregular masses,
that have the appearance of lumps of sugar. Its specific gravity is
2:345. It is soluble jin about three and a half times its weight of
distilled water; and is also soluble in alcohol. It is decomposed
by hard water, by the alkalies, by most of the acids and neutral
salts, lime, magnesia, and all the sulphurets. According to Berze-
lius, the constituents of 100 parts are 58°71 of oxide of zinc, 26°96
of acid, and 14°32 of water.

From its astringent and sedative effects, acetate of lead has been
long employed as an external application to inflamed and exco-
riated parts. ‘It has also acquired considerable celebrity as an
internal remedy, requiring, however, considerable caution in its
exhibition. Its principal use is in urgent cases of internal
hemorrhage, as of the lungs, stomach, or uterus; and in conse-
quence of the violently spasmodic action of the bowels, which it is
apt to induce, it requires generally to be given with opium, and

294 LEAD.

often with some mild aperient. Paralytic affections occasionally
follow its administration, where due precaution in regard to the
state of the bowels is not taken. In hemoptysis, where the
quantity of blood coughed up is considerable, or where the usual
remedies, especially nitre and dilute sulphuric acid fail, acetate of
lead may be given, (in combination with opium or digitalis,) care
being taken to avoid in the medicines and drinks those acids which
decompose it, and especially the sulphuric, by which it appears,
from Orfila’s experiments, it is rendered nearly, if not quite, inert ;
hence it is that sulphate of soda is an effective antidote where any
of the soluble salts of lead have been swallowed. In hzmatemesis
the same remedies may be had recourse to; also in menorrhagia ;
but in all these cases, the necessity of active measures for subduing
febrile symptoms, where the inflammatory diathesis prevails, must
not be lost sight of; nor should the patient be, in any case,
suffered to continue the use of the acetate for any length of time.
When solutions of acetate of lead are used externally, the salt
should be dissolved in distilled water, and all substances tending to
decompose it should be carefully avoided. The addition of a little
acetic acid to these lotions prevents the deposition in them of car-
bonate of lead ; and where they are used in collyria, such deposi-
tion is sometimes mischievous; they are employed in ophthalmia,
and generally as astringents and sedatives in all cases of superficial
inflammation. For collyria, the proportionof acetate of lead may
be about ten grains, and for lotions about thirty grains, to eight
ounces of rose or elder flower water, and two or three drachms of
distilled vinegar may be added.”* . When given internally, its dose
is half a grain, repeated every five or six hours.

SoLuTION oF SUBCARBONATE OF Leap. Liquor plumli subace-
tatis, Ph. L.—This solution, formerly named Goulard’s Extract,
is made by boiling litharge, or semi-vitrified oxide of lead on dis-
tilled vinegar. It is the Aqua Lythargyri Acetati of the old no-
menclature. When properly prepared, it is of a pale yellowish-
green colour, has a slight acetous odour, and a sweetish styptic
taste. It is decomposed by the soluble carbonates, sulphates, and

¥ Brande’s Manual of Pharmacy, p. 309.

l. [ron Pyrettes s LK5. Bed Tron Ore.
2 Tron Glance.
Z ys Vagnetec Tron Ore O, BrownTlron Ore.

Madeley 3 We ater tra

s

1don fub. oy John W Y rimncesS

IRON. 295

—

muriates, by mucilage, gum, and by the greater number of soluble
vegetable principles. This solution is limited to its external appli-
cation ; when properly diluted with distilled water, in the propor-
tion of si or 3ii to the ounce of water, it forms a very valuable
astringent and sedative lotion, in some cutaneous eruptions, burns,

excoriations, phlegmons, and in almost all cases of external in-
flammation.

Genus [IX.—IRON.

Fer, ¥r.; Ferro, It.; Hierro, Sp.; Eissen, Ger.; Hedeed, Arab.; Loha, Hind.,
Sans.; Jee, Chin.

—_——_—_—_

No metal occurs more universally diffused than iron; it enters
into the composition of a great variety of mineral substances, and
even entire mountains are formed of iron ore. It is found in
almost every part of the globe, either in veins or associated with
the ores of other metals. Its ores are very numerous ; the follow-
ing are the most important.

Sp. 1. Native Iron,—This species is divided into two sub-
species, viz. Terrestrial Native Iron, and Meteoric Native Iron,
Terrestrial Native Iron is of a steel-grey colour. It occurs
massive, in plates, and in leaves. Internally, it is glistening with
a metallic lustre. It contains, iron 92°50, lead 6, copper 1°50.—
Klaproth. It is found in Saxony. Meteoric Native Iron is of a
pale steel-grey colour, It occurs ramose, globular, and dissemi-
nated in meteoric stones. It contains, iron 96, nickel 3°5. This
sub-species falls from the air in various parts of the world.

Sp. 2. Tron Pyrires, or SutpHuret or Tron. Pu. XLI. fig.
1.—Gemeiner Schwefelkies, Werner ; Fer sulphure, Hawy.—lts
colour is brass-yellow. It occurs massive, disseminated, globular,
and crystalized, in cubes and octahedrons, variously modified.
Internally, it is shining and glistening, and the lustre is metallic.
The specific gravity is from 4°6 to 48. It is very hard, and even
gives sparks, with steel. Before the blow-pipe it emits a sul-

296 IRON.

phureous odour, and melts into a brownish-coloured globule. It
contains, iron 47°85, sulphur 52°15,—Hlatchett. It is extremely
common, but is never worked as an ore ofiron. It is principally
valued on account of the sulphur which can be obtained from it
by sublimation, and the sulphate of iron which it affords by
exposure to the air.

Sp. 3. Macnetic Iron Ore. Pui. XLI. fig. 2.—Gemeiner
Magneteisenstein, Werner; Fer Oxydulé, Werner—Its colour is
iron-black, with a shining or splendent metallic lustre. It occurs
massive, lamelliform, earthy, and crystalized, in octahedrons and
rhomboidal dedecahedrons. Its fracture is uneven or conchoidal.
Its specific gravity is 4-4. Before the blow-pipe it becomes
brown, but does not melt. It consists, according to Berzelius, of
24°14 protoxide of iron, and 71:86 of iron. The massive variety
forms the well-known magnet, or loadstone, and possesses the
highest degree of magnetic polarity. Magnetic iron ore occurs
principally in beds, in primitive mountains in Norway, Sweden,
Lapland, and other countries. When pure, it affords excellent
iron,

Sp.4. [Ron GLANCE, oR Specunar TRon-Ore. Pu. XLL. fig. 3.
—Kissenglanz, Werner; Fer Oligiste, Hawy.—The colour is steel-
grey, which sometimes passes into iron-black, with a brilliant, and
frequently iridiscent tarnish externally. It occurs massive, dis-
seminated, and crystalized, in plates and in minute shining scales,
When it occurs in “Small plates or scales, it is called Micaceous
Iron Ore. The primitive form is an acute rhomboid. It is
opaque, except in thin fragments, which on the edges are of a
blood-red colour by transmitted light. The lustre is metallic, and
frequently highly splendent. Its fracture is uneven, passing into
conchoidal. The specific gravity is about 5. It is a peroxide of
iron, containing, according to Berzelius, a small portion of tita-
nium. It generally occurs in beds, in primitive and secondary
rocks, in Cornwall, and in many mines on the continents of Europe,
Asia, and America. [t is found in great abundance in Sweden,
where it is manufactured into the best bariron. The most beautiful
specimens of crystalized iron-glance are brought from the island
of Elba.

IRON. 297

Sp. 5. Rep Iron Ore. Pu. XLI. fig. 4°5.—Rother Eisen-
stein, Werner.—The principal varieties of this ore are, compact
red iron-ore, fibrous red iron-ore, scaly red iron-ore, and ochry
rediron-ore. The Compact Red Iron-Ore occurs most commonly
massive, sometimes disseminated, specular, with impressions, and
in suppositious crystals. Its colour is between dark steel-grey and
blood-red. Its fracture is uneven; and the lustre is shining or
glimmering. It yields to the knife. According to Bucholz, it
contains, oxide of iron 70°5, oxygen 29°5=100. Filrous Red
Tron-Ore, or Red Hematite, occurs with the preceding, in globular,
tuberose, or reniform masses, also cylindrical, corraloidal, and in
distinct concretions. Its colour is brownish-red; the lustre is
intermediate between pearly and resinous. The structure is fibrous
in one direction, and curvedly lamellar in the other. Scaly Red
Iron- Ore occurs in loose scaly particles of a reddish-brown colour,
which feel unctuous to the touch, and stain the fingers. In
England, all these varieties are found at Ulverston, in Lancashire;
and afford excellent malleable and cast-iron,

Sp. 6. Brown Iron-Ore. Pu. XLI. fig. 6.—Braun Eisenstein,
Werner ; Prismatisches Eisen-erz, Mohs.—This ore occurs com-
pact, fibrous, scaly, earthy, and also crystalized. It differs from
the preceding species in the colour of its powder, which is of a
blackish-brown colour. It is found in beds, or masses, sometimes
of great magnitude ; and affords excellent bar-iron.

Sp.7. Cuay Iron-Srone.—Thoneisentein, Verner; Fer oxide
massif and geodique, Hauy.—The prevailing colours are ash-grey
and reddish-brown. It occurs massive, globular, and in kidney-
shaped masses or nodules. It is dull, earthy, and yields easily to
the knife. The fracture is even, ot flat conchoidal, and the struc-
ture is sometimes slaty. ts specific gravity is about 3°5. It
becomes black and highly magnetic before the blow-pipe. That
of Colebrookdale contained, oxide of iron 50, oxide of manganese
2:6, silex 10°6, alumine 2, lime 1'6, magnesia 2°4, water and car-
bonic acid 32. Clay iron-stone occurs abundantly in thin strata,
which, alternate with bituminous shale, sandstone, and coal, in the
independent coal formations ; and it is the ore from which English
iron is principally obtained.

298 IRON.

Sp. 8. Sparry Iron-Stone. Pui. XLII. fig. 2.—Spath
Kithenstein, Werner ; Fer oxydé carbonate, Hawy.—Its colours
are yellowish-white, or brown. It occurs massive, and crystalized,
in a great variety of forms. It is translucent or opaque, and the
lustre is shining or pearly. The structure is lamellar; it yields
easily to the knife; it effervesces in muriatic acid. Before the
blow-pipe it becomes magnetic, but does not melt. The specific
gravity varies from 3°6 to 3°8. A specimen, analysed by Bayen,
yielded, oxide of iron 66, carbonic acid 34. In Germany it is
smelted as an ore of iron.

Sp. 9. Buuz Iron-Ore. Pu. XLII. fig. 3.—Fer phosphaté,
Hauy.—The colour is indigo-blue, smalt-blue or greenish-blue.
It occurs crystalized in small translucent prisms, with dihedral
summits. It also occurs massive, earthy, and opaque. The erys-
talized variety contains, phosphate of iron 41:25, phosphoric acid
19.25, water 31°25, alumine 5, ferruginous silex 1:25.

Sp. 10. Curomarte or Tron. Pu. XLII. fig. 4.—Chromein-
stein, Werner ; Fer chromaté, Hauy.—The colour is brownish-
black. It occurs massive, disseminated, and in granular distinct
concretions ; also crystalized in oblique four-sided prisms. The
fracture is fine-grained, uneven. Internally, it is shining or glis-
tening, and the lustre imperfect metallic. It scratches glass. It
is infusible before the blow-pipe, but yields a bright green colour
with borax, In England it occurs in serpentine and tale, in the
Shetland islands, and is employed to obtain the chromic acid, which
forms a beautiful yellow pigment, with lead.

Sp. 11. Arsenate or Iron. Pu. XLII. fig. 5.—Wurfelerz,
Werner ; Fer arseniaté, Hauy ; Cube Ore, Jameson.—Its colour
is green. It occurs massive and crystalized, in small translucent
cubes. The crystals are aggregated, smooth, and splendent. In-
ternally, they are glistening, and the lustre is intermediate between
vitreous and resinous. It is rather brittle, and easily frangible,
Before the blow-pipe it melts, and gives out arsenical vapours.
Arseniate of iron contains, oxide of iron 46, arsenic acid 18, water
32.—Vauquelin. It is found in Cornwall.

In Sweden and the north of Europe the supply of iron is chiefly
derived from the species named magnetic iron ore; but in this

4 Reniyorm Clay Lronstone. 5. Blue lron Orci lhosphale of Lore.

2Sparry Lronstone. A. Chromatle f [701 .
GC Spratt ped e Ath me Arwsentiatle of Tron Wadley Prinder W geen 5

Lub. by J Wilson Princes S&@ Dec. 4. 1837.

ee

feag

IRON. 299

country is principally extracted from clay iron stone. The ore,
broken into small pieces, is first roasted,to drive off any extraneous

volatile matter, and then exposed to a strong heat in a blast fur-

nace, along with limestone and coke. The lime, which is used as

a flux, combines with the earthy ingredients, (alumina and slica,)
and promotes their vitrification, while the carbon of the coke
unites with the oxygen of the oxide, leaving the metallic iron in a
liquid state, which is then allowed to run into large ingots, called
pigs, in sand moulds, and forms what is called crude, or cast iron.
In this state, however, it is not perfectly pure, and requires to be
again fused with charcoal, urged by the blow of a large pair of
bellows, When it assumes the consistence of paste, it is pressed
between steel rollers, which force out the remaining impurities,
as they retain the liquid form longer than the pure iron. The same
effect is produced by striking it with a forge hammer: in this state
it is called malleable, forged, or bar iron.

Purified or bar iron has a grey or blackish-white colour ;
it is very malleable and ductile, and is susceptible of a
very high polish. Its specific gravity is about 7°8. It is one
of the most infusible of the metals, but at a temperature
considerably below its melting point it becomes soft, and
possesses the property of welding to great perfection. It is at-
tracted by the magnet, and capable of having the magnetic virtue
imparted to it. The affinity of iron for oxygen is very great: it
is soon tarnished and oxidized when exposed to the air, particu-
larly if it be moist. It burns with great splendour in oxygen gas,
and when heated to redness in the open air, it absorbs oxygen
rapidly, and is converted superficially into black scales ; these
scales are separated by percussion, and form what is commonly
called the black oxide of iron.

Tron has been long used medicinally, and appears to be the only
metal having any sensible activity, which is not noxious to the
animal system. When administered internally, its effects are those
of a powerful tonic ; it increases the force of the circulation, gives
the blood, it has been affirmed, a more florid hue, promotes diges-
tion, excites the healthy secretions, or restrains them when they
have been morbidly increased; it imparts a degree of energy to

300 IRON,

the muscular fibre, and, by its astringency, checks profuse evacua-
tions, and counteracts the tendency to hemorrhage. The cases
best adapted for its exhibition are those of debility, or where the
strength of the constitution has been impaired either by long con-~
tinued mental anxiety, excessive study, or bodily exertion beyond
the strength, and generally in convalescence after various diseases.
The morbid affections in which iron is principally prescribed, are
dyspepsia, hypochondriasis, hysteria, rickets, scrofula, chlorosis,
fluor albus, gleet, passive hemorrhagies, palsy, and the latter stages
of pulmonary consumption. The preparations of iron, in very
large doses, have been employed with signal advantage in some
obstinate nervous and spasmodic affections, more particularly in
chorea and tic doloreux, Dr. Bree recommends it in certain
stages of asthma, as a means of lengthening the paroxysms, and it has
been also proposed as a remedy for cancer. In general, iron is most
advantageously taken given in small doses, regularly administered, and
continued for some time ; hence, says Dr. Murray, arises the greater
benefit derived from chalybeate mineral waters, than from iron in
any other form, Chalybeates are contra-indicated in all cases
where there is a tendency to inflammatory action, or a plethoric
state of the vessels; and its administration ought to be suspended,
where it renders the pulse quick, or where thirst and a white tongue
are associated with flushings, and increased determination of blood
to the head.

The medicinal preparations of this metal are numerous ; the most
useful and certain are the protoxide, or proto-carbonate, as it exists
in the mistura ferri composita of the pharmacopceia, the muriated
tincture, the sulphate, and the subcarbonate or iron.

Iron Fivinas, (Ferri ramenta, Ph. L.; Limatura ferri, E.)
purified by the magnet, have occasionally been prescribed internally
asa tonic and anthelmintic, in a dose of from grs. x. to 38s. It is
the least active form in which iron can be given, and exerts no
action on the system unless it meets with acid in the stomach, by
which the metal may become oxidized. — Its operation is deter-
mined by the disagreeable eructations of hydrogen gas, which it
produces, and by the black colour of the alvine evacuations.

IRON, 30]

Oxides of Iron.

Protaxipe, or Biack Oxipe or Iron. Ferri Squame Oxidi,
Ph. D.—This oxide is the scales of iron detached by the hammer
of the smith from the surface of the iron when itis red hot. It is
attracted by the magnet, and when freed from impurities in this
way, constitutes the “ Oxidum ferri nigri purificati,” of the
Edinburgh pharmacopeia. It is used only in making the
“ Tinctura muriatis ferri.”

Prroxipr, orn Rep Oxipe or Iron. Oxidum ferri rubrum,
E,, D—This oxide is formed by exposing the black oxide to air at
a high temperature, or, as directed in the pharmacopcias, by
calcining the dried sulphate of iron at an intense heat, until it
becomes of a deep red colour. It was formerly named Colcothar,
or caput mortuum vitrioli, and is employed by the Edinburgh and
Dublin colleges in making the “ Murias Ammonie et ferri.”

SuB-CARBONATE, oR Rust or Iron. Ferri Subcarbonas, Ph. L.;
Rubigo Ferri.—This is a peroxide of iron, containing a very small
proportion of carbonic acid. It is prepared by exposing filings of
iron wire, cut in small pieces, to air, and then frequently moisten-
ing them with water, till they are converted into rust. By this
process, the metal is oxidated at the expence of the water, which
is decomposed, while, at the same time, carbonic acid is absorbed
from the atmosphere and combined with the oxide.

The Carlonas ferri precipitatus, of the Edinburgh College, is
prepared by adding a solution of carbonate of soda to a solution of
sulphate of iron. It is also a sub-carbonate, and agrees in its medi-
cinal properties with the rust, The rust of iron isa useful tonic
and emenagogne, and may be administered in all cases where
chalybeates are indicated. It is inodorous, insipid, and insoluble
in water ; hence it is commonly given in the form of pills, com-
bined with bitters and aromatics, or with aloetics, valerian, and
myrrh. Its usual dose is from five grs. to 3i. As a remedy in
tic doloreux, it is given in the dose of from half a drachm to a
drachm. In chorea, this preparation of iron has been administered
with great success in doses of two drachms twice or three times
a-day. 6,

2c

302 IRON.

Salts of Iron,

SutpHate or Iron. Ferri sulphas.—This salt is prepared by
dissolving iron in dilute sulphuric acid, and evaporating the solu-
tion; the water is decomposed, its oxygen, the iron, and the acid
unite, and hydrogen gas is disengaged. It is prepared, for the
various purposes to which it is applied in the arts on a large
scale, from the sulphuretted ores of iron, by exposing them to air
and moisture, till a crust of sulphate of iron is formed on their
surface, which is afterwards obtained in crystals, by solution and
evaporation. Sulphate of iron is known in commerce by the name
of green vitriol, salt of steel or copperas, and is obtained in
rhomboidal prisms of a green colour, a strong styptic taste, and
soluble in about their weight of water at 60°. It is one of the most
active preparations of the metal, and is frequently prescribed with
advantage, combined with the cinchona bark, in scrofulousaffections,
and in amenorrheea, with bitter extracts, or with myrrh. It is
given in the form of pills, conjoined with aromatics, to prevent its
griping. Its medium dose is from one to three grains. Exter-
nally, it has been used as a lotion to cancerous sores and ill-con-
ditioned ulcers. |

TARTARIZED IRON. Ferrum tartarizatum.—It is obtained by
triturating iron filings and super-tartrate of potass with water,
exposing the mixture to the action of the air and moisture for
twenty days, then boiling it in distilled water, and evaporating the
filtered solution to dryness. The tartarized iron forms a powder
of a brownish-green colour; it is very soluble in water, and
attracts moisture from the atmosphere, so as to become moist, but
does not deliquesce. It has been employed as a chalybeate in a dose
of from grs, x. to 3ss., given either in the state of solution or in
the form of pills. It isa very mild preparation, and, as it is
nearly tasteless, proves a convenient form for the administration of
iron to children. It has been erroneously supposed to possess @
diuretic power ; hence it has been extolled as a remedy in dropsy.

AmmoniateD [Ron. Ferrum ammoniatum, Ph. L.—To prepare
this saline compound, equal parts of the muriate of ammonia and red
oxide of iron are put into a crucible, and subjected to sublimation.

1, Grey Manganese Ore. 2 Arsenic Lvrites.

Oo. hed Stetohure of Arsentc.
A.Lellow Sutphirel of Arsenic. 32. Arsentcal Cobalt.

C.Sprakt del.

FAs |

ie ae) - , " ~ . “7 p
Pub.by Tolm Wilson Frinces SF Nov. 1831. Prénked 61 G.E. Moe

» @» ° MANGANESE, ee 308
¢

The ammoniated iron was formerly known under the names flores
martiales, ens'martis, flores auri, and calendule minerales. It has
been highly extolled as a remedy in epilepsy, hysteria, scrofula,
chlorosis, and rickets; but on account of the uncertainty of the pre-
paration, it is never prescribed, as Mr. Brande justly observes, “by
those physicians who are acquainted with the chemical properties
of the remedies which they exhibit. It may be administered in
pills, in electuary, or in solution ; but the ¢inctura ferri muriatis
is, in all cases, a proper substitute, to which muriate of ammonia
is easily added by those who attribute any additional efficacy to the
combination.” The dose is from six to ten grains, given three or
four times a-day.

Mouriate oF Iron.—tThis salt, employed under the form of
tincture, (Tinctwra ferri muriatis,) is prepared by digesting half a
pound of the subcarbonate of iron, for three days, in a pint of
nouriatic acid, and diluting the solution with three pints of alcohol.
It is one of the most active preparations of iron, and is given in
doses of from ten to fifteen drops, twice a-day, largely diluted with
water. Internally, it has been employed principally as a tonic,
particularly in scrofulous affections, and in the diseases in which
chalybeates are usually prescribed; but a ‘very important use has
been attributed to it by Mr. Cline, who strongly recommends it in
suppression of urine, from spasmodic stricture in the urethra, ten
drops being given every ten minutes, until nausea is produced. It
has also been beneficially employed as a styptic, in internal
hemorrhages. Externally, it has been used as an application
in ill-conditioned ulcers, and also to destroy venereal and other
warts.

Genus X.—_MANGANESE.

Manganese, Fr.; Manganese, It. Sp.; Brannstein, Ger.

Tux ores of this mineral are few; it is never found in the metallic
state, but generally occurs combined with oxygen; more rarely
with sulphur, or with acids. The ores of manganese may generally

304 MANGANESE.

be distinguished by the property of imparting a purple or violet
colour to borax.

Sp. 1. GreY MANGANESE, or OxtpE or ManGAneseE. PL.
XLII. fig. 1.—Graun braunsteinerz, Werner; Manganese oxidé
metalloide, Hauy.—lIt is of a dark steel-grey colour, inclining more
or less to iron-black. It occurs in a great variety of forms, either
regularly crystalized, or acicular, also massive, dendritical, and in
fibrous and radiated concretions. The lustre is shining or glimmer-
ing, and metallic; the fracture conchoidal and earthy. The mas-
sive varieties have either a granular, a laminar, or a fibrous struc-
ture, or they are compact, and their texture earthy and dull, It is
soft, brittle, (except the compact variety,) and soils strongly when
rubbed, giving a black streak. It is infusible before the blow-pipe,
and tinges borax purple. The specific gravity varies from 3°5 to 4°7.
One hundred parts of the crystalized variety yielded, oxide of
manganese 90°5, oxygen 2°25, water 7; the compact afforded,
oxide of manganese 60, silex 25, water 13.—Klaproth. This ore
is found in most of the countries of Europe, frequently in iron
mines. It occurs in veins and imbedded masses, both in primi-
tive and secondary rocks, near Upton Pyne, in Devonshire, in
various places in Cornwall, and near Aberdeen, in Scotland. In
Ireland it occurs with brown iron ore, at Howth, near Dublin.

Grey manganese ore is used in large quantities in the prepa-
ration of chlorine in the manufactory of chloride of lime (common
bleaching powder) ; it is also used by glass-makers to destroy the
brown tint which that material receives from the admixture of
inflammable substances. It is admitted into the list of materia
medica, as the cheapest and most convenient substance from which
to procure oxygen gas. For this purpose a quantity of the ore
reduced to a coarse powder, is exposed to a red heat in an iron
retort, the beak of which is introduced under a large jar filled with
water, inverted and placed on the shelf of the pneumatic trough.
It may also be obtained by exposing the ore to a gentle heat in a
glass retort, with half its weight of strong sulphuric acid. Oxygen
gas, when respired, acts as a stimulant; it increases the force and
velocity of the pulse, and has been employed as a remedy in
asphyxia, chlorosis, asthma, dropsies, paralysis, and some other

ARSENIC. 305

diseases, but without producing those beneficial effects which
might, a priori, have been expected from its administration. It
is never exhibited in a pure state, but requires to be diluted with
from ten to twenty parts of atmospheric air, increasing the pro-
portion of oxygen according to the effects produced. From one
to two quarts may be given, by breathing it, at intervals, from the
gazometer, or from a silk bag, to which a tube with a stop cock is
affixed. The use of the grey manganese ore in fumigations, for

the purpose of destroying infection, will be mentioned in a sub-
sequent part of the work.

Genus XIL—ARSENIC.

«

Arsenic, Fr.; Arsenico, It.; Arsenico,Sp.; Arsenic, Ger.

Tuts metal occurs sometimes native and alloyed with other metals,
but more commonly mineralized with sulphur or with oxygen.
Combined with oxygen, it forms substances which have the pro-
perties of acids. The arsenic acid combines with various metals,
and forms distinct species of ore, as the arseniates of lead, of cop-
per, and of iron.

Sp. 1. Native Arsenic.—Gediegen arsenik, Werner ; Arsenic
natif, Hauy.—Its colour, when fresh broken, is tin-white, and the
lustre glistening, sometimes shining, and metallic; but it soon
becomes dark and nearly black by exposure to the air. It occurs
amorphous, also disseminated, reniform, cellular, and in botryoidal
or mamillated masses. Its fracture is small and fine-grained,
uneven. It yields to the knife, and is easily frangible. Before
the blow-pipe it burns with a white flame, diffuses an arsenical
odour, and is entirely volatilized, except a minute portion of iron,
gold, or silver, with which it is sometimes alloyed. Native Arsenic
occurs with the ores of silver, copper, and cobalt, in various parts
of Europe and America.

Sp. 2. ArsenicaL Pyrires.—Arsenikkies, Werner ; Fer sul-
furé arsenicale, Hawy.—Pu. XLIII. fig. 2.—Its colour is tin-white

306 ARSENIC,

passing into steel-grey. It occurs massive or disseminated, also
in prismatic distinct concretions, and crystalized in oblique four-
sided prisms, variously modified by bevelments and truncations.
Externally it is shining or splendent ; internally, shining or glis-
tening, with a metallic lustre. The fracture is uneven. The spe-
cific gravity is 6°60. It gives fire with steel; when rubbed it emits
an arsenical odour. Before the blow-pipe it gives out white arse-
nical yapours, leaving the oxide of iron, which is sometimes mag-
netic. According to Dr, Thompson, it contains, arsenic 481,
iron 36°5, sulphur 15°4, Arsenical pyrites is very abundant in
the copper and tin-mines in Cornwall; and it is from this ore
that the white oxide of arsenic and artificial orpiment are princi-
pally prepared.

Sp. 8. Sutpnurer or ArsENn1c,—Of this mineral there are
two varieties, the red sulphuret of arsenic or realgar, and the
yellow sulphuret of arsenic, or yellow orpiment.

Red Orpiment or Ruby Sulphur. Pu. XLITI. fig. 3—Rothes
Rauschgelb, WVerner.— The colour is aurora-red, passing into scarlet
or orange-red. It occurs massive, disseminated in flakes or mem-
branes, and crystalized in oblique four-sided prisms, variously modi-
fied. It is soft, yielding to the nail; the fracture is uneven or
conchoidal, and the lustre is resinous, inclining to adamantine.
It is translucent or semi-transparent. The specific gravity is 3°30.
Its constituent parts are, arsenic 69, sulphur 31100. Klaproth.
It is found in different mining districts in Germany; also in the
fissures of lava in volcanic countries.

Yellow Orpiment. Pui. XLIII. fig. 4.—Gelbes Rauschgelb,
Werner.—Its colour is lemon-yellow, with a brilliant lustre, inter-
mediate between adamantine and semi-metallic. It occurs massive,
disseminated, and in various external forms, and also crystalized.
Its structure is laminar ; it is sectile, flexible, but not elastic. It
contains arsenic 62, sulphur 388100. Klaproth. It occurs in
veins in primitive and secondary rocks in various parts of the
world. The orpiment of commerce is brought from the Levant.

Sp. 4. Oxipr or ARSENIC is said to occur in the Hartz, and
in some other places on the Continent, erystalized in quadrangular
prisms, also capillary, earthy, and stalactitic. It is of asnow-white

ARSENIC. 307

colour, and volatile, exhaling the odour of garlic. It is distinguished
from pharmacolite (arseniate of lime) by its solubility in water.

Sp. 5. ArsenicaL Copaur, or Copact Pyrires, PL. XLII.
fig. 5.—This properly belongs to a distinct genus, and consists of
oxide of arsenic combined with cobalt and sulphur. It is divided
into three varieties, from its colour, viz. tin-white, silver-white,
and grey cobalt. It occurs massive, in various particular forms,
and its lustre is metallic. It is from this ore that the cobalt of
commerce is principally obtained.

The term Arsenic is commonly applied to what has been ascer-
tained to be an oxide of a peculiar metal; but in the language of
chemistry it is appropriated to the metallic base of this compound
alone. To obtain this metal the oxide mixed with half its weight
of black flux, is exposed to heat in a crucible, another crucible being
inverted over it and luted to it; the carbon of the black flux com-
bines with the oxygen of the oxide, and forms carbonic acid, while
the metal is sublimed, and condenses ina crystaline form in the
upper crucible. Metallic Arsenic is of a blueish or steel-grey
colour; it has considerable lustre, and is extremely brittle and
pulverulent. It tarnishes quickly by exposure to the air, and
becomes black. It is volatalized at 356° of Fahrenheit, in dense
white fumes, which have a strong smell of garlic; at a higher tem-
perature it burns with a blue flame. Metallic Arsenic exerts no
action on the animal system, but when oxidized it is a very active
poison.

Wuire Oxipe or Arsenic. Arsenict Oxidum, Ph. L., or
Arsenious Acid, (called arsenic in the shops,) is principally brought
from Bohemia and Saxony, where it is extracted in large quantities
during the roasting of the ores of cobalt and arsenical pyrites. The
ore is thrown into a furnace resembling a baker’s oven, with a long
flue, or horizontal chimney, into which the fumes pass, and are
condensed into a greyish or blackish powder, This is refined by a
second sublimation in close vessels, with a little potash to detain
the impurities. The oxide of arsenic thus obtained is in the form
of a dense white semi-transparent mass; sometimes it is opaque,
pulverulent, or in the form of needles, in which state it was for-
merly called flowers of arsenic. Itis inodorous, and its taste is gene-

308 ARSENIC,

rally described as acrid, sub-acrid, or sweetish ; but there is a great
diversity of opinion among physicians with regard to its effects on
the tongue and palate, Its specific gravity is about 3°7. When heated
in theopen air it is fused and volatalized, at a temperature of 380° of
Fahrenheit, but no alliaceous odour is perceived unless it be partially
decomposed ; the garlic smell belonging to it in its metallic state,
and not to its oxide. According to Klaproth, it is soluble in 400
parts of water, at 60°, and in 13 parts of boiling water. It solu-
tion is said, by Dr. Ure, to redden the vegetable blues, though it
turns the syrup of violets green. It is also sparingly soluble in
oils and alcohol. Berzelius states, that 100 parts of the metal in
this compound are united with about 31 parts of oxygen, and
the experiments of Proust and Thomson seem to confirm this
opinion. Arsenious acid combines with the various salifiable bases,
(alkalies, earths, and metallic oxides,) forming salts, which are easily
decomposed by heat and charcoal. The most important of these
compounds is the Arseniate of Potash. It is formed by boiling 64
grains of arsenious acid, rubbed to a very fine powder, with as
much sub-carbonate of potash, in a pint of distilled water, the .
boiling being continued till the solution is completed. When
this is flavoured and coloured by adding four drachms of
compound spirit of lavender, it forms the Liquor, or Solutio
Arsenicalis, which has been used as a substitute for an empirical
remedy called the tasteles ague drop. It is generally known
under the name of Fowler’s solution, but it appears now that it
was known and published so far back as the year 1758. One
ounce of the fluid contains four grains of white arsenic, and is
administered in the cure of obstinate intermittents, periodical
head-aches, chronic, cutaneous eruptions, and other diseases, in
which arsenic has been given internally. The dose is from four
to twelve or fifteen drops, conjoined with aromatics, three or four
times a-day. It is decomposed by lime water, metallic salts, and
the infusion of bark. Nitrate of silver, added toa solution of
white oxide of arsenic, throws down a brick-red precipitate, lime
water a white one, and the alkaline sulphurets a pale yellow pre-
cipitate.

Notwithstanding its activity as a poison, white arsenic has

ARSENIC, 309

been exhibited internally, in minute doses, in the treatment of
various diseases ; and externally, as an escharotic. Under proper
management it will be found, next to cinchona bark, by far the
most powerful of all medicines in the cure of intermittent fevers
and periodic hemicrania, though its modus operandi has not been
ascertained. Jt has also been employed in some obstinate cuta-
neous affections, particularly in lepra and elephantiasis ; in certain
forms or sequelee of the venereal disease, which cannot be subdued
by mercury; in some spasmodic complaints; in tetanus and
chorea ; in scirrhus and chronic rheumatism ; and asan antidote
to the poison of venomous serpents. It is best given in the form
of the liquor arsenicalis already mentioned, and in the dose of four
or five drops, gradually increased. No attempt should ever be
made to administer it in substance; and if it excites nausea,
vomiting, pain at the stomach, a sense of tension, and stiffness in
the palbebree, cough, head-ache, soreness of the mouth and ptyalism,
its exhibition must: be immediately suspended. Externally, white
arsenic has been frequently employed, under the form of solution
and ointment, as an application to cancers, and various anomalous
ill-conditioned ulcers. The powder, unmixed with any other
substance, has also been sprinkled upon the sores, but the practice
is now abandoned by every judicious surgeon, on account of the
violent pain resulting from it, and the not unfrequent fatal con-
sequences of its absorption. ‘Could I suppose,” says Mr.
Samuel Cooper, in his valuable Dictionary of Surgery, ‘‘a man so
rash and ignorant as to revive this murderous practice yet existed
in the profession, I should feel disposed to lengthen these remarks;
but I am persuaded that, in this country at least, more judgment
and knowledge everywhere prevail. The white oxide of arsenic,
however, may be applied with more prudence in other forms; either
as a lotion, composed of eight grains of the oxide, and the same
quantity of subcarbonate of potash, dissolved in four ounces of
distilled water, or as an ointment, formed by rubbing together
one drachm of. the oxide and twelve drachms of spermaceti
ointment.

White oxide of arsenic has been long known as one of the most
virulent of the mineral poisons. The symptoms which it produces

310 ARSENIC.

on the living system are numerous, complicated, and not very
determinate ; the most constant, are signs of violent inflammation
in the stomach; but, in some few instances, there is little sign of
irritation in any part of the alimentary canal, and the patient is
chiefly affected with excessive prostration of stréngth, frequent
fainting, hectic fever, paralysis, and other affections of the nervous
system. The ordinary symptoms are, sickness and vomiting,
violent burning pain in the region of the stomach, increased on
pressure, a sense of great pain, dryness and constriction in the
throat, hoarseness and difficulty of speech, gripings, tenesmus and
diarrhoea, painful or difficult micturition, and sometimes total sup-
pression of urine: the respiration becomes difficult, the pulse is small,
rapid, irregular, and often almost imperceptible, accompanied with
cold clammy sweats and lividity of the feet and hands; the coun-
tenance is collapsed, and expressive of great anxiety, the eyes are
red and sparkling, the tongue and mouth parched, and sometimes
apthous ulcerations are perceived on the tongue ; delirium, stupor,
and convulsions, sometimes accompany the last stage, and death
often occurs about twenty-four hours after the poison is swallowed.
The visible effects of arsenic on the body after death will not be
found uniform, but vary very much in different cases. The body
is sometimes swelled and livid, but more frequently natural, the
lungs are sometimes black and distended with blood; the pharynx
and cesophagus are generally in their natural state, but the stomach
and intestines are almost always inflamed, abraded, or ulcerated.
Mr. Brodie, in his experiments, found the inflammation greatest
in the stomach and rectum ; but in many instances the inflamma-
tory appearances are often very slight, and death seems to take
place from some influence of the poison on the nervous system
and heart.

In cases of poisoning by this substance, the contents of the
stomach should be carefully collected, and after washing them, the
arsenious acid, if any be present, will generally be found in the
form ofa white powder, at the bottom of the vessel into which they
are put. There are two methods by which we can determine
whether it be the arsenious acid ;—lst, by reducing it to the
metallic state; 2d, by the application of tests or re-agents in the

ARSENIC, 311

humid way. The powder must be dried by a gentle heat, and a
portion of it mixed with two or three parts of the black flux, con-
sisting of one part of finely powdered charcoal, and two parts of
dry carbonate of potash. The mixture is then to be put into a
glass tube, open at one end: the open end is now to be loosely
closed by a piece of wood or soft paper, while the other is heated
by placing it in red-hot coals, or in the flame of a spirit lamp,
when, if arsenic be present, a thin brilliant metallic crust will be
found lining the upper part of the tube, and which, when placed on
a bar of hot iron, will exhale dense white fumes, and a strong
smell of garlic. In order to detect the presence of the white oxide
of arsenic by re-agents, the suspected powder should be boiled in
distilled water, the solution filtered, and a portion of it put into
three test tubes, a, J, and c, as recommended by Mr. Brande.
“To a, add a drop or two of solution of potassa, and then a
similar quantity of solution of sulphate of copper: an apple-green
precipitate indicates arsenic ; if the precipitate be sky-blue, no
arsenic is present. To the liquid J, add a drop or two of solution
ammonia, and then the same quantity of nitrate of silver; if
white arsenic be present, a yellow precipitate is formed ; if not,
there is no change, or only a white cloudiness. Toc, adda drop
or two of liquid potassa, evaporate to dryness, and having added a
morsel of wax, heat the residue to redness, Metallic arsenic will
sublime, and the garlic smell will be very perceptible upon opening
the lower end of the tube, and holding it inclined, so that a current
of air may pass through it. The precipitates from a and b, heated
with a little wax, should give similar indications of metallic arsenic.
Of the above tests, the first was contrived by Scheele, and the
second by Mr. Hume; and, with the corroboration afforded by the
third method, they are effectual and satisfactory.”

“The medical treatment,” continues Mr. Brande, “which should
be adopted for the relief or cure of persons poisoned by arsenic,
may be summed up in a few words. The vomiting excited by the
poison should be encouraged by a dose or two of sulphate of zinc,
in preference to ipecacuanha, and copious draughts of mucilaginous
liquors, such as barley-water and gruel. The bowels should be
emptied by the least irritating means, as by castor oil, or a mixture

312 ARSENIC.

of castor and olive oil. Opium, camphor, and ether, may be
resorted to, to quiet the nervous irritability; and ammonia, in
large doses, has proved of service in stimulating the heart, where
its action has been irregular and feeble. But we must recollect
the inflammatory action of the stomach and bowels with which we
still have to contend, and consequently the stimulating system
must give way as soon as may be to a cooling regimen, mild
aperients, bleeding, and the usual remedies and treatment. The
debility, paralytic affections, and generally broken-down health,
are afterwards to be encountered by tonics, sea-bathing, warm and
cold, nervous stimulants, and a strict attention to diet, which
commonly should be nutritive, but light: milk, and farinaceous
food, in preference to animal diet.’’*

">

Genus XII.—MERCURY.

Mercure, Fr.; Mercurio, It.; Azédque, Sp.; Quicksilber, Ger.; Abue, Arab.;
Parada, Sans.; Pardh, Wind ; Shwuy-yin, Chin,

Mercury or QuicKsILVER is found in the native state, and also
combined with silver, with sulphur, and with muriatic acid. Its
ores are not numerous; they occur principally in veins or irre-
cular masses in strata of sand-stone, bituminous schistus, secon-
dary limestone, and ferruginous clay. The most productive mines
in Europe are those of Almadin, near Cordova, in Spain, Idria in
Carniola, the Lower Palatinate, and the Duchy of Deux Ponts.
At Guancacavelica, in Peru, the sulphuret exists in an enormous
mass, fifty yards in width, which has been worked to the depth of
500 yards ; it traverses sand-stone and lime-stone near the summit
of one of the Cordilleras, 12,000 feet above the level of the sea.
There are other mines of mercury in New Spain and Grenada.
Sp. 1. Native Mercury. Pu. XLIV. fig. 1.—Gedieden
Queksilber, Werner; Mercure natif, Hauy.—Its colour is tin-

* Manuil of Pharmacy, p. 36.

sol Se

1. Natwe Mercury. 3. Vative Stutphur .

2 Native CUnFeaoar. A. Amber.
Spraltl el. o& the Printed by CE Mideley

Pub. by John Wils on. Princes S* Nov.1.1830.

rake

ae

bade aia, ta

MERCURY. 313

white ; it is liquid, opaque, and its lustre is splendent and metallic.
Its specific gravity is 13°6 It is volatalize before the blow-pipe
at less than a red heat, It is found in small globules, disseminated
in the ores of mercury, and other ores that accompany them,
principally in rocks of the coal formation,

Sp. 2. Native AMALcAM.—Natiirliches Amalgam, Werner ;
Mercure argental, Hauy ; Dodecahedral mercury, Jameson.—The
colour is silver-white or greyish. It occurs in plates, in small
globular amorphous masses, and also crystalized in rhomboidal
dodecahedrons. Internally it is shining, and the lustre is metallic.
Its specific gravity is 11°14. It is soft, and when cut with a knife
it emits a creaking sound like artificial amalgam. It consists of
74 parts of mercury, and 25 of silver. It is generally associated
with native mercury and cinnabar; and it is found principally at
Moschellandsberg, in Deux-Ponts

Sp. 3. SutpHurer or Mercury, or CinnaBpar.—Zinnober,
Werner; Mercure argental, Hauwy.—This mineral is divided by
Professor Jameson into two sub-species, viz» common and hepatic
cinnabar. In Common Cinnalar (Pl. XLIV. fig. 2), the colours
are cochineal-red, scarlet-red, and carmine-red. It occurs massive,
disseminated, dendritic, in granular concretions, and also crys-
talized in six-sided prisms. It alternates from opaque to trans-
lucent ; internally shining or glimmering, with a shining or semi-
metallic lustre. Its fracture is fine-grained, even, conchoidal, and
earthy. It yields a scarlet-red shining streak. Its constituent
parts are mercury 84°53, sulphur 14°75—29°25. Klaproth. It is
from this ore that most of the mercury of commerce is obtained.
Hepatic Cinnabar has a reddish-brown colour, passing into dark
lead-grey. It occurs massive, disseminated, and in globular con-
cretions: the lustre is glimmering and semi-metallic. It is
Opaque ; its fracture is even or slaty; it is easily frangible, and
sectile. It contains, mercury 81°8, sulphur 13*7, in 100 parts,
mixed with carbon, silica, alumina, and oxide of iron, and a trace
of copper. It occurs in considerable masses in slate-clay and
bituminous shale at Almaden, in Spain, and in Siberia, In the
mine of Idria, this variety is called Branderz.

Sp. 4. Muriare or Mercury, or Horn QuicksILVER.—

314 MERCURY.

Quecksilber hornerz, Werner; Mercure muriate, Hauy; Pyra-
midal Corneous Mercury, Jameson.—lIts colours are pearl-grey or
yellowish and greenish grey. It occurs very rarely massive, almost
always in small vesicles crystalized in the interior. It is trans-
lucent, with a lustre between adamantine and vitreous. It is
sectile and easily frangible. Before the blow-pipe it is entirely
volatalized, and is said to emit a garlic smell. It is soluble in
water, and the solution, mixed with lime-water, gives an orange-
coloured precipitate. It contains, oxide of mercury 76, muriatic
acid 16:4, sulphuric acid 7:16. Klaproth. It is found in the
quicksilver mines of the Palatinate, and other places on the
Continent.

Mercury exists in nature in very small quantities in the metallic
state. The most productive source of the metal is the sulphuret,
or the species commonly called Cinnabar. It is generally obtained
by exposing the ore to heat in a retort, along with lime or iron,
either of which combines with the sulphur, and the mercury is
separated by distillation. In Germany, the cinnabar, after being
sorted, is reduced to powder, it is then mixed with about one-
fourth of quick-lime, and put into iron retorts, each of which holds
about one half cwt. From forty to fifty of these retorts are placed
in a long furnace, and glass receivers adapted to each. Heat
is applied to the retorts, by which watery vapour is at first
expelled: the receivers are then luted by means of well-tempered
clay, and the mercury which comes over is condensed in them.
By this process 100 pounds of ore yield from 6 to 10 ounces of
mercury.

Fluidity at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, toge-
ther with its splendent metallic lustre, and great specific gravity
distinguish mercury from all metallic minerals. When cooled
to 39° below 0 of Fahrenheit’s thermometer—a degree of cold
which sometimes occurs naturally in very high polar latitudes,
it becomes solid. It can also be congealed by artificial freezing
mixtures, and the evaporation of sulphuret of carbon in the
vacuum of an air-pump. In this state it is malleable, and may be
cut with a knife. It is perfectly opaque, inodorous, and insipid,
of a white colour, but rather bluer than that of silver. Its spe-

»

MERCURY. 315

cific gravity at 47° above 0, is 13°6. It is volatalized at a red
heat, and its vapour rises in small quantities, even at the common
temperature of the air. At about 660° Fahrenheit, it boils rapidly
and may be purified by distillation. When mercury is violently
agitated for a long time in contact with atmospheric air, it becomes
converted into a black, insipid, insoluble powder ‘or protoxide,
which consists of 200 parts of metal and 8 of oxygen. When
heated to near its boiling point, it combines slowly with the oxygen
of the air, and is converted into a brilliant crimson-coloured scaly
mass, which is the red or peroxide of mercury. A careful analysis
shows that it contains just double the quantity of oxygen in the
protoxide, or 16 parts in every 200. Both the oxides of mercury
combine with the acids and constitute salifiable bases. Mercury
combines with chlorine in two proportions, constituting the well-
known and highly important substances, calomel and corrosive sub-
limate. It combines also with sulphur, phosphorus, iodine, and
most of the metals forming alloys, which have been called amal-
gams. By triturating mercury with unctuous or viscid substances,
it is changed partly into protoxide, and partly into very minute
globules.

Mercury is brought to this country in leathern skins or large
iron bottles, and when in the original packages it is generally very
pure. It is often adulterated by the admixture of other metals,
particularly lead, tin, zinc, and bismuth. When any of these are
present, the metal has a much duller appearance than it usually
presents, and is covered with a grey film ; when a small portion is
separated, the globules do not preserve exactly the spherical form,
nor unite easily with each other; and when agitated in a phial,
it soils or adheres to the glass. Lead is detected by digesting the
sophisticated mercury in nitric acid, and adding sulphuretted
hydrogen or an alkaline hydro-sulphuret to the solution, which
immediately occasions a copious white precipitate, Bismuth is dis-
covered by dropping the nitric solution into a large glass of distilled
water, when the subnitrate of bismuth will be precipitated in the
form of a white powder. If tin be present, a purple precipitate
will be formed on adding a solution of the nitro-muriate of gold.
Zinc is detected by exposing the mercury toa strong heat; the

7
316 MERCURY.

pure metal will be volatalized, but the zine will burn with a
fine green flame.

In its natural state this metal is not now used medicinally ;*
but when rendered active on the system by any of the modes of
preparation to which it is subjected, it produces very remarkable
effects on the animal economy. It operates as a powerful and
general stimulant, it enters into the circulation increases the quick-
ness of the pulse, and sometimes produces a slight degree of what
may be called fever. By its stimulant operation on secreting
organs, it augments some of the secretions, particularly that of the
salivary glands, an effect scarcely produced by any other sub-
stance not locally applied. It generally increases the cuticular
discharge, and frequently that of the kidneys; it appears also to
promote the secretion of bile, and probably of the other intestinal
secretions. It appears in a peculiar manner to excite the action
of the absorbent system; hence the emaciation which is the con-
sequence of its continued use. Sometimes it increases one secre-
tion, sometimes another, but its most characteristic effect is the
increased flow of saliva which it generally excites if given in suffi-
cient quantity. It causes an unpleasant metallic or coppery taste
inthe mouth, of which persons are particularly sensible in the morn-
ing; the breath becomes foetid, the tongue white, and the gums
spongy, tender, and swollen. If the action. of the remedy
be continued it causes ulceration and sloughing of the mouth and
gums, loss of appetite, extreme debility, and a constant and pro-
fuse secretion of the salivary glands. The effect which is thus
produced upon the mouth, is considered a criterion of the general
influence upon the system of the remedy in the cure of syphilis.
When mercury fails to act on the mouth and salivary glands it will
often be found that it increases the discharge by the skin, or ope-
rates powerfully as a diuretic.

“From these diversified effects which mercury produces, it is
capable of being applied to the treatment of numerous states of

* Mercury is said to have been highly prized by the ladies, in the reign of Charles
II. taken in doses of a tea-spoonful night and morning, asa cosmetic. In those days
the sweepings of the drawing-room were among the most profitable of the servants’
perquisites—so considerable was the quantity of second-hand mercury thus collected.

MERCURY. Bi7

disease. In the febrile affections of warm of climates, yellow fever,
and bilious remittent fever, it is a remedy of the highest value.
It is probably useful principally as an evacuant; these forms of
fever being peculiarly connected with a disordered state of the
intestinal canal and abdominal secreting organs; and it is accord-
ingly under the form of calomel, the mercurial which acts most
powerfully on the liver and intestines, that it is chiefly employed.
Some benefit is probably, at the same time, derived from its general
stimulant action, as it proves most successful when given to that
extent as to affect the system. Advantage is derived from it, probably
from a similar mode of operation, in dysentery, especially when it
is given in combination with opium. In the fevers of cold climates
it is less employed. There are some forms of inflammatory action
in which mercury is useful, particularly in rheumatism. And in
that chronic inflammation which affects glandular organs, it is the
principal remedy both in counteracting it, and in removing that
state of morbid structure which is. often its consequence. Hence
the peculiar advantage derived from mercurials in chronic hepatitis,
and induration of the liver, in glandular obstructions and schirro-
sity, and in indolent tumors. Calomel is the preparation which in
these cases appears to be most effectual, though the introduction
of mercury by friction is also employed perhaps with equal success.
In various diseases, dependant on spasmodic action, mercury affords
the most powerful remedy. In tetanus, particularly, if the mer-
curial action on the system can be fully established, the violent
spasm is sometimes resolved and calomel given to a large extent,
aided by mercurial inunction, affords the remedy which has been
most frequently attended with success. In the milder affection of
trismus, it is employed with the same views. It is also a valuable
remedy in croup, In all these cases, calomel is the preparation
usually employed. The stimulant operation of mercury on the
absorbent system, renders it useful in the different forms of dropsy.
It is given to the extent of exciting salivation in hydrocephalus ; in
ascites it is more usually employed to promote the action of diure-
tics, and in that species of dropsy when it depends on induration —
of the liver, and also in dropsy of the ovarium, it proves still more
useful by its deobstruent power. Its stimulant operation on the
2D

318 MERCURY.

uterine system leads to its employment as an emenagogue. Dif-
ferent obstinate cutaneous diseases, lepra, tinea capitis, scabies,
and others, are occasionally removed by the internal administration
of mercury as an alterative ; and these, as well as various forms of
cutaneous eruption and ulceration, often yield to the external
application of mercureal preparations,

“The most important medicinal operation of mercury remains
to be stated—that displayed in removing the disease induced by the
syphilitic poison. In this its power is nearly, if not altogether,
specific ; no article in the materia medica can be substituted for
it; and there may be affirmed of it, what cannot with equal justice
be said of any remedy employed in the treatment of any other
morbid affection, that, if duly administered, it will scarcely ever
fail in effecting a cure. It is difficult to assign any satisfactory
theory of its operation. Its efficacy has been ascribed to its
general evacuant power, in consequence of which the syphilitic
virus is discharged from the body. But the speedy disappearance
of the local symptoms of syphilis under its use, and even from its
local application, affords a proof that it operates on some other
principle ; no similar advantage is derived from any other evacuant ;
and its efficacy is not proportional to the evacuation it excites, but
is frequently displayed where this is altogether insensible. The
opinion has been advanced, that it acts as an antidote to the vene-
real virus, neutralizing it somewhat in the manner in which one
chemical agent subdues the properties of another—an opinion
extremely vague and hypothetical, and rendered improbable from
the consideration of the very small quantity of some of the more
active preparations of mercury, from which a cure may be obtained,
compared with the large quantity of others less active that require
to be administered. The explanation advanced by Mr. Hunter,
that the efficacy of mercury in the treatment of syphilis depends
on its general and permanent stimulant operation on the system,
by which it induces and keepsup an action incompatible with that
morbid action which constitutes the disease, until the virus is
destroyed by the chemical changes going on in the system, or until
it is eliminated from the body by the usual excretions, is on the
whole most probable.

MERCURY, 319

The mode of administering mercury, for the cure of the venereal
disease, under all its forms, is now ascertained with sufficient preci-
sion. There is no advantage in giving it so as to induce profuse
salivation ; this is even to be avoided as hurtful ; at the same-time
it is proper that salivation should be excited to a certain extent,
not probably as essential to its efficacy, but as a proof of its full
action on the system being obtained; this is to be kept up for a
certain time, longer or shorter, according to the state of the symp-
toms, and the previous continuance of the disease. Exposure to
cold is avoided, as being liable to cause the more partial operation
of mercury on the salivary glands ; and the state of irritation is dimi-
nished, or determination to the intestines producing purging is
obviated, by the exhibition of an opiate. When profuse salivation
occurs, the remedies employed to check it are cathartics in mode-
rate doses, small doses of opium, the application of a blister to
the throat, and the administration of the sulphuret of potass; the
last being employed from the doubtful hypothesis, that its chemi-
cal agency may neutralize the mercury. Free exposure to a cool
air is, according to the observations of Mr. Pearson, more effectual
than any other method. When the morbid irritation from the
action of mercury rises too high, producing a state of exhaustion
which sometimes proceeds rapidly to an alarming extent, the admi-
nistration of the remedy must be immediately suspended; and in
this case, also, exposure to a cool atmosphere is advantageous.””*

The various forms under which mercury has been employed
medicinally are very numerous; they may, however, be reduced
to five classes:—], The pure metal, (which has been absurdly
exhibited with the view of operating mechanically in cases of
obstructed bowels.) 2. Its combination with oxygen. 3. Its com-
bination with sulphur. 4. Its combination with chlorine. 5. Its
combination with acids.

Oxides of Mercury.

There are two oxides of mercury; the protoxide, which is of a
black or dark-grey colour, and consists of 200 mercury+8 oxygen ;

* Murray’s Sysiem of Materia Medica, voli. p. 200.

320 MERCURY.

and the deutowide or peroxide, which is of a red colour, and con-
tains twice as much oxygen as the protoxide, consisting of 200
mercury-+16 oxygen. Of these, the former is comparatively mild,
and appears to be the active ingredient in the pilule hydrargyri,
or blue pill; in the hydrargyrum cum creta, and in the wnguentum
hydrargyri, or mercurial ointment. The latter, or red oxide of
mercury, is a virulent poison ; it is now, therefore, seldom, if ever,
administered internally.

Buiack OxipE, or Proroxipe or Mercury.—Hydrargyri
oxidum cinereum, Ph. L.—The London College directs this to
be prepared by boiling one ounce of chloride or sub-muriate of
mercury in a gallon of lime-water, stirring it constantly until the
oxide of mercury falls down. The precipitate must then be washed
with distilled water, and dried by a gentle heat. The black or
grey oxide of mercury was formerly called Athiops per se, and
is designed to be used asa substitute for those preparations in which
the mercury is oxidated by trituration ; but it varies considerably
im chemical composition, and is scarcely ever prescribed. It is
given in the dose of from one to three grains twice a-day, usually
under the form of pill. The protoxide, as it exists in the Pilule
hydrargyri or blue pill, is by far,the best preparation for obtaining
the general action of the metal upon the system. Three grains of
the mass contains one grain of the mercury; and the usual dose is
from six to ten grains twice a-day until the mouth be affected. In
larger doses it appears to increase the secretion of bile, and acts as
a cathartic; hence it has been recommended as an occasional
purgative conjoined with extract of colocynth, rhubarb, or aloes,
where from the deficiency or morbid state of this secretion, the
alyine evacuations are clay-coloured or white, attended with gene-
ral languor, drowsiness, or general inactivity of the system. Two
or three grains of blue-pill, given at bed-time, is a favorite remedy
with some practitioners in dyspepsia, especially where the stools
are clay-coloured ; and it is beneficially employed to excite the
action of the absorbents in dropsies, conjoined with digitalis
or squill. By triturating mercury with chalk, it forms the
Hydrargyrus cum creta, a preparation which is frequently pre-
scribed as a mild alterative for children in tabes mesenterica,

MERCURY. 321

porrigo, and other cutaneous diseases, in doses of from gr. v. to 388.
twice a-day, blended with any viscid substance. The Unguentum
Hydrargyri, in which the metal is in the state of protoxide, is the
form under which mercury is introduced into the system, through
the superficial absorbents. From one to two drachms of the strong
ointment is forced through the cuticle, by friction upon the inside
of the thighs and calves of the legs every night in a warm room.
or before the fire, until the constitution is affected. This
mode of applying mercury is frequently resorted to in venereal
cases, in obstinate hepatic obstructions, and in some dropsical
affections, particularly hydrops articuli, and hydrocephalus, where
the object of the treatment is to stimulate the absorbents. Mercu-
rial plaster is the metal triturated with oil and resin, and mixed
with litharge plaster ; it is sometimes applied to indolent glandular
tumours and indurations, as a discutient.

Rep Oxrpr, or Peroxipg or Mercury.—By exposing mercury
to heat in a shallow vessel, at a temperature of about 600°, it slowly
absorbs oxygen from the air, and is converted into a peroxide. It
is obtained in the form of scales and crystaline grains of a bright
red colour; it is the Oxydum hydrargyri rubrum of the London
Pharmacopoeia; and was formerly called Hydrargyrum precipi-
tatum per se, and hydrargyrum calcinatum. The red oxide is a
very active and dangerous preparation of mercury, and is now very
seldom exhibited internally, except where other remedies fail.
The best form for its administration is that of pill, combined with
opium in very small doses, such as one-fourth or one-eighth of a
grain, night and morning. It is principally used as an external
stimulant and escharotic. For this purpose it is either sprinkled
upon the diseased surface, finely levigated, or applied in the form
of ointment, mixed with lard. The ointment is one of the most
common stimulating dressings for various kinds of ulcers, and is
an excellent application to the inside of the eye-lids in cases of
chronic ophthalmia, and opacities of the cornea. The peroxide,
prepared by dissolving the metal in nitric acid and then evaporating
the solution to dryness, is the hydrargyri nitrico-oxydum and is
more acrid and caustic than the oxide obtained by heat. The
white precipitate of mercury, Hydrargyrum precipitatum album,

822 MERCURY.

which is prepared by decomposing a solution of muriate of ammo-
nia and corrosive sublimate by sub-carbonate of potass, consists
of the peroxide of mercury combined with the muriate of ammonia.
It is too acrid for internal use, but is frequently employed either
alone or mixed with powdered starch ‘for the destruction of ver-
min; made into an ointment with lard it forms a very useful
application in certain cases of porrigo, and some other cutaneous
eruptions.

Sulphurets of Mercury.

There are two sulphurets of mercury; the black sulphuret,
Hydrargyrum sulphuretum nigrum, commonly called A&thiops
Mineral ; and the bi-sulphuret, which is of a fine red colour, and
well known as a pigment under the names of Cinnabar and Vermi-
lion. The former is a very uncertain, inactive, and useless remedy,
and is scarcely ever employed in the present practice. Its dose,
as an alterative and anthelmintic, is from gr. x. to 3ss. or more.
The red sulphuret is only used in medicine for mercurial fumiga-
tion, a portion of it being thrown on a red-hot iron, while the
fumes are either inhaled or directed on the diseased parts.

Chlorides of Mercury.

Mercury combined with chlorine forms two very important pre-
parations. The one is termed the proto-chloride, and has been
long known by the name of Calomel, sub-muriate or mild muriate
of mercury. ‘The other, the li-chloride, is also well-known by the
name of Corrosive sublimate, and is the oxymuriate of mercury
of the London pharmacopeeia.

PRoTO-CHLORIDE OF Mercury, SuB-MURIATE OF MERcURY,
or CatomeL.—Hydrargyri Sulmurias, Ph. L.—This compound
may be obtained by triturating four parts of the bi-chloride of mer -
cury (corrosive sublimate) with three parts of metallic mercury
until the globules disappear, then subjecting it to sublimation ; but
the proto-chloride may more éasily be prepared by pouring into
the solution of the metal, in nitric acid, a solution of chloride of

MERCURY. 323

sodium, or common salt. It is precipitated in the form of a pon-
derous white powder, which must be washed and dried by a gentle
heat. Calomel, when pure, has a pale straw colour; it is per-
fectly insipid, inodorous, and nearly insoluble in water. Its
specific gravity is 7°2, When exposed to heat, it sublimes unal-
tered ; and when the surface of sublimed calomel is scratched, it
always exhibits a yellow streak. It is decomposed by lime-water
and the alkalies, which instantly render it black, the protoxide of
mercury being one of the results; it is also decomposed by some
of the metals, and by the sulphurets of potass and of antimony.
Nitric acid dissolves calomel, converting it into corrosive sublimate.
Itis composed of one proportional mercury 200, and one proportional
chlorine 36, giving 236, as its equivalent representative number.

Calomel is one of the mildest and most useful of the mercurial
preparations. ‘‘ It is not so much employed as a remedy in
syphilis, principally from its being liable to induce purging ;. but
when this is obviated by the addition of small doses of opium, it is
given in the dose of one or two grains, morning and evening, and
soon affects the general system. It is the mercurial, however,
which is chiefly employed in the treatment of other diseases in
which mercury is prescribed. To the treatment of some of them
it is peculiarly adapted by its action on the intestinal canal, and
the secreting organs connected with it; hence, its employment
in febrile affections, in hepatitis, and chronic induration of the
liver, in scirrhous of other visceral organs, in dysentery, and as a
remedy in worms. The mildness of its operation rendering it
safe to administer it in large doses, so as rapidly to bring the
system under the action of mercury, renders it equally proper for
administration in tetanus, hydrophobia, croup, and other diseases
in which it is required. The same mildness adapts it to con-
tinued use, and hence, the preference given to it in cutaneous
affections, in glandular obstructions, in dropsy, and wherever
mercury is employed as an alterative. It not only produces the
general effects of a mercurial, but also, when given in sufficient
doses, acts with certainty and mildness as a cathartic. It is hence
often employed to promote the operation of other catharties, and
it has the peculiar advantage, that it does so without adding to the

324 MERCURY.

irritation which they are liable to occasion. Hence, this com-
bination is peculiarly useful where it is difficult to cause purging,
or where, from the state of the stomach, the usual cathartics are
liable to be rejected, especially when they are given in large doses.
The dose, as a cathartic, is from five to ten or even fifteen grains.
When prescribed with other intentions, the dose is various ; as an
alterative a grain is given night and morning, and this, after being
continued for some time, will affect the system, When it is
necessary that this should be done more speedily, a large dose is
prescribed, and, if necessary, its purgative operation may be
obviated by opium.”* Calomel and lime-water forms what is
commonly termed the l/ack lotion, so much employed by sur-
geons as a soothing application to venereal sores and excoriations.

Br-cHtoripe or Mercury, or Corrosive SuBiimate.
Hydrargyri Oxymurias. Ph. L,—Bi-chloride of Mercury is
prepared for medicinal purposes by boiling two pounds of mer-
cury with two and a half pounds of sulphuric acid to dryness, in a
glass vessel, then mixing the dry mass-with four pounds of chloride
of sodium (common salt), and subliming. When thus obtained,
it is of a crystaline texture, colourless, and semi-transparent. It
has a very disagreeable, styptic, and somewhat acrid, metallic
taste. Its specific gravity is 7-2.- It is soluble in 20 parts of
water at the temperature of 60°, and 2 of boiling water; it is
also soluble in alcohol, and requires little more than three
parts of that fluid for its solution. Muriate of ammonia con-
siderably increases its solubility, one part rendering five parts —
soluble in about five of water. It dissolves readily in muriatic
acid, but is insoluble in concentrated nitric and sulphuric acids.
The fixed alkalies and alkaline earths decompose it, precipitating
it from its solution of an orange-yellow colour, which becomes
brick-red. It is also decomposed by many metals, compound
salts, and vegetable infusions. In this preparation, as the name
implies, the mercury is combined with one proportional of metal
and two of chlorine. The bi-chloride, or proto-chloride of mer-
cury, as it is also called, is the most active of all the preparations

* Murray’s System of Materia Medica, v. i., p. 208,

MERCURY, Sg

of this metal; even in a smal] dose it is apt to occasion severe
griping and diarrhoea ; in larger quantities it proves one of the
most violent poisons with which we are acquainted. It was for-
merly extolled as an anti-syphilitic ; but it is very seldom prescribed
by practitioners at the present day for the cure of the venereal dis-
ease. Although it soon affects the system, its operation does not
appear to be sufficiently permanent ; hence, when the symptoms
of syphilis have disappeared under its use, they are liable to
return when it is suspended, or the disease occurs in some of its
secondary forms. It is employed with more advantage as an
alterative for the cure of old ulcers, chronic rheumatism, lepra,
and other obstinate cutaneous affections. In these cases, it is
usually conjoined with bark, antimonials, or the compound decoc-
tion of sarsaparilla, It is a powerful engine in the hands of
empirics, and corrosive sublimate is the active ingredient in many
of the anti-venereal remedies which are recommended as contain-
ing no mercury. De Velno’s vegetable syrup owes its activity to’
corrosive sublimate, desolved in the decoction of the woods; and,
Spilsbury’s drops, is a weak solution of this salt, in the compound
tincture of gentian.* The dose of corrosive sublimate is from
one-quarter to one-eighth of a grain twice a day ; and it is best ad-
ministered in solution, or made.into a pill with extract of poppies. A
very dilute solution is sometimes used as a gargle in venereal sore
throat, and as a lotion in some cutaneous eruptions. According
to Mr. Brande, Gowland’s lotion, long celebrated in such cases, is
a solution of corrosive sublimate in emulsion of bitter almonds, in
the proportion of about a grain to an ounce. ‘Applications of this
sort require to be used with much circumspection, especially upon
delicate and irritable skins, where they sometimes excite erise-
pelatious inflammation, and a permanent redness of the part.”
The effects produced by corrosive sublimate when administered
in too large doses, either by mistake, or designedly as a poison,
‘are an acrid, styptic, metallic taste in the mouth, with a sense of

* Sprrspury’s Drops.—Corrosive sublimate, and tartarized antimony, of each ¢wo
grains ; cinnamon water, one ounce ; compound tincture of gentian, three ounces ;
oil of sassafrass, four drops. Mix. Dose a tea-spoonful three times a day.

326 MERCURY.

burning and fulness in the mouth and throat, sickness, vomiting
of frothy matter, sometimes of blood, salivation and ulceration of
the mouth and gums, loss of teeth, and affections of the bones,
violent pains in the bones, muscles, and joints, cold sweats,
tremors, palsy, tetanus, convulsions, and death. It has been
already stated, in a former part of this work, that the white
of egg decomposes corrosive sublimate, by converting it into
proto-chloride of mercury or calomel, and when given in sufficient
quantity has succeeded as an antidote. According to Peschier
the white of one egg is required to render four grains of the poison
innocuous.* If this cannot be procured, linseed} tea, barley-
water, broth, or even plain water may be given; but oily sub-
stances, often had recourse to, are useless, and often injurious by
impeding the action of other remedies, The secondary treatment
must resemble that adopted in gastritis and enteritis ; general and
local bleeding, fomentations, warm bath, and in general the anti-
phlogistic regimen.

Salts of Mercury.

Tue salts of mercury are generally distinguished by their
nauseous, styptic taste. Those that are soluble in water give a
black precipitate with alkaline hydro-sulphurets ; gallic acid gives
a yellow precipitate, and when a plate of copper is introduced into
them, metallic mercury is precipitated, They are volatalized by
heat, and if they be mixed with carbonaceous, matter metallic
mercury is obtained,

Yetow Sus-Supuate or Mercury, or TurBitH MINERAL,
Sub-sulphas Hydrargyri flavus, Ph. E.—This salt is prepared by
boiling two parts of mercury in three of sulphuric acid to dryness,
and throwing the white mass obtained in this manner into boiling
water, after it has been reduced to powder. The yellow sub-
sulphate is immediately thrown down, which must be washed
repeatedly with distilled water and dried by a gentle heat. It

aR ae TEES ULES Ott ELS Bt gE

* Corvisart’s Journal de Medicine, xxxviii. p. 77.

MERCURY. 327

occurs in the form of a bright lemon-yellow powder, of a specific
gravity of 6°444 ; it is inodorous, nearly insoluble in water, and
has an acrid taste. The sub-sulphate of mercury mixed with
liquorice powder, and snuffed up the nose at bed-time, is some-
times prescribed as an errhine in chronic ophthalmia. Taken
internally, in a dose of from four to six grains, it operates as a
powerful emetic. In smaller doses, it was formerly much em-
ployed as an alterative and diaphoretic; but it is extremely liable
to act violently on the stomach and bowels, and as it has no
particular advantage attending its administration, it is nearly dis-
carded from practice in this country.

AcrTaTE oF Mercury. cetas Hydrargyri, Ph. E. D.—
This is prepared by dissolving three ounces of mercury in four
and a half ounces of diluted nitric acid, and adding a solution of
three ounces of the acetate of potass in eight pounds of boiling
water. The solution deposits crystals of the acetate of mercury,
which must be washed with cold distilled water, and dryed by a
gentle heat. The acetate of mercury, is now very seldom em-
ployed as an anti-syphilitic; it is considerably less active than the
preceding preparation, and forms the basis of the once celebrated
Keyser’s pills. The dose is from gr. i. to grs. vi, twice a-day.

Orver II].—INFLAMMABLE MINERALS.

This order comprises such mineral substances as
burn more or less easily, or whose principal character
is inflammability at not very high temperatures. When
solid, they are easily broken; they are soft, yielding
easily to the knife ; their specific gravity seldom exceeds
2.0; they are composed chiefly of carbon or of sulphur,
either pure or combined with hydrogen, and more or
less earthy and metallic matter.

328 SULPHUR.

Genus I.—SULPHUR.

Soufre, Fr.; Solfo, It.; Azufre, Sp.; Schwefel, Ger.; Sera, Rus.
Sutpnor is found in nature, nearly pure in the mineral kingdom;
and likewise in combination with various metals, forming some of
the most abundant and important metallic ores, as the sulphurets
of iron, copper, and lead. Sulphur is found most plentifully in or
near the craters of dormant volcanoes; it is also found lining the
cavities or fissures of lava, and sometimes, though rarely, in veins
traversing primitive and secondary rocks. Sulphur is divided by
some mineralogists into two sub-species or varieties ; Native and
volcanic.

1. Native SutpHur. Pu. XLIV. fig. 3.—Natiirlischer
Schwefel, MWerner.—The colour is various Shades of yellow,
sometimes reddish, or tinged with green. It occurs massive,
disseminated, investing other minerals, and crystallized in acute
double six-sided pyramids. Its lustre is glistening and resinous;
it is opaque or translucent. It is brittle and easily frangible. It
becomes negatively electric by friction. Its specific gravity is
about two. It burns with a lambent blue flame, and suffocating
odour. It occurs in considerable abundance in primitive and
secondary mountains, either pure, or in a state of combination with
the metals. It is also met with in alluvial districts, deposited in
crusts on the surface of the soil, ‘particularly near sulphureous
springs. '

2. Votcanic SutpHur. — Vulcanischer Natiirlicher Schwe-
fel, Werner.—Its colour is pale-sulphur yellow. It occurs
massive, stalactitic, vesicular, investing, and in small pyramidal
chrystals. In other characters it agrees with the preceding sub-
species. It is found only in volcanic countries, and is much purer
. than the sulphur obtained by sublimation from pyrites, which
always contains a portion of arsenic, or other metallic matter.
Solfaterra, near Naples, and Sicily, are the principal repositories of
volcanic sulphur in Europe, where it is collected in considerable
quantities for the purposes of commerce. Sulphur sublimes at
600°, and condenses into the form of a fine powder, which, from

MINERAL RESIN. 329

its lightness, is commonly called flowers of sulphur: the residue is
known in the shops under the name of sulphhur vivum. When
melted and run into cylindrical moulds, it is termed rod sulphur,
and is usually less pure. Sublimed sulphur is of a pale yellow
colour; it is insoluble in water; it is soluble in boiling oils, and in
alcohol, when the two substances are brought into contact in the
state of vapour. It combines with oxygen, hydrogen, carbon,
chlorine, phosphorus, iodine, with the alkalies, many of the earths,
and almost all the metals.

Sublime sulphur is used in medicine as a gentle laxative and
diaphoretic. From the mildness of its operation it has long been
recommended in hemorrhoidal affections, and in other cases,
where more irritating cathartics would be injurious. It is usually
prescribed in the form of powder, with magnesia, or in combina-
tion with electuary of senna, in dozes of from 3i. to 3ii. twice a
day. When its use is continued for some time, it appears to per-
vade the whole system in a remarkable manner, and manifestly
transpires through the skin; from which circumstance it has been
much employed in some cutaneous eruptions, and has been con-
ceived to possess a specific power in the cure of scabies, especially
when applied externally, in the form of ointment, and taken in-
ternally at the same time, in half drachm doses, with an equal
part of super-tartrate of potass. Dr. Mackensie, on whose au-
thority I am disposed to place much confidence, for the disease
seems to be very common in many districts in Scotland, says this
mode of procedure will generally cure the itch in three days,*
Sulphur has also been found serviceable in rheumatism, gout,
chronic catarrh and some other pulmonary affections, probably
from its action on the skin.

Genus II.—MINERAL RESIN.

Tus genus contains two species, yellow Mineral Resin, and
black Mineral Resin, both of which are highly inflammable, and,

* Elements of Pathology and Practice of Physic, vol. ii. p. 206,

330 MINERAL RESIN.

like coal, are composed principally of carbon in combination with
hydrogen.

Sp. 1. Yettow Minera Resin, or AMBer. Pu. XLIV.
fig. 4.—Succin, Hauy. Bernstein, Werner. Gelbes Erd-Harz,
Mohs.—It occurs in small irregular massive pieces, which are
translucent or transparent, of a whitish, wine-yellow, or yellowish-
brown colour, and often incloses insects ; the fracture is more or
less conchoidal, and the lusture resinous. _ It is brittle, and yields
easily to the knife. Its specific gravity is about 1:08, When
rubbed it gives out an agreeable smell, and becomes strongly
resino-electric. It softens when moderately heated, and at a higher
temperature it burns with a yellow flame, and fragrant odour. Its
constituent parts are resin, an empyreumatic oil, and succinic acid.
Amber is found in alluvial soil near Koningsberg, in Russia, where
it occurs in beds of bituminous wood; and is said to have been
observed imbedded in secondary limestone. It is also thrown up
by the sea on the shores of the Baltic, Germany, Poland, and
other countrys. .

Amber, when taken into the stomach, even in large quantities,
is perfectly inert; it is introduced into the list of the materia
Medica only as affording, by distillation, an acid and oil, both of
which have been used in medicine. The oil is at first thick and
brown, but by repeated distillations with water, becomes thinner
and of a paler colour. It was formerly celebrated as an anti-
spasmsodic, and as such often prescribed in h ysterical and convulsive
affections, in a dose of from ten to fifteen drops. It is now scarcely
ever employed, except as an external stimulating application in
hooping-cough, paralysis, and chronic rheumatism. The salt
(sal succini, E. D.), obtained along with this oil is impure succinic
acid, and is never used in the present practice.

Sp. 2. Buack Minera, Resin. — Schwarzes Erd- Harz,
Mohs.—This species is divided into three sub-species, viz. Naptha,
Mineral Oil or Petroleum, and Mineral Pitch or Bitumen, The
two former only are used in medicine.

1, Naprrua.—Bitumen liquide blanchatre, Hauy.—This sub-
stance resembles oil, being perfectly liquid and transparent, feels
unctuous, and has a pale yellowish colour, inclining to brown. It

EARTHY. MINERALS, * 333

exhales an agreeable bituminous smell, and burns with a bright
white flame on the approach of a lighted taper. Its specific
gravity is 0.7. Naptha exists in considerable springs in some
parts of Italy, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, in the Caucasus,
and other places. It may also be obtained by distilling petroleum,
or the tar which is disengaged during the destructive distillation of
pit coal, and which is commonly called coal-tar. Naptha bears a con-
siderable analogy to the oil of turpentine in its medicinal properties;
hence it has been used internally as a sudorific and anti-spasmodic
in asthma and chronic catarrh, and externally, as a stimulating
application in chronic rheumatism and afilictions of the joints.
The dose is from ten to thirty drops.

2. Prrroteum.— Bitume liquide noiratre, Hawy.— Erdél,
Werner.—This bituminous substance, known also under the names
of Barbadoes and Mineral tar, has long obtained a place in our
pharmacopeeias. It is of the consistance of common tar, has a
strong disagreeable bituminous odour, and is of a dark blackish
brown colour. It exudes abundantly from rocks, generally of the
coal formation, in Shropshire, in the territory of Modena and
Parma, in Sicily, Persia, and other countries. In its medicinal
properties it agrees with naptha, but it is less eligible for internal
administration. In Germany it has been extolled as an anthel-
mintic in cases of teenia.

Orver II]—EARTHY MINERALS.

This class comprises all minerals that are composed
of one or more earths, either pure, or in combination
with the alkalies, with sulphur, with oxygen, or with
acids. They are insipid, destitute of true metallie lus-
tre, insoluble in water, uninflammable, fixed, and in-
capable of being volatalized at a high temperature before
the blow-pipe, and their specifie gravity is always
below 5.

332 LIMESTONE.

Genus I.—LIMESTONE.

Pierre d chaux; chauwx carbonate, Fr.; Ossicarbonato di calce, It.;
Kalksteir Ger,

Lime exists abundantly in nature in combination with carbonic or
sulphuric acids, and not unfrequently with the fluoric and phos-
phoric acids. It is also frequently combined with magnesia, but
more sparingly with the other earths. The common compact
limestone, and the varieties comprehended under the term Car-
bonate of Lime, is so common in every country, as to render any
description of its characters and geographical distribution unneces-
sary. Lime, which is medicinally used, may be procured in a very
pure state from Calcareous Spar.

Sp. 1. Caxcargous Spar. — Chaux Carbonatée, Hawy.
Kalkspath, Werner.—Its usual colours are white, tinged with
yellow, and it is found of various shades of red, blue, green, grey,
brown, and greyish black. It occurs massive, and ina great variety
of external shapes, also very frequently chrystalized. The primi-
tive form is an obtuse rhomboid; the secondary forms far exceeds
that of any other mineral hitherto discovered: Bournon has
enumerated 642, and many more might be described. It is
scratched by fluor spar, and yields easily to the knife. It is rather
brittle, and breaks into rhomboidal fragments. The specific gravity
is about 2°50. It is translucent or transparent; that of Iceland,
Pr. XLV., fig. 1., known under the name of Iceland Spar, is
double refractive in a high degree. According to Woollaston, its
constituents are lime 56, carbonic acid 44. It occurs in veins
and strata in almost eyery kind of rock.

Pure lime is obtained by exposing limestone, or calcareous
Spar, to a strong heat. It is of a fine white colour, and is
moderately hard; it requires an intense heat for its fusion, and
has an acrid alkaline taste. It is sparingly soluble in water; and the
solution is the form under which it has been exhibited medicinally.
“Lime-water, as it is named, is used with advantage in dyspepsia;
its beneficial effects arise principally from its tonic and astringent

LIMESTONE. 333

quality, as in the small quantity which water can dissolve, it can
have littie effect, by any chemical agency, in obviating acidity. It
is employed too as an astringent in chronic diarrhcea, and in
leucorrhcea. Carbonate of Lime, or Chalk (Creta\, is used as an
antacid; and Phosphate of Lime has, from theoretical views, been
proposed as a remedy in rickets and molities ossium. Muriate of
Lime is a more active substance, and more powerful tonic; it is
prepared, according to a formula given by the Edinburgh and
Dublin Colleges, by decomposing carbonate of lime by muriatic
acid, and is obtained in the state of a saturated solution. In its
action on the system, it has a considerable analogy to muriate of
barytes, and, like it, has been used principally in scrofula and hectic
fever, and in dyspepsia. Its dose is 3ss. of the saturated solution ;
and, as it is a medicine of considerable activity, it requires to be
given with caution. Like other saline substances designed to act
on the general system, it is probably most successful when adminis-
tered in small doses, with large dilution, as in large doses, anda
more concentrated form, its absorption is counteracted, andits action
is confined to the intestines.” Chloride of Lime, commonly called
bleaching powder, is of great importance in the arts, also in medi-
cine, and the manufacture of it is carried on upon a very large
scale. It is prepared by passing chlorine gas into chambers con-
structed for the purpose, in which strata of fresh slaked lime, in
fine powder, is exposed to its action, in trays. The gas is absorbed
with rapidity, and much heat is evolved. The chloride of lime is
thus obtained in the form of a dry white powder, which possesses a
faint odour of chlorine, and a strong penetrating taste. It is soluble
in water in small quantity; the solution is decomposed by the dif-
ferent acids, even by the carbonic, which it attracts from the atmos-
phere, while the chlorine is disengaged slowly, and the carbonate
of lime produced. Advantage has been taken of this property for
the purpose of arresting the decomposition of animal substances,
and of correcting and sweetening the air contaminated with putrid
effluvia. Gaseous chlorine has been long known as having the
power of neutralizing the volatile principles given out by bodies in a
state of putrefaction, or infectious vapours; but such is the hurt-
ful nature of chlorine to respiration, that the greatest caution must
E2

334 MAGNESIA.

be taken not to inhale it in any quantity. In the process, how-
ever, above described, it is so gradually evolved, as not to occasion
inconvenience; and it may thus be diffused even in the chambers
of the sick, without the slightest annoyance. Under every cir-
cumstance, whether infection be suspected or not, unpleasant
exhalations are instantly destroyed by this salutary process, and
a freshness communicated to the air, which does not merely cover
disagreeable smells, like common fumigations, but effectually
destroys them. The chloride is cheap and easily procured; and
the quantity of a table-spoonful, stirred into as much water as
may be contained in a soup-plate, and renewed every two or
three days, is quite sufficient in all ordinary cases. In
sick-rooms, to destroy the odour of discharges from confined
patients, and in fevers of a decidedly contagious character, the solu-
tion should be sprinkled about the chamber, and the linen of the
patient thrown into a pail of water, in which double the above
quantity of the salt has been mixed. But, besides the property
which belongs to the chloride of lime of disinfecting foul air, it
has also been medicinally employed as an excellent lotion for
excoriations, chilblains, foul ulcers, and gangrenous sores. The
solution is likewise used as a gargle in putrid sore throat; and forms
the best lotion in ptyalism hitherto discovered.

Genus II—MAGNESIA.

Tuts earth has been discovered pure in the mineral kingdom; but
more commonly combined with silica, alumina, lime, and other
earthy substances, or with acids, and in solution in sea-water, and
several mineral springs.

Sp. 1. Native Macnesia. Bruce.—lIts colour is snow-white,
occasionally with a tinge of green. It occurs massive, and in
granular and prismatic concretions. It is semi-transparent, with
a shining and pearly lustre, but, by exposure to the weather, the
surface becomes dull and opaque; it adheres slightly to the tongue,
and is so soft as to yield easily to the nail. Its specific gravity is

: @ sy } ,
le SOrALE Gel ch lita

7. Calcareis + Yorn double PATAUNG:

2S plurte of Barvles . DI. Atiminorts SCHsstits.
: : Prenteo oy G.E. Yadeley J Welle 22 OMe t Cz JSéra na.

Bae é aS : © ge ee
Pub hy John Wilson Prines Street. Nov.1.1831.

BARYTES, SST 335:

2°13. Before the blow-pipe it becomes soft and friable, and loses
weight. It is soluble in sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acids. Ac-
cording to Dr. Bruce, it consists of pure magnesia 70, water 30,
in 100 parts. Native magnesia has hitherto been found only in
small veins that trayerse a rock of serpentine, at Hoboken, in
New Jersey.

Genus III.—BARYTES.

Baryte, Fr.; Barite, It.; Baryterde; Schwerde, Ger..

THE earth called Barytes exists in nature in combination either
with sulphuric or carbonic acid, forming two distinct species of
minerals, the Sulphate and Carbonate of Barytes. It is the
heaviest of all earthy minerals, except Zircon. Both species are
used in pharmacy for preparing the muriate.

Sp.1. Suvpnare or Baryres, or Heavy-Spar.—(Pu. XLV,
fig. 2.)—Baryte sulphaté crystalizée, Hauy; Schwerspath, Werner.
—It occurs generally crystalized, also lamellar, fibrous, granular,
compact, or earthy. The prevailing colours are greyish, yellowish-
white, blueish-white, and red. The crystals are frequently colour-
less and transparent, and have a shining vitreous lustre, inclining
to pearly. The secondary crystals are generally flat prisms, or
tables, and they often occur of considerable size. The specific
gravity varies from 4°30, to 4°37. It is brittle, and easily frangible.
Its constituents are barytes 67, sulphuric acid 33. Very fine
crystals of this variety are found in the lead-mines of Cumberland,
Durham, and Westmoreland. Compact Sulphate of Barytes occurs
in amorphous masses, which have a lamellar structure; also dis-
seminated, reniform, semi-globular, with cubic impressions, and
also in curved lamellar concretions. It is found in the mines of
Staffordshire and Derbyshire, where it is named Cawk.

Sp. 2. CarsBonate or Baryres, or WirHerite.—Baryte car-
bonatée, Hawy. Witherit, Werner.—This mineral is rarely crys-
talized; but most frequently occurs in irregular masses, or in distinct

336 SALTS OF BARYTES.

concretions, which have a striated or diverging flat fibrous struc-
ture. It is translucent or semi-transparent, and has generally a
yellowish or brownish-white colour, It has a shining or glimmer-
ing lustre, and the fracture is resinous. It is brittle, and easily
frangible. The specific gravity is about 4°30. Before the blow-
pipe it decrepitates slightly, and melts into a white enamel. It dis-
solves with effervescence, in dilute muriatic or nitric acid. Its
constituent parts are, barytes 78, carbonic acid 22. It occurs in
Jead-veins in several of the mining districts of England and
Wales. It is a very active corrosive poison, and in Lancashire and
Yorkshire, where it is found, it is used for the purpose of destroy-
ing rats. Fifteen grains is reported to have killed one dog in eight
hours, and another in fifteen.*

Salts of Barytes.

The soluble salts of barytes are characterised by their acrid nau-
seous taste, and by the copious precipitate which sulphuric acid
throws down when it is added to their solutions. The only com-
pound of this salt applied to medical purposes, is the muriate or
hydro-chlorate.

MuriaTe or Baryres.—This salt may be prepared by adding
dilute muriatic acid to the carbonate of barytes, and evaporating
the solution, or by decomposing the sulphate by heating it with
charcoal, and adding muriatic acid to the solution obtained by
washing the residue with water. The muriate in either case is
procured by crystalization, and a formula is given for its solution in
the Edinburgh Pharmacopeeia, in which one part of the salt is
dissolved in three of water. This solution is stimulant, and in
large doses poisonous; but it has been strongly recommended by
some practitioners as a remedy in cancer, in some obstinate
cutaneous eruptions, and in scrofula, under the appellation of a
deobstruent. The usual dose is from five drops, gradually increased
to twenty or more.

When taken in an over-dose, the pure earth or oxide, the car-

* Annales de Chimie, xxi. p. 119.

SCHISTOSE, OR SLATE-ROCKS. 337

bonate and muriate of barytes, appear to produce symptoms simi-
lar to those occasioned by arsenic, but less violent. In such
cases, some alkaline, or earthy sulphate, such as that of mag-
nesia, or of soda, has been found to neutralize the poison, by form-
ing an insoluble salt which exerts no action on the animal
system.

SCHISTOSE, Or SLATE-ROCKS.

1. Atuminous Scuistus, or ALUM-SLate.—Pu. XLV. fig. 3.
—This rock, which affords the greater part of the alum of commerce,
is of a greyish, blueish, or iron-black colour, and often contains
marine shells, and other similar organic remains. Its lustre is
glistening or glimmering, or semi-metallic, and it is sometimes
iridescent on the surface. The structure is slaty, and it splits,
by exposure to the air, into thin plates. It is generally soft, and
yields easily to the knife. It consists of clay-slate impregnated
with a large portion of carbonaceous or bituminous matter, and
sulphate of iron, Alum-slate forms a bed several hundred feet in
thickness, at Whitby, in Yorkshire, which, according to Mr.
Bakewell, extends over a great part of the Cleveland hills, and is
intersected by a vertical dyke of basalt. A full account of the
processes for the manufacture of alum was published by Mr.
Winter, in the 26th volume of Nicholson’s Journal. One hundred
and thirty tons of this schistus produce, on an average, one ton of
alum.

Alum, prepared according to the process adopted at Whitby, isa sul-
phate of alumina and potass. It isin large irregular semi-transparent
colourless masses, having a vitreous fracture, and crystalizes from its
solutions in regular octahedrons. It has a sweetish, acidulous, styp-
tic taste, and from its excess of acid it reddens the vegetable blues.
It is soluble in about 14 parts of water at 60°, but insoluble in
alcohol. When exposed to a moderate heat, its water of crys-
talization is expelled, and a white, friable, opaque, spongy mass
remains, named burnt alum (alumen ustum); it is the alumen
exsiccatum of the pharmacopeeias. The variety called Roche or
Rock alum (alumen rupeum), is brought from the Levant; it is

338 ACIDS.

in small fragments, efflorescent on the surface, and of a pale rose
colour. Alum is decomposed by the alkalies and alkaline earths,
which precipitate the alumina; and gallic acid produces the
same effect.

Alum is used in medicine as a powerful astringent, and is not
unfrequently prescribed both as an external and internal remedy
for restraining hemorrahgies and serous evacuations; it is thus
given in obstinate diarrhoea, menorrhagia, leucorrhoea, and
diabetes. It has also been employed in combination with cin-
chona in intermittent fevers, and conjoined with opium as a pro-
phylactic in colica pictonum. The dose, in substance, is from
five grains to half a drachm. If it excite nausea or vomiting, or
operate asa cathartic, this inconvenience may generally be ob-
viated by combining it with an aromatic. A favorite and very
efficacious form of administering it, is that of alum whey (serum
aluminosum), prepared by adding two drachms of pulverised alum
to a pint of hot milk; the dose of this is three or four ounces.
Externally, alum is used in gargles in cases of cynanche, relax-
ation of the uvula, and aphthous ulcerations of the mouth; as an
injection in the latter stages of gonorrhoea, leucorrhcea, and profuse
menorrhagia; and as a lotion in chronic ophthalmia, hemorrhoidal
affections and prolapsus ani. Burnt alum is sometimes used by
surgeons as a mild escharotic.

Orver IV.—SALINE MINERALS.

Under this class are included the mineral acids, and
their combinations with the earths, alkalies, and metallic
oxides. They are distinguished by their solubility in

water, and sapid taste.

Genus I.—ACID.

Sp. 1. Carsonic Acip.—Spiritus Lethalis, Pliny. Gas Syl-
vestre, Spiritus Sylvestris, Paracelsus and Van Helmont, Fixed

ACIDS, 339

Air, Black.—This gas exists in great abundance in nature, and is
often extricated very largely in a variety of chemical operations.
It occurs in considerable quantities in marshy places, rises from
certain acidulous waters, and abounds in many caverns, par-
ticularly in the celebrated grotto Del Cane, near Naples. Itisa
very frequent cause of accidents in coal-mines, where it is known
under the name of choke-damp, in breweries, in places where
charcoal is burned in close rooms, and in wells, and other places
that have been long shut up. In consequence of its wieght, its
specific gravity being 1°5230, it remains at the bottom of those
places, and proves fatal to those who incautiously enter, by causing
suffocation. The bodies of persons suffocated in carbonic acid gas,
exhibit the ordinary appearances of apoplexy. The most effec-
tual means of recovering the vital actions, when suspended by this
gas, consists in inflating the lungs as soon as the body is removed to
the open air, in sprinkling the face, and, when the heat is above
the standard of health, even the whole body, with cold water.
In other respects the method of treatment will be the same as in
the case of drowning or other kinds of suffocation. Those who
wish for further information on the subject of this and other nox-
ious gases, may consult the valuable ‘‘ Treatise on Poisons,” by
Professor Christison.

Sp. 2. Muriatic, or Hypro-cutorre Acip.—In its pure
form Muriatic Acid always exists as a gas, and in this form it is
said to emanate from volcanoes. It is the only known compound
of chlorine with hydrogen, and is, therefore, very properly termed
by the French chemists hydro-chlorine gas. It is best obtained by
the action of concentrated sulphuric acid upon an equal weight of
sea salt; it is given off in great purity, but must be collected over
mercury. It has a strong affinity for oxygen, which, according to
Sir H. Davy, at the temperature of 40, can absord 480 times its
volume of muriatic acid gas. The solution thus formed is com-
monly known by the name of muriatic acid, or spirit of sali. It
may be prepared by passing the gas, procured as above, imme-
diately through water; or by adding a sufficient quantity of water
to the sulphuric acid in the first instance, and then distilling. The
solution, when pure, is perfectly colourless, and possesses all the

340 ACIDS.

acid properties as well as of the gas. Muriatic acid has been given
as a refrigerant and tonic, in typhus, in malignant sore throat,
and in some obstinate cutaneous eruptions. The dose is from ten
to thirty drops.

Sp. 3. Sutpnuric Actp,—Native or pure Sulphuric Acid is
said to be found in a concrete state, in the cavities of some volcanic
mountains ; it is also observed trickling from the roofs of caves in
A&tna, near Aix in Savoy, and various places in Italy; but as an

article of commerce it is usually obtained by burning a mixture of
about eight parts of sulphur, and one of nitre in close leaden cham-
bers, containing water, by which the fumes, as they rise, are succes-
sively condensed ; and the acid is procured in a concentrated state
by evaporation of the solution. The hydro-sulphuric acid, or oil
of vitriol, is a colourless, oily fluid, of a specific gravity, when con-
centrated of 1°85. It boils at 620°, and freezes at 15°. It is
acrid, extremely caustic, and quickly decomposes animal and vege-
table substances. It rapidly absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere,
and may be combined with water in any proportion. Though
largely diluted its taste is intensely sour, and it instantly reddens
the vegetable blues. It readily combines with the alkalies, and with
alumine, and with some of the metals forms soluble native salts,
all of which, except the sulphate of soda, are precipitated from
their solutions by carbonated alkalies. Medicinally, this acid is a
useful refrigerant, antiseptic, and tonic. As an astringent, it is
frequently prescribed to check the discharge of blood in heemoptysis,
and the colliquative sweats in hectic fever. It is also used in
menorrhagia and diabetes; and as a tonic in dyspepsia, low
typhoid fevers, convalescencies, cutaneous eruptions, and confluent
small-pox. It is a very common adjunct to gargles in cynanche ;
and as an external application, mixed with lard in the proportion
of half a drachm to an ounce, it has been used with advantage in
scabies. The dose of the diluted acid (Acidum Sulphuricum
dilutum) may be from 10 to 30 drops in any of the common
bitter infusions or decoctions.

Sp. 4, Nirric Acip.—This acid has not been found in a pure
state in nature, but is generally obtained from the nitrate of
potass, by the action of sulphuric acid. Nitric acid is a colour-

ACIDS. 341

less, transparent fluid, extremely corrosive, and emitting, when
exposed to the air, white fumes. It acts powerfully on animal and
vegetable substances; when applied to the skin, it tinges the
cuticle yellow, and causes it soon to peel off; when poured on the
volatile oils, it immediately sets them on fire; when digested in
sugar, it converts it into oxalic acid: it is capable of oxidizing all
the metals, and combines with the earths, alkalies, and metallic
oxides, forming a peculiar class of salts, which have been called
nitrates. The nitric acid, as it occurs in commerce, is well
known under the name of aqua fortis; it is of a deep orange-
_ colour, and is generally contaminated with the sulphuric and muri-
atic acids. For the purposes of medicine, nitric acid is kept in a
diluted form (Acid Nitricum dilutum, Ph.) in order to admit of
its dose being easily regulated. In this state it may be given in
doses of from 10 to 40 drops, in a glass-ful of water, compound
infusion of roses, or in any of the bitter vegetable infusions,
especially those of cinchona or of gentian. Its effects are those of
a refrigerant; tonic, and antiseptic. It has been advantageously
administered in some dyspeptic affections, with a view of relieving
violent sickness and anorexia, in chronic hepatitis, in obstinate
cutaneous eruptions, in low typhoid fevers, and as an adjunct to
mercury in the cure of syphilis. Speaking of its use in the treat-
ment of the venereal disease, Mr. Brande justly observes, “although
in such cases it may be occasionally efficacious as a tonic, it is by
no means to be regarded as possessing any direct influence over
the disease corresponding with that of mercury. In some cases
of eruptions, and in ulcerations of the legs, an alterative course of
medicine, consisting of nitric acid and small doses of mercury, has
been found of service.” Externally, nitric acid is sometimes used
for destroying warts and other cutaneous excrescences; it has also
been strongly commended by some writers, as an escharotic, in
cases of hospital gangrene. Two or three drachms of the diluted
acid added to one pint or more of water, forms an excellent appli-
cation to certain ill-conditioned sores and ulcers.

Sp. 5. Boracic AcipD, or SassoLin.—This acid occurs in
scaly crusts. Its taste is harsh and sub-acid. Its colours are
white, or yellowish-white. It is found on the borders of hot

342 MURIATES,

springs, near Sasso, in the territory of Florence, and also in Vol-
cano, one of the Lipari islands.

Genus II].—CARBONATES.

Sp. 1. Natron.—Nitrum, Plin. Hist. Nat. xxi. p. 46.—The
native carbonate of soda, or natron, of which there are two spe-
cies, the common and the radiated, is found abundantly in various
parts of the world, particularly in Hungary, and in Egypt. It
occurs forming an efflorescence on the surface of the soil, or on
certain rocks; it is also found on the bottoms and sides of lakes
that become dry in summer. In Hungary, according to Ruckert
and Parmand, there are so many natron lakes, that 50,000 quintals
of soda could be obtained from them annually, Its colours are
yellowish and greyish-white. When compact, the structure is
granular or radiated, and the lustre vitreous; by exposure to the
weather it becomes dull, friable, and opaque. It is largely em-
ployed in the manufacture of glass and soap, and when separated
from impurities by lixiviation and crystalization, it is used in medi-
cine as an antacid,

Genus III.—MURIATES.

Sp. 1. Rocx-Satt.—Common Saut.—This substance is found
in a solid state, forming, in some places, immense beds, and in
others large mountains. Its most common colours are white and
grey ; it also occurs of various shades of red, yellow, brown, blue,
and green, It varies from transparent and translucent to opaque ,
the lustre is shining and vitreous ; it occurs massive, disseminated
in crusts, stalactitical, and crystalized in cubes and octahedrons.
The structure is indistinctly laminar, it is rather brittle, and easily
frangible. The specific gravity is 214, It yields easily to
the knife. When exposed to the air, it slowly deliquesces. The

SULPHATES. 343

rock-salt of Cheshire yielded in 1000 parts, muriate of soda 983,
sulphate of lime 6}, muriate of magnesia 03,, muriate of lime 07s,
insoluble matter 10. Henry.—The principal deposit of salt in this
island is that of Cheshire, near Northwich, where there are two
beds, of which the uppermost is forty-two yards below the surface
and twenty-six yards thick. Rock-salt also occurs at Droitwich,
in Worcestershire ; but all the salt manufactured there is said to
be procured from springs which rise to the surface. The most
celebrated salt mines in Europe are at Cardona in Spain, and in
Poland. Rock-salt is also found in vast quantity in various parts
of Asia, Africa, and America: The waters of the ocean contain
about two and a half per cent. of salt. The uses of this salt in
pharmaceutical chemistry are very various and-important. It
affords muriatic acid and soda by certain chemical processes. When
taken to the extent of half an ounce or more, it acts asa cathartic;
and, dissolved in gruel, it forms the active ingredient in the com-
mon domestic enema. Externally, strong brine is sometimes bene-
ficially applied to indolent glandular tumours, as a discutient.

Sp. 2. Muriate or Ammonia, or San AmMoniac. This salt
is a volcanic production, occuring in fissures, or on the surface of
voleanic rocks, and in the vicinity of beds of coal that have been
on fire. It is generally of a yellowish or greyish-white colour ; it
occurs massive, incrusting and crystalized. The greater part of this
salt used in medicine is prepared artificially. As an article of the

materia medica, it is chiefly limited to external application, as a
discutient.

Genus IV.—SULPHATES.

Sp. 1. Sutpuate or Sopa.—This salt occurs in the form of
eflorescent incrustations, on rocks and old walls, and dissolved in
the waters of lakes. It has long been known under the name of
Glauber’s Salt, and is prepared by various processes on a large
scale. It has a peculiarly bitter nauseous taste, and is less active
as a-purgative than the sulphate of magnesia. Its medium dose
is 3iss. dissolved in water.

344 BORATES.

Sp. 2. SutpHATE or Macnesta.—This salt well known by the
name of Epsom Salt, sometimes forms an efflorescence, and is
contained in various mineral waters, as in those of Epsom in Surry,
whence it has been extracted, but at present it is principally
obtained from the liquor remaining after sea-water has been boiled
down for common salt. It is used as a cathartic in a dose of from
Z. to Zi. dissolved in any proper vehicle.

The remarks made upon the other native sulphurets, as those of
iron, copper, and zinc, in a former part of this work, render any

further observations superfluous,

Genus V.—NITRATES.

Sp. 1. Nrrre, or Nirrate or Porasu.—This salt occurs form-
ing incrustations, and in groups of capillary crystals on the surface
of the soil and on rocks. It is found in great abundance in various
parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The nitre used for the manu-
facture of gunpowder in the United States of America, is said to be
obtained from an earth collected in the limestone caves of Kentucky.
It is brought to this country in an impure state from India.’ It is
purified by repeated solution and crystalization. As a medicine,
this neutral salt is sometimes prescribed as a diuretic, but more
commonly as a refrigerant and sedative in all inflammatory com-
plaints, excepting those of the uriuary organs, in active hemor-
rhagies, and in herpetic eruptions. It is given in the dose of from
5 to 20 grains, repeated every four or five hours. In very large
doses, as from 3ss. to 3i. for instance, it occasions violent nausea
and pain in the stomach, vomiting, spasms, and bloody-stools, and
sometimes proves fatal. In such cases, mucilaginous drinks, general
and local bleeding, and opiates, are the most effective remedies.

Genus VI.—BORATES.

Sp. 1. Borate or Sopa, or Borax.—Sode Boras, Ph. Sal
Sedativus, Homberg —This salt is chiefly brought from Thibet and

BORATES. 345

Persia, where it is found in large quantities, being dug from lakes
and springs, in which it is spontaneously deposited. It is in crusts
or amorphous masses, and sometimes crystalized. The colours are
white, greenish-white, and brownish-grey. The lustre internally
is shining and resinous, it is semi-transparent and refracts doubly.
It has a styptic alkaline taste, and is soluble in about 20 parts of
water at 60°. It is soft and easily frangible. Its constituent
parts are, Boracic acid 34, soda 14, 50, water 47. Bergman.—In
medical practice, Borax, though once highly extolled as an emme-
nagogue and diuretic, is not now given internally, It is principally
employed in the form of solution, in water, and combined with
honey and tincture of myrrh as a useful detergent application in
aphthous ulcerations of the mouth and tongue.

FINIS

SUS sw 2 ener)

Borah tet ct par

> aiseyin¥ ae
€&f: fi + 56 Bid oak &
“puxob ite Mtomyrodltin

nlbariad BG Rataere
Sibtis A eben ee Hos
erent J resin aman tec tey

ae volt —

» tiieybs ¥ ofidbainh
Poy «Bab idan Baa
~ BAe wot egdated

mata q

oe ite re s6: ett sels
taco > Wb ee
io SEERA scoecaaaiore

Sion TT wig: :) eigatolqil

» 2
PAR?
BB
it
Oot:
£3.
a,
Som
tos
= ~
&
4

ey
We)

to Ai

oe Pat Be the 2 be

ve CS... weiteqalt emoig

1, OID

eee

& Hhobegaed Soe

ue = sisi 23199 nositod Se
exigiout sgt =

INDEX.

Plate Page
Acanthophis Brownii - 16 89 | Elaps Micrurus
—~ Palpebrosus . —- 90 | Filaria Medinensis .
Acipenser Huso ; - 21 128 | Galeoides Araneoides
———. Ruthenus . — 133 | Gallus Sonnerati
Stellatus . - — 135 | Gecko Lobatus
———— Sturio. . — 134 | Hirudo Medicinalis .
Apis Indica . : » — 219 Provincialis
Mellifica ‘ . 28 213 Sanguisuga .
Unicolor > - — 219 Trochtina
Armadillo Vulgaris . . 24 150 | Hydrophis Chloris .
Ascaris Lumbricoides . 29 222 | —_-—— Curtus ‘
Bombus Terrestris . . 28 211 | ————— Cyanocinctus .
Bothriocephalus Latus . 29 224 | ————— Fasciatus
Bufo Vulgaris : . — 119 | ———— Melanurus
Cancer Pagurus : . — 149 | ——— Nigrocinctus
Cantharis Vesicatoria . 26 195 | ———— Obscurus
Vittata — 201 | — Shawii
Castor Fiber 4 21 | Lycosa Tarentula
Cenchris Mockeson 18 106 | Megalops Thrissa
Cervus Elaphus 2 11 | Meloe Proscarabceus
Chersydrus Granulatus 20 115 | Moschus Moschiferus
Coccus Cacti. 27 202 | Mylabris Chicorei
Cophias Atrox 17 101 | Naja ae
Cacodemon — 105 Vulgaris
Furia . — 101 | Oniscus Ocellus
Halys — 104 OrnithorynchusParadoxus
——— Lanceolatus — 94 | Ostrea Edulis . :
Lebetinus — 104 | Ovis Aries
Leucostigma — 102 | Oxyuris Vermicularis
Leucurus — 102 | Pelamis Bicolor
Mutus — 105 Schistosus
Neuwiedii . — 102 | Phthirus Inguinalis :
Russelii — 104 | Physeter Macrocephalus .
Teniatus — 103 Microps
Tesselatus — 103 Trumpo
Se i a — 103 | Platurus Fasciatus
Viridis — 100 | Potamobius Fluviatilis
Corallina Officinalis 30 234 | Pseudoboa Fasciata
Corallium Rubrum . — 235 —— Lineata

Crotalus Durissus 11 54 | Pulex Penetrans
Horridus — 64 | Rana Esculenta
——— Miliaris — 65 Temporaria
Diplolepis Galle Tinctorie 27 208 | Scincus Officinalis
Distoma Hepaticum 29 229 | Scolopendra Alternans
Echinococcus Hominis — 230 | ————— Gigas .
Elaps Lacteus — 93 | ————— Morsitans
—— Langsdorfii — 93 | Scorpio Afer
—— Lemniscatus 16.91 Americanus |

348

Scorpio Australis
Carpathicus
Europeus
Maurus
Occitanus
Scytale Bizonata
Sepia Officinalis .
Spongia Officinalis .
Sphyrena Barracuda
Strongylus Gigas
Sus Scrofa

Tenia Solium
Tetraodon Ocellatus

_—

INDEX.

Plate Page
158

178
179
153
78
136
232
124
228
31
225
#126

Tetraodon Sceleratus
Trichocephalus Dispar
Vespa Crabro

Vipera Atropos
——w— Berus *
Brachyura .
——— Cerastes -
—— Nasicornis .
Russelii
Viverra Civetta
Rasse .
Zibetta

ENGLISH NAMES.

Acanthophis, Brown’s
, Palpebral
Adder, Common

Armadillo, Common
Asp, or Aspic .
Barracuda Pike
Beaver, Common
Bee, Common Honey or
Hive . :
__—, Common Humble
Beetla, Common Oil
Blister Fly, Common
Bushmaster, The
Cachalot, Blunt-headed
,Great-headed, or
Spermaceti Whale
, Small-eyed
Centipede, Alternate
, Gigantic
, Venomous, or

Biting
Chegoe, The .
Civet Cat, African
, Javanese
Cochineal. Tnsect
Cophias, Fiend is
2s Fierce ; 5
, Fillet-like
Ge Green :
-, Neuwied’s .
, Russell’s
—-—, Siberian
———, Tesselated .
; Triangular-headed
, White-spotted
, White-tail’d
Cock, Jungle, or Indian
Pheasant ; j

| wWwwnrw
11} S888

lI} ts

MIPITLELEL LS 1o88

fo.)

ANIMALS.
89 | Coraline Officinal
90 | Coral, Red
66 | Crab, Common
76 | Crawfish
150 | Crablouse, The
87 | Cuttle, Officinal :
124 | Elaps, Langsdorf’s .
21 | ——,Milky . ‘
| ——; Ribandlike
211 | ——, Spix’s
213 Frog, Common g
202 , Esculent, or Green ,
195 Galeoides, Venomous
105 | Gall-Nut Insect
38 | Gecko, The House .
Hog, The Wild
34 | Hornet
39 | Hydatid
184 | Leech, Horse .
184 » Lisbon .
——, Medicinal
182 5 Trout :
193 |. Liver Fluke. -
7 | Mockeson, or. Hog- nosed
1] Snake F
204 | Mylabris, Banded
101 Musk, Thibetian
101 Oyster, Common
103 | Ornithorynchus, Common
104 | Pelamis, Black-backed
102 , Slate-coloured
104 Platurus, Fasciated, or
ib. | Lead-coloured
103 | Pseudoboa, Fasciated
ib.. | ——., Lineated .
102. Rattle-snake, Banded
ib. | , Lozenge-spot-
} ted ; é j
40 , Miliary

Scinck, Officinal
Scorpion, African
, American
, Barbary .

, Carpathian
, European
» Indian
» Yellow
Sheep, Domestic
Snake, Hooded, or Spee-

tacled . :
ee, Horn- nosed ;
——, Lebetian, or Somni-

ferous : P :
Sponge, Officinal
Sprat, Poisonous. ;
Stag, Hart, or Red Deer .
Strongyle, Large
Sturgeon, Common .
» Great
-, Little.
» Stellated .
Sunfish, Noxious
» Occellated .

INDEX,

ate Page

158
157
179
158
178
156
153

17

82
78

104
232
12]

11
228
134
128
133
135
127
126

51 |

Tarentula, Common .
Toad, Common

Viper, Black, or Demon
—, Deadly :

——, Horned, or Cerastes
—-, Russelian

» Yellow . ‘

W ater Snake, Black- banded
» Black-crowned
, Blue-banded

, Dusky.

» Fasciated

» Green . :
—, Shaw’s «©

» Short .
Woodlouse ' 7
Worm, Broad Tape .
» Common Tape
, Guinea .
——, Long Round .
—, Long Thread .
——, Maw, or Thread
Zibet, The ~

MINERALS AND MINERAL SUBSTANCES.

Acids .
Acid, Boracic .

, Carbonic
—, Muriatic

——, Nitric

——,, Sulphuric
Alum: slate j
Aluminous Schistus .
Amalgam, Native
Amber . Z
——, Black . é
Ammonia, Muriate of
Ammoniac, Sal é
Antimonial Powder .

Antimony " :
, Chloride of
; Glatiee :
, Grey Sulphuret
of

, Native

, Oxide of . :

——. ’ Precipitated Sul-
phuret of . .

, Sulphuretted

Oxide of
, Tartarized ‘
, Vitrified Oxide

. Native

, Sulphuret of ;
, White Oxide of .
Arsenical Cobalt

oe Mi Te LSrPrett

338
341

Arsenical Pyrites - .
Barytes

, Carbonate of
» Muriate of .

, Sulphate of

Plate

ee terre ei ihe

45

Bismuth. . ; —_
. Glanea =

, Native sHid3

, Ochre ——

—-—, » Sulphuret of 33
Blende’ 38
Boracic Acid —
Borate of Soda —
Borax : : o—
Calamine z i—
, Electric nen
Calcareous Spar 45
Calomel . 3 ams
Carbonates —
—- of Soda _
Cinnabar 44
Copper a
, Arseniate 36

’ Carbonate, Blue,of 36

, Green, of. 36

< Glance 34

, Native 34

, Phosphate of 36
———, Purple 35
, Pyrites 35

, Red, or Ruby 35

, Subacetate of =,
——, Sulphate of

350

Copper,Sulphuret, Black, of
————_—___—__——, Grey, of
, Yellow,
, Vitreous a
Corrosive Sublimate .
Galena
Gold :
——, Argentiferous .
——., Chloride of
, Hexaedral, or Native
Heavy Spar s
Horn Quicksilver
Tron

; Ammoniated :
——, Arseniate :
——, Black Oxide of
—., Red Oxide of.
——, Chromate of .
——, Filings of
—, Glance
——, Magnetic
——, Muriate of
, Native
——, Peroxide of

, Protoxide
——, Pyrites
——, Specular

, Subcarbonate of
7 ; Sulphate of
,Sulphuret of .
, Rust of .
, Tartarized
Iron Ore, Blue .

, Brown
————, Red
Iron stone, Clay
——_——, Sparr
Lead ; Z 3 P
, Acetate of
——, Arseniate of .
——, Carbonate of .
——, Chromate of .
-——, Phosphate of .
——, Red, Native Oxide of
—_———., Oxide of. :
ey Semi-Vitrified One
o

—, Sub- carbonate of
, Solution

of 7 P
——, Sulphate of
, Sulphuret of .
Lead Spar, White
Lead Ore, Green
Limestone
Litharge . ‘
Magnesia, Native .
sO of

Malachite

Plate

legume kee cme

|

ab bh
oo°oc°o

39

36

INDEX.

Page
259 | Manganese
269 , Grey Oxide of .
260 | Mercury . ;
259 , Acetate Of?
234 , Bi-Chloride of
285 , Black, Oxide of .
238 ; ———, Muriate of .
240 | , Native 2
242 | , Proto-Chloride
240 , Sulphuret of ;
335 , Yellow, Sub-Sul-
213 phate of : :
295 | Mineral Resin, Black
303 | ————— » Yellow
298 | Minium, Native
301 | Muriates .

ib. | Naphtha.
298 | Natron
300 | Nitrates .
296 | Nitre : ;
ib. | Olivenite, Prismatic .
303 | Orpiment, Red
295 » Yellow
301 | Petroleum

ib. | Platina
295 . Native

ib. | Rock-Salt
301 Silver ‘
302 , Antimonial
295 | ——, Bismuthic
301 ——, Glance .
302 —, Horn
298 | ——, Native
297 | ——, Nitrate of

ib. | ——, Red, or Ruby

ib. , Sulphuretted .
298 | —— Ore, Arsenical .
285 , Grey
293 | ————, White

287 | Soda, Muriate of

286 , Sulphate of

287 Sulphates

ib. | Sulphur .

286 , Native

292 | ———, Ruby.

——, Volcanic
ib. | Tin
ib. | — Pyrites
—, Wood :

294 | Tin-stone, or Oxide of
288 | Tutty

285 | Zinc x S

286 , Acetate of

287 » Carbonate of .
332 | ——, Red Ore of

292 , Oxide of

334 | ———————,, Impure
344 | ——, Sulphate of

262 | ——, Sulphuret of .

sik [oe PEERS a Seabee ey A ie Teg. orene ae a 9 Sah Ce
Diggens and Jones, Printers, Leicester-street, Leicester-square.

LIS11BsSrl ili sels

SLEPT

32

Sal Sty St Ree 1d