The Student's Guide to Materia Medic

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. CARBON.?SULPHUB.?BOBON.?PHOSPHORUS. Carbon.. C = 12. The element Carbon exists in its purest form in the diamond, a body which, when burnt in oxygen gas, becomes entirely converted into carbonic acid gas. Three varieties of carbon are found in the B. P.: 1. Carbo Ligni, or Wood Charcoal; 2....
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. CARBON.?SULPHUB.?BOBON.?PHOSPHORUS. Carbon.. C = 12. The element Carbon exists in its purest form in the diamond, a body which, when burnt in oxygen gas, becomes entirely converted into carbonic acid gas. Three varieties of carbon are found in the B. P.: 1. Carbo Ligni, or Wood Charcoal; 2. Carbo Ani- malis, or bone black; and 3. C. Animalis Puriflca- tus, this last being bone-black, from which the earthy salts have been removed by hydrochloric acid. Carbo Ligni, or Wood Charcoal, is best made from beech or hazel, by burning these woods with imperfect access of air. Good wood charcoal, when entirely consumed, should not leave more than 2 per cent, of ash. Powdered wood charcoal is used as an absorbent and antiseptic; it will absorb various gases in varying proportions. Thus, one volume of boxwood carbon absorbs 175 volumes only of hydrogen gas, but 90 volumes of gaseous ammonia. The gases so absorbed are condensed within the pores of the charcoal. Charcoal will also absorb colouring matter from various solutions, such as infusion of litmus, logwood, or brown sugar. Cataplasma Carbonis.?Carbo ligni is used in preparing the charcoal poultice, or cataplasma car- bonis of the B. P., and this poultice is applied to offensive sloughing sores as a deodorizer and disinfectant. Internally, wood charcoal is given with great advantage to correct flatulence in the stomach and bowels, and to absorb acrid matters. Given thus, thecharcoal seems to have a tonifying action on the mucous membrane, for troublesome bleeding piles can be cured by the administration of one teaspoonful of vegetable charcoal in water every evening. Charcoal, as a remedy for fetid gaseous collections in stomach and bowels, was first introduced by Mr. James Bird. Mr. Bragg, of Wi...