A CYCLOPÆDIA OF PRACTICAL RECEIPTS, PROCESSES, AND COLLATERAL INFORMATION (continued 47)

IMPE′RIAL. Syn. Potus imperialis, Ptisana i., L. Prep. 1. Cream of tartar, ¹⁄₄ oz.; 1 lemon, sliced; lump sugar, 2 oz.; boiling water, 1 quart; infuse, with occasional stirring until cold, then pour off the clear portion for use.

2. A lemon, sliced; sugar, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1 pint.

3. Yellow rind and juice of lemon; citric acid, 1 dr.; sugar, 2¹⁄₂ oz.; hot water (which has been boiled), 1 quart; as No. 1. Refrigerant and slightly diuretic. Used as a common drink in fevers, dropsy, &c., and as a summer beverage.

IM′PLEMENTS (Agricultural). “Almost all the operations of agriculture may be performed by the plough, the harrow, the scythe, and the flail; and these are the sole implements in the primitive agriculture of all countries. With the progress of improvement, many other implements (and machines) have been introduced, the more remarkable of which are the Drill plough, the HORSE HOE, the WINNOWING MACHINE, the THRESHING MACHINE, the HAY-MAKING MACHINE, and the REAPING MACHINE. The object of all these implements and machines is to abridge human labour, and to perform the different operations to which they are applied with a greater degree of rapidity, and in a more perfect manner than before.” (Loudon.) On the perfection of agricultural implements and machines depends much of the improvement of which this art is susceptible. See Agriculture, &c.

IMPROV′ING. The trade name for ‘doctoring,’ ‘adulterating,’ or ‘lowering,’ the quality of any substance, with the view of cheapening it or increasing its bulk. See Wine, &c.

IN′CENSE. Prep. 1. Olibanum, 2 or 3 parts; gum benzoin, 1 part.

2. Olibanum, 7 parts; gum benzoin, 2 parts; cascarilla, 1 part. Placed on a hot plate or burned, it exhales an agreeable perfume. Used in some of the rituals of the Roman Catholic church.

3. Benzoin and storax, of each 4 oz.; labdanum and myrrh, of each 6 oz.; cascarilla 3 oz.; oil cinnamon, 8 minims; oils bergamot and lavender, of each 20 minims; oil cloves, 10 minims; mix, and pass through a coarse sieve.

INCINERA′TION. The reduction of organic substances to ashes by combustion. See Calcination.

INCOMBUSTIBIL′ITY. The property of being incapable of being kindled, or of being consumed by fire. Substances possessing this property are said to be ‘incombustible’ or ‘fire-proof.’

INCOMBUST′IBLE FAB′RICS. Syn. Non-inflammable fabrics. The fashion of wearing light gauzy dresses extended by hoops or crinoline has made death from fire a common casualty. With a view of diminishing the danger to which women expose themselves, chemists have lately devoted considerable attention to the problem of rendering muslin and other light fabrics non-inflammable. This object may be attained by steeping the fabric in almost any saline solution. Thus, cotton or linen stuffs prepared with a solution of borax, phosphate of soda, phosphate of ammonia, alum, or sal ammoniac, may be placed in contact with ignited bodies without their suffering active combustion or bursting into flame. The salts act by forming a crust of incombustible matter on the surface of the fibres. They do not, however, prevent carbonisation taking place, when the temperature is sufficiently high. It is by a knowledge of this property of culinary salt that jugglers are enabled to perform the common trick of burning a thread of cotton while supporting a ring or a small key, without the latter falling to the ground. The cotton is reduced to a cinder, but from the action of the salt its fibres still retain sufficient tenacity to support a light weight.

The addition of about 1 oz. of alum or sal ammoniac to the last water used to rinse a lady’s dress, or a set of bed furniture, or a less quantity added to the starch used to stiffen them, renders them uninflammable, or at least so little combustible that they will not readily take fire; and if kindled, are slowly consumed without flame. None of the above-named salts are adapted for fine soft muslins, which mostly require chemical treatment, because they injure the texture, rendering the fabric harsh and destroying all its beauty. The salt which is found to answer most completely all the required conditions is TUNGSTATE OF SODA. “Muslin steeped in a solution containing 20% of this salt is perfectly non-inflammable when dry, and the saline film left on the surface is smooth and of a fatty appearance like talc, and therefore does not interfere with the process of ironing, but allows the hot iron to pass smoothly over the surface. The non-fulfilment of this latter condition completely prevents the use of many other salts—such as sulphate or phosphate of ammonia, which are otherwise efficacious in destroying inflammability—for all fabrics which have to be washed and ironed.” (Watts.)

The addition of a little phosphoric acid or phosphate of soda to the tungstate is recommended, for without this addition a portion of the tungstate is apt to undergo a chemical change and become comparatively insoluble. Messrs Versmann and Oppenheim, the introducers of tungstate of soda, give the following formula for a solution of minimum strength:—

Dilute a concentrated solution of neutral tungstate of soda with water to 28° Twaddell (sp. gr. 1·14), and then add 3% of phosphate of soda. This solution is found to keep and to answer its purpose very well; it is now constantly used in the Royal Laundry.

Paper, WOOD, &c., may be also rendered comparatively incombustible by soaking them in saline solutions. See Asbestos, Fire, &c.

INCOMPAT′IBLES. In medicine and pharmacy, substances which exert a chemical action on each other, and cannot, therefore, with propriety, be prescribed together in the same formula or prescription. The principles on which we should act to avoid prescribing or dispensing incompatibles, are briefly developed under the heads Affinity and Decomposition. To this we may add that, if a substance is endowed with well-marked therapeutical or poisonous properties, independent of those which may exert a chemical effect upon the tissues, its mode of action will neither be changed nor destroyed by the combinations which it forms, provided always that the new compounds are not insoluble in water.

“It is not necessary to give two incompatible medicines at the same time, in order to produce decomposition; it is sufficient if they are given within a very short interval of each other. Thus, a sick person, who has been treated with lead externally, or even internally, will present a discoloration of the skin, if he takes a sulphur bath four or five days after the lead treatment has been discontinued. If a person is rubbed with iodide of potassium shortly after having applied Vigo’s plaster (plaster of ammoniacum with mercury), or the Neapolitan ointment (mercurial ointment), iodide of mercury and caustic potash will be formed, which will cause vesication. So also vomiting occurs if lemonade made with tartaric acid is taken five or 6 days after the administration of white oxide of antimony.” (Trousseau and Reveil.)

Lists of incompatibles are published in many pharmaceutical and medical works, but are, in reality, of little use beyond illustrating rules and principles which are familiar to every chemist, and which every prescriber should also be intimately acquainted with.

INCRUSTATION, Prevention of, in Steam Boilers. With all qualities of water commonly used for feeding steam boilers there is a tendency to the production of hard calcareous deposits or layers of incrustation within the boilers, due to the separation of lime salts (particularly the carbonate and sulphate, or mixtures of these with a certain amount of carbonate of magnesia) as the direct consequence of the accumulation of these impurities from large quantities of water evaporated. The sparing solubility of the sulphate of lime (gypsum) in hot water fully accounts for its deposition in the boiler, and the carbonate of lime (chalk) is thrown down, not only as the result of direct evaporation, but by the ebullition expelling free carbonic acid, which holds this body to some extent in solution. Rain water, which of itself is too pure to give rise to these incrustations, cannot be used alone for boiler purposes, for it has been found to exert a highly corrosive action upon the iron plates and fittings. It can, however, be advantageously employed in conjunction with ‘hard’ spring or river waters, and has the effect of diminishing the incrustation merely as the result of dilution. The drain pipes leading from the roof of the factory may be placed in connection with the tank or well from which the supply of water is drawn for the boilers. It will be seen hereafter that the self-same remedy is efficient both as a means of preventing incrustation and obviating corrosion, and that by using one of the alkaline substances about to be specified this twofold advantage may be secured. Iron will not rust when immersed in water containing a mere trace of caustic alkali, and it is a common observation that the iron vessels used in the preparation of potash and soda remain for any length of time free from all appearance of rust. This singular property is, no doubt, susceptible of important applications, amongst them may be mentioned the better protection of iron ships from the attack of bilge water, of hydraulic rams, moulding boxes, smith’s tools, and other objects liable to be placed at times under the influence of water. Some forms of surface condensers become quickly corroded in consequence of the purity of the water accumulating in them by the process of distillation, and a small dose of caustic alkali is then useful as a means of protection; the engine-cylinders also to some extent are preserved when alkaline anti-incrustation fluids are introduced into the boilers, for the minute quantity which is carried forward mechanically in the form of spray mixed with the steam, suffices to preserve the iron. Whilst a tendency to ‘priming’ undoubtedly results from a too liberal use of soda or other alkali in the boiler, it will in practice be found easy to adjust the proportion of this ingredient, so as to secure immunity from corrosion and incrustation, and at the same time, avoid the tumultuous kind of ebullition known as ‘priming.’ In all cases it is advisable to carry out a rigid system of inspection, and it is only in the way of saving fuel and labour that the application of boiler fluids is to be recommended.

Much benefit has often resulted from a coating of coal-tar or ‘dead oil’ applied to the interior surfaces below the water line, when the boiler is opened for cleaning and inspection. These will tend very considerably to lessen the adhesion of calcareous crusts, and are not in any way affected by the boiler fluids in common use. Soda crystals and caustic soda may be used with great success in boilers to effect the immediate precipitation of the lime salts, and they act by throwing down a finely divided form of carbonate of lime, which in time furnishes nuclei for the deposition of subsequent accretions both of the carbonate and sulphate, so that they are prevented from crystallising upon the walls of the boiler. A granular mud is thus formed, which subsides quickly and may be for the most part got rid of through the ‘blow-off cock,’ which should be opened for this purpose two or three times every day, and run out with as little water as possible.

The use of caustic soda has undergone a thorough trial at the hands of Mr J. Spiller, F.C.S., in the boilers of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and we are favoured with the following general instructions regarding its use, which are based upon an experience of upwards of ten years. The caustic soda should be dissolved in water so as to make a concentrated solution of specific gravity 1·300. This, being perfectly miscible with water, may be introduced into the boiler with the feed-water at any time when, from the pressure of steam, it may not be convenient to pour it through the safety valve or other openings in the boiler. But when the steam is down there is no difficulty in introducing the prescribed dose by using a tin funnel with flattened aperture to pass it through the safety valve; or a tubular arrangement with double cocks will answer at all times. Half a gallon per diem is the average quantity found sufficient for a 20-horse stationary boiler, working with Thames water for ten hours daily. If the water should happen to be unusually hard a larger dose may be employed, but it would not be expedient to add in one charge more than the amount required for the day’s consumption. Locomotive and multitubular boilers have been worked successfully with caustic soda, and it is here that the importance of using anti-incrustation fluids makes itself most apparent.

Many other methods have at various times been proposed to prevent the formation of deposits in steam boilers. Dr Ritterband’s method consists in simply throwing a little sal ammoniac into the boiler, by which carbonate of ammonia is formed, which passes off with the steam, and chloride of calcium, which remains in solution. In Holland this plan has been used with satisfaction for locomotive boilers. About 2 oz. of the salt may be placed in the boiler twice a week. The chloride of tin is equal to sal ammoniac, and is similar in its action. Carbonate of soda has been recommended by Kuhlmann and Fresenius of Germany, and by Crace Calvert of England. It is now employed generally in the boilers of engines in Manchester. The common plan adopted by working engineers to prevent incrustations from either variety of water is, on each occasion of cleaning out the boiler, to introduce some substance which, by its mechanical action, shall prevent the precipitated earthy matter caking together, or adhering to the boiler plates. Some common tar, bitumen, or pitch, appears to answer well under most circumstances. Mr Ira Hill recommends the use of 3 or 4 shovelfuls of course sawdust. He states that, after adopting the use of this article, he never had any difficulty from lime, although using water strongly impregnated with it, and has always found the inside of his boilers as smooth as if just oiled. Mr De Haen recommends the sulphate and bicarbonate of calcium to be decomposed by adding barium chloride and milk of lime in the proper proportion; when the water is at a temperature of 35°-45° C. the whole becomes clear in about ten minutes, a precipitate consisting of a mixture of barium sulphate and calcium carbonate deposits; if the water be cold, the greater part separates in ten minutes, but a little turbidity is noticeable for some hours due to suspended matter.

Protzen recommends the introduction of a piece of zinc into the boiler, this determines a galvanic current, which protects the iron against oxidation and corrosion, and causes the mineral ingredients of the water to be deposited as a fine loose mud, entirely preventing the formation of incrustation.

Slippery elm bark, and spent bark from the tan works have also been suggested. We (A. J. Cooley) have worked a powerful boiler daily for months without opening the ‘man-hole,’ after throwing a few pounds of potatoes into it. In all cases, when the earthy matter can be kept in a state of solution, or precipitated in a pulverulent form, it is easily removed from the boiler by what engineers term ‘priming,’ which is allowing the hot water to be blown over with the steam, so that, after a sufficient time, the whole original contents of the boiler are removed, and replaced by fresh water. Before doing so, however, it is of consequence to cut off the communication with the cylinders, and to open the waste-steam cock. Consult a pamphlet on ‘Boiler Incrustation and Corrosion’ by F. J. Rowan, published by Spon, London.

INCUBA′TION (Artificial). The hatching of eggs by artificial heat. This has been practised by the Egyptians from a very remote period. M. Bonnemain has the honour of having introduced this art to Western Europe, in 1775, and having been the first to pursue it successfully on the commercial scale. The source of heat employed by him was a circulatory hot-water apparatus, and the temperature maintained by it 100° Fahr. His plan was to introduce, daily, 1-20th only of the eggs the apparatus was capable of receiving, so that on the 21st day the first chickens were hatched, and a like number every day afterwards as long as the supply of eggs was kept up. Among the trays containing the eggs he placed saucers of water, to compensate for the absence of moisture derived in natural incubation by transpiration from the body of the hen. The chickens, as soon as hatched, were transferred to a ‘nursery’ or ‘chick-room,’ also artificially heated, and were fed with crushed millet seed. Several attempts have been made of late years to introduce artificial incubation into this country, with variable success.

IN′CUBUS. See Nightmare.

IN′DIA RUB′BER. See Caoutchouc.

INDIGES′TION. See Dyspepsia.

IN′DIGO. Syn. Indicum, Pigmentum Indicum, L. A blue dyestuff extracted from several plants growing in India and America, especially from the leguminous species Indigofera tinctoria and I. cœrulea. It exists in the plant as a colourless juice. The method of manufacture consists in steeping the plant in water until fermentation sets in; the colouring matter dissolves in the water, forming a yellow solution, which is drawn off from the rest of the vegetable matter, and agitated and beaten to bring it freely into contact with the air for about 2 hours; this treatment causes the indigo to form and settle down as a blue precipitate; this is cut, while soft, into cubical cakes, and dried by artificial heat. To hasten the formation of the indigo, a little lime water is sometimes added to the yellow solution. The indigo of commerce contains INDIGO-BLUE or INDIGOTIN, its most important constituent, INDIGO-RED, and many other substances, some of which must be regarded as accidental impurities or adulterations.

Prop. Tasteless; scentless; of an intense blue colour, passing into purple; when rubbed with a smooth hard body, it assumes a coppery hue; insoluble in water, cold alcohol, ether, alkalies, hydrochloric acid, dilute sulphuric acid, and the cold fixed and volatile oils; slightly soluble in boiling alcohol and oils; freely soluble in concentrated sulphuric acid, and, when decoloured or reduced by contact with deoxidising substances, in alkaline lyes; soluble in creasote; its colour is destroyed by chromic acid, nitric acid and chlorine; when suddenly heated, it gives off rich purple fumes, which condense into brilliant copper-coloured needles.

Pur. The best indigo is that which has the deepest purple colour, that assumes the brightest coppery hue when rubbed with the nail; its fracture is homogeneous, compact, fine-grained, and coppery; its powder is of an intensely deep blue tint, and light enough to swim on water; and it leaves only a fine streak when rubbed upon a piece of white paper. In general, when indigo is in hard, dry lumps of a dark colour, it is considered of bad or inferior quality. Indigo, when in hard or brittle lumps, or in dust or small bits, is often adulterated with sand, pulverised slate, and other earthy substances.

Estimation. Various methods for estimating the value of samples of indigo have been proposed, but none of them can be depended upon to give perfectly accurate results. The plan recommended by O′Neill[353] is perhaps the best; it is performed as follows:—

Weigh 25 gr. of a fair sample of the indigo finely ground; and to soften or disintegrate it still further, boil it for a short time with weak caustic soda, and then, if there be any soft lumps or clots, strain through calico; mix this with 3 quarts of water in a narrow-necked bottle which it will nearly fill, and add 400 gr. of quicklime, which has been slaked as perfectly as possible; shake well up and add a 1000 gr. measure of solution of green copperas (protosulphate of iron) at 30° Twaddell; cork the bottle closely, and leave it for three days, frequently shaking it in the interval. The indigo will be dissolved by this time; 1 quart of the clear solution is drawn off, shaken up in a bottle to oxidise it, acidified with acetic acid, and the pure indigo (INDIGOTIN) collected upon a filter, dried, and weighed. Four times the weight of the pure indigo is the per-centage of indigo in the sample.

Uses. As a dye stuff indigo is of great importance, both from the beauty and permanence of the colour it yields, and from the ease with which it is applied to fabrics of all materials. As a medicine it has been employed in various affections of a spasmodic character, as chorea, convulsions, epilepsy, hysteria, &c. In large quantities it often induces giddiness, vomiting, and diarrhœa; and when continued for sometime, muscular twitchings, resembling those arising from strychnine.—Dose. Beginning at about 15 gr., and gradually increased to 1, 2, or even 3 dr., at which it should be continued for 3 or 4 months; made into an electuary with honey or sugar, to which some aromatic may be added. See Indigo Dye, Indigotin, &c.

Indigo, Sul′phate of. Syn. Sulphindylic acid, Sulphindigotic a., Saxony blue, Soluble indigo.

Prep. By gradually adding indigo (in fine powder), 1 part, to fuming sulphuric acid (Nordhausen sulphuric acid), 5 parts, or oil of vitriol, 8 parts contained in a stone-ware vessel placed in a tub of very cold water, to prevent the mixture heating; the ingredients are stirred together with a glass rod at short intervals until the solution is complete, after which the whole is allowed to repose for about 48 hours, by which time it becomes a homogeneous pasty mass of an intense blue colour, which in a dull light appears nearly black.

Obs. In this state it forms ‘Barth’s blue,’ or the ‘CHEMIC BLUE’ or ‘INDIGO COMPOSITION’ of the dyer. Diluted with about twice its weight of soft water, it is converted into the ‘Saxony blue’ or ‘LIQUID BLUE’ of the shops, also used for dyeing. When commercial sulphate of indigo is diffused through a large quantity of water, nearly boiling, and wool (old white flannel rags, &c.) is macerated in it for some time, the latter absorbs the whole of the sulphate and is dyed blue, whilst the liquor assumes a greenish-blue colour. Wool, so prepared, when well rinsed in cold water, and boiled for some minutes in a large quantity of that liquid containing 1% or 2% of carbonate of potassa, or a quantity equal to about 1-3rd that of the indigo originally employed, gives up its blue colour, and becomes of a dull brown. The liquid is now a rich blue-coloured solution of sulphindylate of potassa, from which the salt may be obtained by cautious evaporation. This compound is prepared on the large scale, by diluting sulphate of indigo with about 12 times its weight of soft water, and imperfectly saturating the solution with carbonate of potassa; the sulphindylate falls down as a dark-blue coppery-looking powder, soluble in 140 parts of cold water and in about 90 parts of boiling water. This substance is kept both in the moist and dry state, and is known in commerce under the respective names of ‘DISTILLED INDIGO,’ ‘PRECIPITATED INDIGO,’ ‘SOLUBLE INDIGO,’ ‘INDIGO PASTE,’ ‘BLUE CARMINE,’ ‘DISTILLED BLUE,’ ‘SOLUBLE BLUE,’ &c. It is extensively used in dyeing; and when mixed with starch, whilst in the moist state, and made into cakes or knobs, it constitutes the finest variety of the ‘BLUE’ used by laundresses for tinging linen. The ammonia and soda salts may be prepared in the same way as the potassa salt, by substituting the carbonates of those bases for carbonate of potassa. The ammonia salt is very soluble.

INDIGO BLUE. See Indigotin.

INDIGO DYE. There are two methods of preparing solutions of indigo for dyeing.—1. By deoxidising it, and then dissolving it in alkaline menstrua.—2. By dissolving it in sulphuric acid. The former method is used in preparing the ordinary INDIGO VAT of the dyers.

1. a. (Cold vat.) Take of indigo, in fine powder, 1 lb.; green copperas (clean cryst.), 2¹⁄₂ to 3 lbs.; newly slaked lime, 3¹⁄₂ to 4 lbs.; triturate the powdered indigo with a little water or an alkaline lye, then mix it with some hot water, add the lime, and again well mix, after which stir in the solution of copperas, and agitate the whole thoroughly at intervals for 24 hours. A little caustic potassa or soda is frequently added, and a corresponding portion of lime omitted. For use, a portion of this ‘preparation vat’ is ladled into the ‘dyeing vat,’ as wanted. After being employed for some time, the vat must be refreshed with a little more copperas and fresh-slaked lime, when the sediment must be well stirred up, and the whole thoroughly mixed together. This is the common vat for cotton.

b. (Potash vat.) Take indigo, in fine powder, 12 lbs.; madder, 8 lbs.; bran, 9 lbs.; ‘potash,’ 24 lbs.; water at 125° Fahr., 120 cubic feet; mix well; at the end of about 36 hours add 14 lbs. more potash, and after 10 or 12 hours longer further add 10 lbs. of potash, and rouse the whole up well; as soon as the fermentation and reduction of the indigo are well developed, which generally takes place in about 72 hours, add a little fresh-slaked lime. This vat dyes very quickly, and the goods lose less of their colour in alkaline and soapy solutions than when dyed in the common vat. It is well adapted for woollen goods.

c. (Wood vat.) As the last, but employing wood instead of madder; the vat is ‘set’ at 160° Fahr., and kept at that temperature until the deoxidation and solution of the indigo has commenced. The last two are also called the ‘warm vat.’

d. (Pastel vat.) This is ‘set’ with a variety of wood which grows in France, and which is richer in colouring matter than the plant commonly known as ‘wood.’

e. (Schützenberger and De Lalande’s vat.) It is known that the low stage of oxidation of sulphur obtained on the reduction of sulphurous acid with zinc, dissolves indigo. On this reaction the following proceedings for dyeing and printing with indigo are founded:—To prepare the reducing liquid, a solution of bisulphite of soda at 35° B. is brought in contact with sheet zinc in a closed vessel, of which the liquid should occupy only one fourth. After the lapse of an hour the zinc is precipitated from the clear liquid by means of milk of lime. It is then diluted or decanted, or filtered with exclusion of air.

The clear liquid is then poured upon the ground indigo, with the addition of the needful soda and lime. One kilo of indigo yields in this manner a very concentrated vat of from 10 to 15 litres. Cotton is dyed cold, and wool with the aid of heat. A vat is filled with water, and a suitable quantity of the above indigo mixture introduced, when the dyeing can be performed at once. The excess of the low sulphur acid dissolves the froth which appears on the surface. During the process of dyeing, further quantities of indigo can be added as required. Cotton can be rapidly and easily dyed in this manner; and in the case of wool, the dyer escapes the many disadvantages of the hot vat and obtains brighter and clearer shades. To print a fast blue the alkaline solution of the reduced indigo is printed on with an excess of the reducing agent, aged for twelve to twenty-four hours, washed and soaped. In comparison with the old process there is a saving of indigo to the extent of 50 to 60 per cent.; the shades are richer and the impressions sharper. The colour requires no subsequent treatment, and can therefore be printed on simultaneously with most other colours.

Obs. Wool, silk, linen, and cotton, may each be dyed blue in the indigo vat. The goods, after being passed through a weak alkaline solution, are subjected to the action of the vat for about fifteen minutes; they are then freely exposed to the air; the immersion in the vat and the exposure are repeated until the colour becomes sufficiently deep. Wood and madder improve the richness of the dye. Other deoxidising substances, besides those above mentioned, may be used to effect the solution of the indigo; thus a mixture of caustic soda, grape sugar, indigo, and water, is often employed on the Continent for this purpose; and orpiment lime, and pearlash are also occasionally used. When properly prepared, the indigo vat may be kept in action for several months by the addition of one or other of its constituents, as required. An excess of either copperas or lime should be avoided.

2. Solution of sulphate of indigo is added to water, as required, and the goods, previously boiled with alum, are then immersed in it, and the boiling and immersion are repeated until the wool becomes sufficiently dyed.

Obs. With this every shade of blue may be dyed, but it is most commonly employed to give a ground to logwood blues. The colouring matter has affinity for woollen and silk with or without ‘mordant,’ but none for cotton. A solution of soluble indigo (sulphindylate of potassa or soda), in water very slightly acid with sulphuric acid, imparts a very fine blue to cloth, superior in tint to that given by the simple sulphate. See Dyeing, &c.

INDIGO PUR′PLE. Syn. Phœnicine. The name given by Mr Crum to the purple precipitate obtained by filtration from a solution of indigo in fuming sulphuric acid, when largely diluted with water.

INDIGO RED. Syn. Indigo resin, Red resin of indigo. This is prepared by boiling alcohol (sp. gr. ·830), on powdered indigo previously exhausted by digestion in dilute acids and in a strong alkaline solution. When heated, it is converted into a white sublimate (deoxidised indigo red), but recovers its red colour by the action of nitric acid.

INDIGO WHITE. Syn. Indigogene, Indicyle, Reduced indigo, Hydrogenised i., Hydrate of i. Reduced or deoxidised indigo blue.

Prep. The yellow alkaline solution obtained by one or other of the processes noticed under Indigotin is carefully protected from the air, both before and after precipitation with hydrochloric acid; and the precipitate, after being rapidly washed with recently boiled distilled water, or with very dilute sulphurous acid, is drained on a filter, dried in vacuo, and then at once transferred to a well-stoppered bottle.

Prop., &c. A greyish-white mass of minute crystals, generally light blue on the surface, and rapidly turning blue on exposure to the air; soluble in alkalies, alcohol, and ether, to which it imparts a yellow colour. These solutions deposit indigo blue on exposure to the air. A solution of this substance constitutes the indigo vat of the dyer (see above).

INDIGO′TIN. Syn. Cerulin, Indigo blue. This is the pure blue principle of indigo. It appears to be the oxide of the same organic radical of which indigo white is probably the hydrate.

Prep. 1. Indigo (in fine powder) is digested successively in dilute hydrochloric acid, solution of potassa, and alcohol; the dried residuum is crude indigotin.

2. Indigo (in fine powder), 1 part; green sulphate of iron, 2 parts; hydrate of lime, 3 parts; water, 15 parts; mix, agitate occasionally until the colour is destroyed, then decant the clear portion, precipitate with dilute hydrochloric acid, and wash the powder first with water, and then with boiling alcohol, until the latter ceases to acquire a yellow colour.

3. Caustic soda and grape sugar, of each 1 part; water, 20 parts; powdered indigo, 5 parts; mix, and proceed as last. The above are essentially the same as the indigo vat, but on the small scale.

4. The process for estimating the value of indigo given under Indigo is a good process for obtaining Indigotin.

Obs. The product from all the above exceeds 50% of the indigo operated on.

5. (Taylor.) Powdered indigo, 2 parts; plaster of Paris, 1 part; water, q. s. to reduce the mixture to a thin paste; spread the mass evenly upon an oblong iron plate to the depth of about ¹⁄₈ inch, and dry it by a gentle heat. It must then be held over the flame of a spirit lamp, when a disgusting odour will be evolved, the mass will begin to smoke, and in a few minutes will be covered with a heavy purple vapour, which will condense into brilliant flattened prisms or plates of an intense copper colour, forming a thick velvety coating over the surface immediately exposed to the heat. Should the mass catch fire, it may be instantly extinguished by a drop of water let fall upon it. Prod. 15 to 18%. See Indigo, &c.

INDIUM. In. = 113·4. This very rare metal was discovered by means of the spectroscope by Messrs Reich and Richter in a specimen of zinc-blende from Freiberg, in 1863. Since then it has been found in the flue dust of some zinc furnaces worked in the Hartz mountains, also in a black blende, known as christophite, occurring in Saxony; in the Wolfranc of Zinnwald, associated with zinc, as well as in Wolfranc alone; and also in the blende met within steatite, near Schlaggenwald. In all of these substances the indium is present in very minute quantity,[354] and is more or less associated with lead, arsenic, cadmium, iron, and copper; its separation from which is matter of no inconsiderable labour and difficulty.

The following process for the detection of indium in zinc-blende, and its extraction from the same source, is given by Winkler. Precipitate the hydrochloric acid solution of the roasted ore with metallic zinc at the boiling heat; dissolve the precipitate in nitro-hydrochloric acid; remove the arsenic, cadmium, &c., by sulphuretted hydrogen, and precipitate the indium as oxide by barium carbonate. Should this precipitate contain any iron, it must be removed by resolution, heating with sodium sulphate, and digestion with barium carbonate in a closed vessel. The indium may also be precipitated from the original solution, either directly by barium carbonate, or from a solution containing sulphuric acid, by neutralisation with sodium carbonate, till a precipitate begins to form, and addition of sodium acetate; it is then precipitated as a basic sulphate containing zinc.”[355]

Indium may be obtained in the metallic state from the reduction of its oxide by means of hydrogen; charcoal or carbonaceous fluxes are not good reducing agents, as their employment necessitates a very high temperature, and loss from volatilisation occurs. Sodium is found to be the best reducing agent when large quantities of the metal are required.

Böttger’s method is to precipitate the indium by zinc, to press the spongy metal so obtained in hot water, then to submit it to pressure in a screw press between filtering paper, and finally to melt it with cyanide of potassium.

Prop. Indium is a soft, white, durable metal, somewhat resembling cadmium, wholly destitute of crystalline structure. Its specific gravity, which is 7·421 at 16·8° C., is not altered by rolling or hammering. When heated in the air to 176° C., it melts without becoming oxidised; at a temperature above this, however, it becomes covered with a coating of suboxide, becoming gradually changed into the yellow sesquioxide. Indium is less volatile than either cadmium or zinc. It dissolves slowly in dilute sulphuric and hydrochloric acids, hydrogen being given off. In strong hydrochloric acid it dissolves rapidly. Nitric acid oxidises it, evolving at the same time nitric oxide; whilst sulphuric acid converts it into anhydrous sulphate.

When examined by means of the spectroscope, the flame of indium reveals two brilliant bands—a violet and a blue one.

Indium is completely precipitated from a solution of its acetate, as well as from neutral solutions of its salts in general, by sulphuretted hydrogen. Ammonia, neutral sodium carbonate, and acid sodium carbonate, throw down white precipitates insoluble in excess of the precipitant; caustic potash and soda produce a white precipitate of indium hydrate, soluble in excess. Barium carbonate precipitates it completely. Potassium ferrocyanide gives a white precipitate.

Estim. “The most convenient method of estimating indium is by precipitating it as hydrate with ammonia, dissolving the washed precipitate in hot dilute nitric acid, evaporating, igniting, and weighing the oxide thus obtained. Precipitation with sulphuretted hydrogen does not give exact results on account of the solubility of the indium sulphide.”[356]

Indium forms compounds with bromine, chlorine, iodine, oxygen, and with several of the organic and inorganic acids.

INDURA′TION. In pathology, an increase in the consistence of any portion of the body, usually resulting from chronic inflammation, pressure, or friction.

IN′FANCY. “The domestic treatment of infants and children is comprised in the application of the laws of health to the mother as well as to the child. The position of parent is one of serious responsibility, both morally and physically, and the edict has gone forth that ‘the sins of the parent shall be visited on the children.’ If we could ensure good mothers, we could vastly improve the race of men. The nursing mother of a sick infant must, by following faithfully the rules of health in respect of the four great hygienic principles—food, clothing, exercise, and ablution—give health with her milk to her offspring; she must also pay close attention to her mind, avoid all sources of irritation and anxiety, and remember that an angry mother sours her milk, and produces a fractious and often a diseased infant. I am quite of opinion that if mothers were sound in constitution, and bestowed the requisite care upon the maintenance of their health, we should hear little of diseases of children. In children, as well as in parent, the rules of health must be carried out,” and their neglect cannot fail to bring with it a heavy retribution. (Eras. Wilson.) See Exercise, Nursing, &c.

INFANT DEATH-RATE. In England, according to Dr Farr, out of 1000 infants born, 149 die annually before reaching their first year; and the same authority tells us that 311 out of every 1000 die during the first month in the same period. Amongst illegitimate children, the lives of one half never exceed the first month.

The above figures represent the yearly average of infantile deaths throughout the whole of England, when we come to the large cities the mortality is notably higher. In Liverpool, for instance, out of 1000 children born, 239 died in their first year.

When we examine into the infant mortality prevailing amongst different classes, we find the proportion existing between the death-rate of the children of the nobility, and the general death-rate up to one year, to be as 3 to 8.

In 1874, Mr Charles Ansell, jun., published a work entitled ‘Statistics of Families of the Upper and Professional Classes,’ in which he showed, from investigations into the deaths occurring amongst 48,000 children of the wealthy, professional, and titled classes, that in the first year of life, about 80 only of such children die out of every 1000. According to Dr Farr, the northern countries of Europe show a much lower infant death-rate than the southern ones. Infant mortality is lowest in Norway, and highest in High Bavaria, where 404 infants per 1000 die in their first year. In New York, in 1869, the mortality amongst infants under one year old was 27·4 per cent. and in 1873, 31·0 per cent.

Both in France and England the mortality prevailing amongst illegitimate children up to the age of one year is very large. In 1860, the death-rate amongst the foundlings of the Loire-Inférieure, was as much as 876 in the 1000, and it averages between 500 and 700 in France. In Wakefield, amongst the same class of children, it was 26·22 per cent.; in Coventry, 40; in Padstow, 50; and in Bantry, 80; in manufacturing towns the average is 35 per cent. In London the number of illegitimate children who die annually under the age of a year is probably about 75 per cent.[357]

In the Montreal Foundling Asylum, out of 4060 infants, only 7 per cent. lived one year. In the rural districts of England and also in Bavaria, the average of deaths at one year is about the same for the illegitimate as for the legitimate children.

In the ‘Transactions of the Obstetrical Society for 1870’ there is a valuable and interesting report, throwing much light on the condition and treatment of the children of the poor in England. The following is the substance of this report, the information contained in which was collected by various members of the society:—It was found that amongst the poorer populations of villages 30 to 90 per cent. are attended by midwives, and that this custom prevails to an almost equal extent in the large provincial and manufacturing towns. Thus in Glasgow, 75 per cent., in Coventry, 90 per cent.; and in Leeds and Sheffield, equally large numbers of the population employ the services of these women. In Edinburgh the midwife is rarely called on; neither is she in the West End of London; but in the East End 30 to 50 per cent. of the accouchements are undertaken by women.

Except in Glasgow, Sheffield, and London, the women are asserted to be totally ignorant and incompetent to meet any difficulty that might arise. In country districts the pernicious custom of giving an aperient to a newly born babe was very general, but less prevalent in London and the large towns. Amongst the married poor, suckling was found to be the rule; and it seemed to be pretty conclusively proved that it is often unreasonably prolonged for eighteen months or even two years, as a preventive to renewed pregnancy. It was found, however, that illegitimate children were rarely suckled, but almost always fed on artificial food. Amongst the married poor also it appears universal to give the children artificial food as well as the breast, and this from a very early and tender age. Further, it was found that the food was generally unsuited to the child both in quantity and quality. It consisted chiefly of bread soaked in water and milk, and sweetened, of arrow-root, sago and corn flour, and such like objectionable substances.

In one case the mother admitted to giving her infant (who was a few months old only) a diet similar to that she herself partook of, viz.—cheese, bread, meat, salt fish, heavy pastry, vegetables and beer. Amongst the upper classes it was ascertained that there is an increasing tendency amongst mothers to discontinue lactation, and to employ instead the services of a wet nurse; and where this was not done, it was found that the food partaken of by the babe was much more judiciously chosen than is the case amongst the poorer women. Mr Curquiven and others observed that a large number of women in London do not suckle their offspring, because of a deficient secretion of milk. It is satisfactory to find that both in the manufacturing and agricultural districts, the children of the poor are so constantly in the open air; but equally unsatisfactory to learn that at night they sleep in ill-ventilated and over crowded dormitories. The infant is encouraged to sleep to the utmost, and should it fail in securing renewed slumber (its waking being attributed to a desire for food), is very often dosed with gin, syrup of poppies, and paregoric. Another plan adopted for keeping infants quiet, consisted in letting them remain in the cradles and allowing them to suck the nipple attached to the empty feeding bottle, long after the food had been consumed; a practice that gives rise to infantile dyspepsia.

As regards cleanliness, it was learnt that poor people’s children are tolerably well attended to in this respect, or rather that the baby generally comes in for a larger share of ablution than the elder ones, who are sometimes much neglected in the matter of soap and water. The clothing of the little ones was much too scanty, and this was the case no matter what the season of the year. A prevalent practice, except in the agricultural villages, was that of giving the children cordials, spirits, and medicines.

A still worse custom was found to be the systematic administration of opiates. At Long Sutton, in Lincolnshire, which has a population of 6000, one chemist alone sold 25¹⁄₂ gallons yearly of Godfrey’s cordial (a mixture principally consisting of treacle and opium), whilst 6¹⁄₂ pints were got rid of weekly by another chemist in the same town. This administration of anodynes was mostly confined to illegitimate infants, and factory children placed out to nurse. A habit not unusual was that of an intentional deferring sending for a doctor when the child was first seized with illness, medical advice being only sought when in many cases it could be of no avail. Desertion by fathers and mothers of their children, especially of illegitimate ones, as well as concealment of birth and infanticide, were found to be much more general in London and the larger cities than in the country.

The causes of the high rate of infant mortality prevailing amongst the poor, seem very clearly indicated in the above abstract. For instance, the deaths of nearly half the children under one year of age are referable to diarrhœa, convulsions, atrophy, mesenteric disease, and allied disorders; all of which maladies are caused by the grossly erroneous and unsuitable diet upon which the children are fed. In the article “Infants’ Food,” we have already pointed out that the proper and only safe aliment for an infant up to the age of eight or nine months is the maternal milk, and failing this, the pure and unadulterated milk of the cow; and we have furthermore shown that the admission into the dietary of infants even above nine months old, of farinaceous foods, should be regulated with great caution. Yet we learn from the above report, that in the early days of the infants’ existence, amongst the poor the breast milk is in most cases supplemented by large quantities of these very farinaceous matters, which we have shown to be so prejudicial and dangerous. That the deaths from these causes are clearly preventable, in a large measure, if not wholly, is proved by the very much less extent in which they occur amongst the higher classes, who use much greater judgment in the selection of their children’s food. Another important factor in the high infant death-rate is the extensive use of narcotics, a practice there is no doubt which yearly carries off a large number of infants, by poisoning, more or less prolonged. Inadequate clothing is likewise another source of mortality amongst the very young, whose tender frames easily succumb to inclement weather, and the sudden changes of temperature occurring in our variable climate. Hence we shall have no difficulty in understanding why pneumonia, bronchitis, &c., should be so prevalent among poor children. The habits of overcrowding and bad ventilation which prevail amongst the poor must also be fertile sources of disease amongst their offspring—the more immediate effect of such violations of sanitary principles resulting in bronchitis. That the extensive recourse by the poor to uneducated and unskilful midwives, also adds to infant mortality, seems indisputable.

In the report already alluded to, beyond reference to the fact that infanticide was rare, we find no mention made as to the number of violent deaths occurring amongst infants. It appears that about a sixteenth of the mortality amongst infants under one year old is due to violence, mostly accidental, the great majority of such deaths being caused by the mother lying upon and smothering her babe. These misadventures are said to occur mostly on Saturday nights, and raise the question as to whether a large proportion of such deaths are not due to the drunkenness of the mothers, who retire to rest in a state of alcoholic stupor.[358]

The inference, we think, to be drawn from the above statements is, that the preponderating mortality prevailing amongst the children of the poor is due to ignorance and poverty, and not to intentional neglect or want of parental affection. Bearing in mind that poor women much more frequently suckle their babes than rich ones, it might perhaps be argued that this was evidence of greater maternal solicitude, and that, therefore, the poor mother exhibits more natural affection than the lady who consigns her offspring to the arms of the wet-nurse; but, possibly, were the circumstances of the two inverted, the lady might be found giving her infant the breast, whilst the humbler wife might call in the services of the wet-nurse; neither of them perhaps reflecting that, in choosing the latter alternative, they were depriving another little human unit of the maternal sustenance, and exposing it to the dangers of vicarious nurture and supervision. What these dangers are that beset the children of the poor when removed from their mother, the revelations of baby-farming and the appalling statistics of illegitimate infant mortality serve very forcibly to illustrate. For every 311 legitimate children of all classes 500 illegitimate out of every 1000 die each year under one month old, this large increase being due to cruel neglect and substitution of bad, insufficient, and improper food for the maternal milk. That in their own homes they are exposed to the serious hardships arising from errors in diet has already been shown, but in their own homes they die at little more than half this rate; hence the deduction is unavoidable that half of these poor little waifs perish because they are deprived of the care and solicitude of the mother.

Writing on this subject M. Hanon says that of 59,927 infants born in Paris, 20,049 are sent into the country to nurses. Of those children that remain in Paris, and that are so rarely suckled by their mothers, no less than 8250 die from 0-1 year, which gives a death-rate of 243 per 1000 births. As to the mortality of the unfortunate infants, 20,049 in number, sent off to nurse, this amounts to 500 or 700 per 1000 in the first year of life.

We extract the following from the ‘Echo’ of October 9th, 1878:

“ALLEGED BABY-FARMING.

“Dr Hardwicke, the coroner for Central Middlesex, held an inquest at the Islington Coroner’s Court, Holloway Road, this morning, relative to the death of the female child of Emily Corley, a servant at 49, Gower Street, Euston Road. Mr Baby, the inspector under the Infants Life Protection Act, watched the case. The mother of the child had gone to service as a wet nurse after coming out of the workhouse, leaving it with one Ann Leach, who said it was a very delicate child. She added that she had for a time two children under one year of age with her, and had been told that this was contrary to the Act. The inspector under the Infant Life Protection Act pointed out that persons having more than one child to nurse under a year old had to obtain a licence. The coroner characterised the Act as a mere farce. It left children to take care of themselves after they were twelve months old—the most critical time of their existence. He also remarked on how prolific a source of prostitution such cases as the present were, where mothers had to forsake their own illegitimate offspring, depriving them of breast milk in order that they might sell it to the rich. The jury found that the child died from exhaustion following from diarrhœa, accelerated by want of breast milk.”

INFANTS, Food for. For the newly-born and very young of all mammiferous animals, no food is so expressly and admirably adapted as that drawn from the mother. In the nourishment of the babe from the maternal breast lies the soundest condition for its physical well-being and growth, subject to the qualification that the mother must be in good health, which, of course, implies that she must be well fed. This latter essential fulfilled, it is very wonderful to note how nature makes provision for the proper nourishment of the offspring by converting even a weakly and frequently ailing mother into a strong one during the period of suckling.

There may be, and doubtless are, many circumstances in which lactation cannot be practised with safety either to mother or child; but, where such circumstances do not exist, the practice of seeking the vicarious services of the wet-nurse, or of having recourse to other than the maternal milk, for many reasons, calls for remonstrance and reproof.

We may emphasise this by the following quotation from Dr West’s admirable work, ‘Diseases of Infancy and Childhood.’ He says: “The infant whose mother refuses to perform towards it a mother’s part, or who by accident, disease, or death is deprived of the food that nature destined for it, too often languishes and dies. Such children you may see with no fat to give plumpness to their limbs—no red particles in their blood to impart a healthy hue to the skin, their face wearing in infancy the lineaments of age; the voice a constant wail; their whole aspect an embodiment of woe. But give to such children the food that nature destined for them, and if the remedy do not come too late to save them, the mournful cry will cease, the face will assume a look of content, by degrees the features will disclose themselves, the limbs will grow round, the skin pure red and white.”

But although the maternal aliment (or, failing this, that supplied from the breast of a young and healthy wet-nurse, who has been recently confined) is undoubtedly the best adapted for infantile nutrition, it fortunately happens that in circumstances where the infant is unable to be fed from either of these sources, we have a very valuable substitute in the milk of the cow, the similarity of which, in composition to woman’s milk, will be seen at once by studying the following table arranged by Dr Letheby:

Woman’s Milk.Cow’s Milk.

Max.Min.Average.Average.

Casein4·362·973·523·64

Butter5·184·454·023·55

Sugar of Milk4·433·294·274·70

Various salts0·260·380·280·81

Total solids14·2011·0912·0912·70

Water85·8088·9187·9187·30

Total100·00100·00100·00100·00

The milk of the cow being rather richer in solids than that of woman, it is considered desirable to somewhat dilute the former when it is used as food for the infant. Dr Letheby recommends the addition to it of a third of water, with a little sugar to sweeten it, and to render it more acceptable to the baby palate. It cannot be too forcibly insisted upon that immeasurably the best and safest food for an infant, next to human milk, is the milk of the cow, and nothing else, until it reaches the age of eight or nine months. It is perhaps needless to state that the milk must be perfectly pure and unadulterated, and that it will fail of being this if yielded by an unhealthy cow. The animal’s food and habitat also exercise an important influence on the quality of the milk, that given by grass-fed cows roaming in open pastures undoubtedly being the best and richest.

Different cows yield different qualities of milk; hence, when milk from any particular cow suits an infant, it has been found desirable not to change it.

The newer and fresher the milk the better is it adapted for the child’s use; that which has in the least become soured should be especially rejected.

Sometimes even fresh and good milk is found to disagree with a child. When this is the case it may be remedied by adding a little lime water to it previous to its being drunk. If it were practicable, and within the means of every family to keep their own cow, so that the infant could be fed with the milk directly it came from the animal, nature’s example in giving it direct from the mother’s breast might be followed. The writer remembers, some years ago, the Princess of Wales travelling with her baby on a voyage to and from Denmark, and being accompanied by her bovine purveyor in the shape of an Alderney.

In hot weather, more particularly, if milk be kept even for a short time it is liable to become acid, or “to turn,” as it is called. It is, therefore, always desirable to keep it in a cool cellar till required for use, and in very hot weather it should be stood in ice.

The daily allowance of milk for a child during the first month of its life is two or three pints. M. Guillot says 2¹⁄₂ lbs. avoirdupois is the least the babe can properly subsist on. He weighed several infants before and after they had taken the breast, and found that they had gained in weight, in quantities varying from 2 oz. to 5 oz.

Opinion is divided as to the value of condensed cows’ milk as a food for infants. Its chief merit seems to be that it affords a substitute for the natural milk in cases where this latter is not obtainable, or where, in consequence of disease amongst the cows of a neighbourhood, it cannot with safety be consumed. Since the maternal fluid, without undergoing alteration or modification, forms so perfect and model a food for infants, it does not seem an unreasonable inference that the milk from the cow, which so nearly approaches it in composition and qualities, should prove most advantageous when partaken of under similar conditions. It has been asserted that condensed milk is inferior in strengthening qualities to the natural cows’ milk. If this be the case it is certainly not due, according to Mr Wanklyn, to any removal of the constituents of the latter. In his useful little work on ‘Milk Analysis’ Mr Wanklyn says: “A year ago a report was spread that these preserved milks were preserved skim-milk, and not preserved new milk. I have myself examined the principal brands of preserved and condensed milk, which are in the London market, and find that the milk which has been condensed, or condensed and preserved, had been charged with its due proportion of fat.”

The physiological facts that in an early stage of infancy the digestion is very feeble, and that until an infant has cut its first teeth there is but little, if any, secretion of saliva, which latter is essential for the conversion in the system of starch into sugar, point, therefore, to the imprudence of feeding very young infants upon so-called “infants’ foods,” where these consist of amylaceous substances. The starch of which these latter are composed not only fails to become assimilated, and therefore to produce no nutrient effect, but clogs up the lower parts of the bowels, and thus gives rise to a train of evils, amongst which may be included indigestion, diarrhœa, vomiting, and not infrequently convulsions and death.

The difference in the mortality between infants under one year of age who annually die of convulsions in England and Scotland is attributed to the fact that whereas the English mother feeds her offspring on thick spoon-food, the Scotch woman nourishes hers from the breast. In ‘The Fourteenth detailed Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Scotland’ it is stated that “The English practice of stuffing their babes with spoon-meat occasioned the death by convulsions of 23,198 children under one year of age during the year 1868, out of 786,858 births; in other words, caused 1 death from convulsions in every 34 of the children born during the year in England. In Scotland, during the same year, only 312 infants under one year of age fell victims to convulsions out of 115,514 children born during the year; in other words, 1 death from convulsions in every 370 born during the year.”

When a child has reached the age of eight or nine months the judicious use of farinaceous foods is not only unobjectionable but desirable; but even then it is most important to increase the quantity of the food very cautiously with the age, as well as to see that it has been well baked and afterwards boiled before being partaken of. In all cases it should be mixed with the milk.

When the child has reached the age of twenty months Dr Letheby advises the quantity of farinaceous food to be still further increased, and with a little egg given in the form of pudding until it attains its third year. At this period the child’s diet may also include bread and butter, and at the end of it well-boiled potato with a little meat gravy.

From the third to the fifth year he prescribes a small quantity of meat, and at the end of the ninth year the usual food of the family. During all these periods the use of milk as an important article of the dietary is enforced.

The following table by the late Dr Edward Smith, exhibiting the proportions between the daily quantities of carbon and nitrogen required at different periods of human existence, illustrates the great preponderance of nitrogen demanded by the infant over those who succeed him in the scale of age:

Carbon.Nitrogen.

In infancy696·72

At ten years of age482·81

At sixteen years of age302·16

At adult life231·04

In middle life251·13

See Milk.

IN′FANTS′ PRESER′VATIVE. (Atkinson’s.) Carbonate of magnesia, 6 dr.; white sugar, 2¹⁄₂ oz.; oil of aniseed, 20 drops; compound spirit of ammonia and rectified spirit, of each 2¹⁄₂ fl. dr.; laudanum, 1 fl. dr.; syrup of saffron, 1 oz.; caraway water, q. s. to make the whole measure 1 pint. Antacid, anodyne, and hypnotic.

INFEC′TION. Syn. Contagion. The communication of disease, either by personal contact with the sick or by means of effluvia arising from their bodies. Attempts have been made to restrict the term contagion to the former, and infection to the latter, but this distinction is now discarded by the majority of writers. The following are the principal diseases which are commonly regarded as contagious:—Chicken-pox, cholera, cow-pox, dysentery, erysipelas, glanders, gonorrhœa, hooping-cough, hydrophobia, itch, measles, mumps, ophthalmia (purulent), plague, scald-head, scarlet fever, smallpox, syphilis, yaws. See Disinfectant, &c.

INFLAM′MABLE AIR. See Hydrogen.

INFLAMMA′TION. Syn. Inflammatio, L. In pathology, a certain state of disease. The common symptoms of inflammation are pain, swelling, heat, and redness, attended with fever, and general constitutional derangement when severe.

The treatment of inflammations, whether trifling; or serious, is essentially the same in principle, and only differs in degree. This consists in the adoption of the usual means for lowering the force of the circulation and the frequency of the pulse; of which leeching, purging, a low diet, and the use of refrigerant drinks and lotions, form the most important part. The constitutional derangement or symptomatic inflammatory fever, and inflammatory condition of the blood always accompany local inflammation, and progress with its intensity. In inflammations of a more purely local character, cupping or leeching the part immediately affected, or the parts adjacent to it, is in general more appropriate and successful. In these cases the application of refrigerant or sedative lotions, baths, &c., generally proves of much advantage. In cases in which there is induration or dryness of the part, the use of warm embrocations is indicated.

Inflammation often arises from apparently very trifling causes, particularly in persons of a full or bad habit of body, or who indulge in the free use of malt liquors. In some persons a very trifling local injury, as a slight abrasion, cut, prick, or sprain, produces a considerable amount of tumefaction, attended with severe constitutional excitement. Punctured wounds, sprains, and dislocations commonly furnish the most serious cases of inflammation that depend on mere external injury.[359] See Abscess, Fever, Tumour, &c.

Inflammation of the Bowels. The common causes are incautious exposure to cold, the use of improper food, and the presence of acrid substances or hardened fæces in the bowels. The more constant symptoms are pain over the abdomen, thirst, heat, and extensive restlessness and anxiety; sickness, obstinate constipation, and a hard, small, quick pulse. In the later stages the pain and tenderness of the abdomen, especially around the navel, become excessive, and there is difficult micturition. In some cases the pain suddenly ceases, the belly becomes tumid, the pulse scarcely perceptible, the countenance ghastly, and the patient dies in a few hours. The treatment consists in blisters, leeches to the abdomen, hot bath and fomentations, aperient clysters, and mercurial purges; with effervescing draughts and opium to allay sickness, followed by diaphoretic salines and gentle aperients. See Stomach affections, &c.

INFLAMMATORY FE′VER. See Fever and Inflammation.

INFLUEN′ZA. See Catarrh.

INFU′SION. Syn. Infusum, Infusio, L. A liquid medicine, prepared by macerating vegetable or animal substances in water, at any temperature below that of ebullition.

The mode of preparing infusions is, with most substances, precisely similar to that pursued for making the almost universal beverage—TEA. The ingredients are commonly placed in a stoneware pot or vessel (an ‘infusion pot’), previously made hot; boiling water is then poured over them, and the cover being placed on, the whole is allowed to digest together, at first, for a short time, in a warm situation, as on the hob or the fender, and afterwards (the vessel being removed from the heat) until the whole becomes cold. The liquid is then poured from the ingredients, and the latter, being slightly pressed, if necessary, the infusion is strained through a piece of clean linen or a hair sieve for use. During the digestion the ingredients should be occasionally stirred, an important matter often neglected, and not even referred to by most pharmaceutical writers.

The substances employed for making infusions receive the same preliminary treatment as those intended for making DECOCTIONS. Shavings, leaves, and flowers require no previous preparation beyond being pulled asunder; but roots, woods, and other solid substances must be bruised or sliced, if in the green or recent state, or bruised or coarsely pulverised, if dry, for the purpose of exposing as large a surface as possible to the action of the menstruum.

The substances extracted by water from vegetables by infusion are chiefly gum, mucus extractive, tannin, certain vegetable acids, the bitter and narcotic principles, gum-resin, essential oil, and alkaloids. Some of these substances are only sparingly soluble in water at ordinary temperatures; but more readily so in hot water, and freely soluble in boiling water. The temperature of the water should be therefore proportioned to the nature of the vegetable matter operated on. For mere ‘demulcent infusions,’ in which starch and gum are the chief substances sought to be dissolved out, and when the active principle is scarcely soluble in water, unless at nearly the boiling temperature, boiling water alone should be employed; but when the medicinal virtues of vegetables are soluble in water at lower temperatures, it is better to employ hot water (165° to 175° Fahr.), and to allow a little longer period for the digestion. In many cases temperate water (from 60° to 70° Fahr.), or tepid water (from 80° to 90° Fahr.), may be used with advantage, especially in the preparation of ‘aromatic bitter infusions,’ and in most cases where it is wished that the product should contain as little inert matter as possible; but when water at low temperatures is employed, the period of the maceration must be proportionately increased. By adopting the method of maceration in vacuo, or in an atmosphere of carbonic acid, the menstruum may be allowed to lay in contact with the vegetable matter for an unlimited period, without decomposition taking place.

Infusions, like decoctions, are liable to undergo spontaneous decomposition by keeping, especially in warm weather, when a few hours are often sufficient for their passage into a state of active fermentation; they should, therefore, when possible, be prepared for use daily, as beyond twenty-four hours they cannot be depended on. The London College directs a pint only to be made at a time, thus very properly regarding them as extemporaneous preparations.

Concentrated infusions, now so common in the shops, and, unfortunately, so generally used in dispensing, are either made by taking 8 times the quantity of the ingredients ordered in the pharmacopœia, and then proceeding in the usual manner, or by the method of displacement; or, by carefully and rapidly concentrating the simple infusions, by evaporation in a steam or salt-water bath, until reduced to about 1-7th of the original quantity. In either case the liquid is put into a strong bottle, without being filtered, and 10 to 12% of rectified spirit added to it, whilst still hot. The cork is then put in and secured down, and the whole agitated for some minutes, after which it is set aside for a week, when the clear portion is carefully decanted from the sediment for sale. Another method, which answers well with the aromatic bitter vegetables, is to take 8 times the usual quantity of the ingredients, and to exhaust them with a mixture of rectified spirits, 1 part, and distilled water, 3 parts; by digestion, or, better still, by percolation. Concentrated infusions made in this way keep well, and deposit scarcely any sediment. Many houses that are remarkable for the ‘brilliancy’ and beauty of these preparations, employ ¹⁄₃ spirit of wine and ²⁄₃ water as the menstruum. It may, however, be taken, as a general rule, that for vegetable substances that abound in woody fibre, and contain little extractive matter soluble in water (as quassia, for instance), ¹⁄₆ to ¹⁄₅ part of spirit is sufficient for their preservation; whilst for those abounding in mucilage or fecula, or that readily soften and become pulpy and glutinous in weak spirit (as rhubarb), ¹⁄₅ to ¹⁄₃ is required.

By adopting the method originally suggested by Mr Alsop, infusions may be preserved, uninjured, for a year or longer, without the addition of spirit or any other substance. The only precaution necessary is to keep them in bottles, perfectly filled and hermetically sealed.[360] Our own plan is to put a few bruised cloves or seeds of black mustard into the bottles, which must be only 2-3rds filled, then completely fill them with a condensed atmosphere of carbonic acid gas; and, lastly, to stopper them and seal them over, so as to perfectly exclude the air. A pint of decoction of sarsaparilla and ¹⁄₂ pint of infusion of calumba, treated in this way, kept good for fully 9 years. By simply macerating in the infusion as much bruised mustard seed as can be added without flavouring the liquor, along with a little bruised cloves, we find that most vegetable infusions may be preserved in bottles which are occasionally uncorked, without either fermenting or becoming mouldy, by the use of very little spirit (¹⁄₉ or ¹⁄₁₀).

Before adding the spirit to infusions made with cold water, or with water which is only tepid, it is advisable to heat the liquid to about 185° Fahr., in a water bath, and after keeping it at that temperature for a few minutes, and allowing it again to become cold, to separate it from the precipitated matter, either by filtration or decantation.

It is often very difficult to render vegetable infusions and decoctions perfectly transparent, a quality always expected in the concentrated preparations. Defecation by repose is always better than filtration, owing to the more or less viscidity of the suspended matter. When this is not sufficient, they may be clarified with white of egg (2 or 3 to the gall.), previously beaten up with 5 or 6 fl. oz. of water. Most of the vegetable infusions and decoctions will readily pass the filter, after a very small quantity of acetic, nitric, or sulphuric acid has been added to them. The most obstinate may be rendered ‘brilliant,’ or ‘candle bright,’ as the ‘cellarmen’ call it, by shaking them up, first with about a drachm of dilute sulphuric acid, and afterwards with the whites of 3 or 4 eggs, previously mixed with a few ounces of water, for each gallon of the liquid. This plan is, however, objectionable for many medicinal preparations.

As many infusions which are occasionally employed in medicine must necessarily escape being separately noticed in this work, it may be as well to remark that the infusions of all vegetables that do not exert a very powerful action on the human frame as ordinary herbs and roots may be made by pouring 1 pint of boiling water on 1 oz. of the vegetable matter, and allowing it to macerate for ¹⁄₂ an hour to an hour. The decoctions of the same vegetables may be made by simply boiling the above ingredients, in the same proportions, for 10 or 15 minutes, instead of operating by mere infusion. With substances of somewhat greater activity, only half the above quantity should be taken; whilst, with the narcotic plants and those possessing great activity, 1 to 2 dr. to water, 1 pint, will be the proper quantity. The ordinary dose of such infusions and decoctions is ¹⁄₂ to 1 wine-glassful (1 to 2 fl. oz.), two, three, or four times a day, as the case may indicate.

Infusion is preferred for all bodies of a delicate texture, which readily yield their active principles to water; and especially when these are either volatile or liable to be injured by the heat of ebullition.

The simple infusions are now less frequently made by the druggist than formerly. In most cases he merely furnishes the ingredients, and the infusions are prepared by either the nurse or patient, by whom they are commonly called ‘TEAS,’

⁂ The following list embraces most of the infusions used in prescribing or noticed in books. Where the proportions of the ingredients are not given, 1 oz. of the medicinal substance and 1 pint of boiling water are to be taken, and the dose is that referred to above.

Infusion of Agrim′ony. Syn. Agrimony tea; Infusum Agrimonii, L. From the fresh tops before the flowers are formed. Vermifuge.—Dose. A teacupful 3 or 4 times a day; also used as an astringent gargle and lotion. For internal use, an equal weight of liquorice root (sliced) is commonly added.

Infusion of Al′kaline. Syn. Infusum alkalinum, L. Prep. (Beasley.) Hickory ash, 1 pint; wood soot, ¹⁄₄ pint; boiling water, 1 gall.; in 24 hours decant the clear. “A popular remedy in America for dyspepsia with acidity.”

Infusion of Alkaline. Syn. Infusum alkalinum. Prep. Hickory ash, 1 lb.; wood soot, ¹⁄₄ lb.; boiling water, ¹⁄₂ gall. Let them stand 24 hours, and decant. A wine-glassful three or four times a day. This is simply another form of the previous preparation.

Infusion of Al′oes. Syn. Infusum aloës, D. Prep. 1. From hepatic or Socotrine aloes (in powder), 2 dr.; carbonate of potassa, 1¹⁄₂ dr.; boiling water, 1 pint.

2. (Compound; Infusum aloës compositum, L.)—a. As the COMPOUND DECOCTION OF A. (Ph. L.), but using only a pint of boiling water.

b. (Fothergill.) Calumba and rhubarb, of each, 1 oz.; aloes, 2 dr.; lime water, 16 fl. oz.; spirit of horseradish, 1 fl. oz.; macerate in the cold for 12 hours, and strain. The last three, like the decoction, are aperient, antacid, stomachic, tonic, and emmenagogue.—Dose, 1 tablespoonful to a small wine-glassful, in water. The last one is an admirable medicine in dyspepsia, loss of appetite, and troublesome constipation.

Infusion of Amer′ican Calum′ba. Syn. Infusum Fraseræ, L. From the dried root of American calumba (Frasera Carolinensis). A pure, powerful, and excellent bitter, destitute of aroma, and fully equal to gentian. (Lindley.)

Infusion of Amer′ican Cen′taury. Syn. Infusum sabatii, L. From the herb (Sabbatia angularis). A pure bitter tonic, without astringency or aroma.

Infusion of Amer′ican Sen′na. Syn. Infusum cassiæ Marylandicæ, L. Prep. (Martin.) Leaves of American or wild senna (Cassia Marylandica), 1¹⁄₂ oz.; coriander seed, 1 dr.; boiling water, 1 pint. Purgative.

Infusion of Angel′ica. Syn. Infusum angelicæ, L. From the root of garden angelica. A warm stomachic and diaphoretic; and, in large doses, aperient. It is a popular remedy in dyspepsia, flatulent colic, and heartburn.

Infusion of Aniseed. Syn. Aniseed tea; Infusum anisi, L. Carminative; an excellent adjunct to purgatives, to prevent griping; given to infants to relieve colic, &c. Dr Prout recommends the use of water at 120° or 125° Fahr.

Infusion, Antiscorbu′tic. Syn. Infusum antiscorbuticum, Mistura antiscorbutica, L. Prep. Water trefoil (Menyanthes trifoliata), 1 oz.; orange peel, 2 dr.; boiling water, 1 quart; infuse for 8 or 10 hours, strain, and add of compound spirit of horseradish, 5 fl. oz. In scurvy.

Infusion of Ar′nica. Syn. Infusum arnicæ, L. 1. From the flowers of mountain arnica or German leopard’s bane (Arnica montana). Cottereau orders 1 oz., Dr Pereira ¹⁄₂ oz., and Dr A. T. Thomson, ¹⁄₄ oz. of the flowers to the pint. The first is the usual quantity. The dose of the first is a tablespoonful; of the second, ¹⁄₂ to 1 fl. oz.; of third, ¹⁄₂ to 1 wine-glassful.

2. (Compound; Infusum arnicæ compositum, L.—Ph. Copenh.) Flowers of arnica, 1 dr.; peppermint, 2 dr.; chamomiles, ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, ¹⁄₂ pint.—Dose, 1 fl. oz. As the last.

Infusion of Arnica-root. Syn. Infusum arnicsæ radicis, L. Prep. (Ph. Castr. Ruth.) Arnica root, 40 gr.; water, 1 lb.—Dose, 1 fl. oz. As the above.

Infusion, Astrin′gent. Syn. Infusum astringens, Mistura a., L. Prep. 1. From oak-bark.

2. Infusion of cusparia, 17 fl. oz.; tincture of catechu or kino, 1 fl. oz.; powdered ipecacuanha, 1 dr.; powdered opium, 12 gr.; mix. In diarrhœa, &c. It must be well shaken before pouring out the dose.

Infusion of Balm. Syn. Infusum melissæ, L. Prep. (Plenck.) Fresh herb, 5 dr.; boiling water, 1 pint; infuse for fifteen minutes.

Infusion of Aya-pana, Compound (Dr Camera). Syn. Infusum ayæ-panæ compositum. Prep. Leaves of Brazilian aya-pana, 2 dr.; aniseed, 1 dr.; boiling water, 2 pints.

Infusion of Bar′berry. Syn. Infusum barberis, L. Prep. (Dr Copland.) From the bark of the barberry shrub (Berberis vulgaris). In jaundice, biliary fluxes, and other cases where heat and acrimony prevail; either alone or combined with a little carbonate of soda or potassa, and tincture of calumba.

Infusion of Bark. See Infusion of Cinchona.

Infusion of Bay-leaves. Syn. Infusum lauri, I. lauri nobilis, L. From the leaves or the berries of the sweet bay (Laurus nobilis). Aromatic, stimulant, and emmenagogue; in very large doses, emetic and poisonous. It is chiefly given in colic, flatulence, paralysis of the extremities, and obstructed menstruation.

Infusion of Bearberry (B. P.) Syn. Infusum uvæ ursi. Prep. Infuse bearberry leaves, bruised, ¹⁄₂ oz.; in boiling distilled water, 10 oz.; in a covered vessel for 2 hours, and strain.

Infusion of Beef. See Essence, Tea, &c.

Infusion of Belladon′na. Syn. Infusum belladonnæ. L. Prep. 1. (Dr Paris.) Leaves of deadly nightshade (dried), 4 gr.; boiling water, 2 fl. oz.; for a dose.

2. (Compound;—Dr Saunders.) Leaves (dried), ¹⁄₂ dr.; boiling water, 12 fl. oz.; infuse, strain, and to every 7 fl. oz. of the infusion add of compound tincture of cardamoms, 1 fl. oz.

Infusion of Bis′tort. Syn. Infusum Bistortæ, L. Prep. (Radius.) Bistort or snake-weed root (Poligonum Bistorta), ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 1 pint; infuse 2 hours, and strain. In passive hæmorrhages.

Infusion of Black Snake-root. Syn. Infusum cimicifugæ racemosæ, L. In dropsy, rheumatism, and chest complaints.

Infusion of Blessed Thistle. Syn. Infusum cardui benedicti, L. From the whole herb. In small doses it is diaphoretic; in larger ones, tonic, stomachic, and deobstruent; taken warm, it is occasionally given to promote the action of emetics. The properties of carduus benedictus “are such as to lead us to the belief that it has been superseded by other not more efficacious remedies.” (Lindley.)

Infusion of Blood-root. Syn. Infusion of puccoon; Infusum sanguinariæ, L. Prep. Blood-root (Sanguinaria Canadensis), ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 1 pint. Stimulant and emetic.

Infusion of Blue Flag. Syn. Infusum iridis versicoloris, L. Prep. 1. From the flowers of blue flag (Iris versicolor).—2. From the root of rhizomes. The first is used chiefly for its rich colour, as a test, &c.; the second is diuretic and cathartic, and apt to produce distressing nausea and prostration.

Infusion of Bone′set. Syn. Infusum eupatorii, L. Prep. 1. (Ph. U. S.) From the dried leaves and flowers of boneset or thorough-wort (Eupatorium perfoliatum). Diaphoretic, nauseant, and emetic when warm; tonic when cold.

2. (Compound; Infusum eupatorii compositum, L.—Ellis.) Boneset and sage, of each ¹⁄₂ oz.; cascarilla, 1 dr.; boiling water, 1¹⁄₂ pint; infuse until cold, and strain. In hectic fever. A wine-glassful of either of the above, given hourly, in these diseases, until perspiration and nausea are induced, has been highly recommended in influenza.

Infusion of Braz′il-wood. Syn. Infusum ligni Brasilinsis, L. From ground or rasped Brazil wood. When wanted to keep, rectified spirit, 3 fl. oz., is added to every pint. Used for colouring, and as a test.

Infusion of Broom. Syn. Infusum scoparii, L. See Decoction of Broom.

Infusion of Bu′chu. Syn. Infusum buchu (B. P.), I. bucku (Ph. E.), I. diosmæ, L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) From bruised buchu leaves, 1 oz.; boiling distilled water, 1 pint; infuse for an hour and strain. Diuretic, sudorific, tonic; in dyspepsia, &c.; but chiefly in chronic affections of the bladder and urethra attended with copious secretion.—Dose, 1 to 2 oz.

2. (Compound; Infusum buchu compositum, I. diosmæ c., L.—(Radius.) Leaves of buchu and whortleberry, of each ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 8 oz. (say ¹⁄₂ pint); digest for half an hour, strain, and add of syrup of senega, ¹⁄₂ fl. oz.—Dose, 1 or 2 table-spoonfuls every hour; in atony of the bladder and mucous discharges.

Infusion of Buck′bean. Syn. Infusum menyanthis, L. From the herb or root of buckbean or marsh trefoil (Menyanthes trifoliata). Bitter, stomachic, tonic, and diuretic; in large doses, purgative, vermifuge, and emetic. It has been recommended in agues, gout, dropsy, scurvy, worms, &c. The chief consumption of this plant is by the brewers; “2 oz. being equal to 1 lb. of hops.” (Gray.)

Infusion of Bur′dock. Syn. Infusum bardanæ, L. From the root of common burdock. Aperient, diuretic, diaphoretic, and tonic; in gout, rheumatism, skin diseases, &c. See Decoction and Extract.

Infusion of Calum′ba. Syn. Infusum calumbæ (B. P.) L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Calumba, in coarse powder, 1 oz.; cold distilled water, 2 oz.; macerate one hour, and strain. Infusion of calumba is a good tonic and stomachic bitter.—Dose, 1 to 3 fl. oz.; in dyspepsia, &c., and for restraining vomiting and diarrhœa during pregnancy or dentition. It is preferably joined with small doses of the carbonates of soda, potassa, ammonia, or magnesia, when there is acidity; or with chalybeates, when there is paleness and a low pulse; with all of which substances it may be mixed without suffering any sensible alteration.

2. (Concentrated; Infusum calumbæ concentratum, L.)—a. Calumba, in coarse powder, 5¹⁄₂ oz.; cold distilled water, 12 fl. oz.; digest with frequent agitation, for 3 or 4 hours, then express the liquor, and repeat the digestion with 5¹⁄₂ fl. oz. more of tepid water; after another hour, express this portion also, using as much force as possible; next mix the liquors, heat them quickly to the boiling-point in a shallow vessel, and pour the infusion, whilst still hot, into a strong bottle, and when it has cooled a little add of rectified spirit, 4 fl. oz., secure down the stopper or cork, and agitate well for a few minutes; the bottle must now be set aside for a week, after which the clear portion is to be decanted from the dregs. Very superior.

b. (Wholesale.) From calumba (reduced to coarse powder), 5¹⁄₄ lbs.; rectified spirit, 5 pints; (diluted with) water, 12 pints; digest for a week, or precede by displacement. Should there be any difficulty in obtaining it free from cloudiness, the whites of 4 or 5 eggs, previously mixed with about a ¹⁄₄ pint of cold water, may be added to the infusion, which, after being well agitated for about ten minutes, must be allowed to repose for 7 or 8 days, and then decanted from the dregs. Should it not be perfectly transparent, it may be filtered through blotting paper.—Product, 20 lbs.

Obs. The concentrated infusion produced by the above formulæ is of very superior quality, and has acquired an extensive sale in the wholesale trade. 1 part added to 5¹⁄₄ parts of water makes a perfectly transparent liquid, possessing exactly similar virtues to the INFUSION OF CALUMBA—B. P.

Infusion of Canthar′ides. Syn. Infusion of Spanish flies; Infusum cantharidis, I. lyttæ, L. Prep. (Soubeiran.) Spanish flies (powdered) 20 gr.; boiling water, q. s. (about 3¹⁄₂ fl. oz.) to yield 3 fl. oz., after expression and filtration.

Infusion of Cap′sicum. Syn. Infusum capsici, L. Prep. 1. (Pereira.) Capsicum (powdered), ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 1 pint.—Dose, ¹⁄₂ fl. oz.

2. (Stephen’s ‘Pepper Medicine’—Pereira.) Red pepper (Capsicum fructescens), 2 table-spoonfuls (or 3 of cayenne pepper); common salt, 2 teaspoonfuls; boiling water, ¹⁄₂ pint; to the strained liquor, when cold, add of very sharp vinegar, ¹⁄₂ pint.—Dose, 1 table-spoonful, slowly swallowed, every half hour, in cholera, malignant sore throat, scarlatina, &c.

Infusion of Car′away. Syn. Caraway tea; Infusum carui, L. Prep. From bruised caraway seed, 3 dr.; boiling water, 1 pint. In the flatulent colic of infants, and as an adjunct to aperient medicine.

Infusion of Car′rot Seed. Syn. Infusum dauci, I. carotæ, L. Diuretic; in dropsy and nephritic complaints; ¹⁄₂ to 1 pint being taken daily.

Infusion of Cascaril′la. Syn. Infusum cascarillæ (B. P.), L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Cascarilla, in coarse powder, 1 oz.; boiling distilled water, 10 oz.; infuse for one hour in a closed vessel and strain.—Dose. 1 to 2 oz., usually combined with carbonate of soda and tincture of cascarilla. It is an excellent medicine in dyspepsia, debility, diarrhœa, &c.

2. (Concentrated; Infusum cascarillæ concentratum, L.)—a. Cascarilla (good and fragrant, bruised), 6¹⁄₂ lbs.; rectified spirit of wine, 3 pints; cold water, 6 pints; macerate in a close vessel for 14 days, express the liquor, and filter.

b. As the last, but proceeding by the process of percolation.

Obs. If the preceding processes are well managed, the product is 10 lbs., and resembles brandy in colour and transparency, and is delightfully fragrant. 1 part of this infusion mixed with 6¹⁄₂ parts of water makes a preparation exactly resembling the INFUSION OF CALUMBA—B. P.

3. (Alkaline; Infusum cascarillæ alkalisatum, L.—Ph. Palat.) Cascarilla, 3 oz.; carbonate of potassa, 2 dr.; boiling water, 16 fl. oz. Antacid and tonic.—Dose, l tablespoonful.

Infusion of Cas′sia. Syn. Cassia tea; INFUSUM CASSIA FISTULÆ, L.; Eau de casse, Fr. Prep. (Soubeiran.) Cassia pods (bruised), 4 oz.; boiling water, 1¹⁄₂ pint. Laxative.

Infusion of Cate′chu. Syn. Compound infusion of catechu; Infusum catechu (B. P.), L. Prep. (B. P.) Catechu in coarse powder, 160 gr., cinnamon, bruised, 40 gr., boiling water, macerate for half an hour in a covered vessel, and strain. Astringent in diarrhœa.—Dose, 1 to 2 oz. three or four times a day, or after every liquid dejection.

Infusion of Catmint. Syn. Infusum catariæ. Prep. Dry catmint, 2 oz.; boiling water, 1 pint.

Infusion of Cayenne Pep′per. See Infusion of capsicum.

Infusion of Cen′taury. Syn. Infusum centauri, L. From the flowering tops of common or lesser centaury (Erythæa centaurium). Bitter, febrifuge, stomachic, and vermifuge. A popular remedy in obstructions, jaundice, debility, dyspepsia, &c.; and externally, for the itch, and to destroy pediculi. An infusion is also made of the root, which is about one half more powerful than the tops. The plant is “a valuable native medicine; in the places where it grows it is carefully collected for use in rustic pharmacy.” (Lindley.)

Infusion, Cephal′ic. Syn. Infusum cephalicum, L. Prep. (Edin. Hosp.) Valerian root, 2 oz.; rosemary tops, 4 dr.; boiling water, 1 quart, infuse 12 hours, strain, and add aromatic water, 4 fl. oz. As an antispasmodic, and in various affections of the head.

Infusion of Cham′omile. Syn. Chamomile tea; Infusum anthemidis (B. P.) I. chamæmeli, L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Chamomile flowers, ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 10 oz.; infuse for fifteen minutes, and strain.

Tonic, bitter, and stomachic; also emetic. It should be drunk cold, as it is emetic when warm.—Dose. As a stomachic, 1 to 3 oz.; as an emetic, 5 to 10 oz.

2. (Concentrated; Infusum anthemidis concentratum, L. From chamomiles, 5¹⁄₂ oz., water; 1 pint; boil till the mixture weighs exactly 21 oz., express the liquor by means of a powerful tincture-press, cool, and add of essential oil of chamomile, 15 drops, dissolved in rectified spirit, 5 fl. oz. agitate well, let it repose until the next day, then decant the clear, and filter. Strongly bitter and odorous, and beautifully transparent. 5¹⁄₂ times as strong as the ordinary INFUSION—B. P.

Infusion of Chamomile and Orange (Dr Percival). Syn. Infusum anthemidis et aurantii. Prep. Chamomile flowers, 1 oz.; dried orange peel, ¹⁄₂ oz.; cold water, 3 lbs.; macerate for 24 hours.

Infusion of Cher′ry-laurel. Syn. Infusum lauro-cerasi, L. Prep. (Dr Cheston.) Fresh leaves of the common or cherry-laurel (Cerasus Lauro-cerasus). 2¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 1 pint; infuse, strain, and add of clarified honey, 2¹⁄₂ oz. As a lotion in cancer of the lip, and as a wash for malignant ulcers.

Infusion of Chiret′ta. Syn. Infusum chiratæ, L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Chiretta, cut small, 1 oz.; distilled water, at 120° F., 40 oz.; infuse half an hour, and strain.—Dose, 1 to 2 oz.

Obs. Chiretta is a pure tonic bitter, closely allied to gentian, and has been long esteemed in the East Indies as a remedy for acidity, flatulence, and dyspepsia, especially when occurring in gouty or debilitated habits. It is usually given in combination with carbonate of soda or salts of iron. The whole of the plant is employed.

2. (Concentrated; Infusum chirettæ concentratum, L.) From Chiretta, 4 oz.; for each pint of the product, prepared as either CONC. INFUSION OF CALUMBA or CASCARILLA. Eight times as strong as the common infusion.

Infusion of Cincho′na. Syn. Infusion of bark, Infusum cinchonæ, L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Yellow cinchona (calisaya) bark, in coarse powder, 1 oz.; boiling distilled water, 1 pint; infuse for two hours in a covered vessel, and strain.

Obs. Infusion of bark is tonic and stomachic, and in very large doses febrifuge. It is an extremely useful medicine in dyspepsia, debility, and during convalescences, and is often a valuable adjunct to more active remedies. Like the decoction, it is most energetic when strained whilst hot. The addition of 1 fl. dr. of diluted sulphuric acid to the water before pouring it on the bark increases its solvent power, and, consequently the strength of the infusion.—Dose, 1 to 3 fl. oz.

2. (Concentrated; Infusum cinchonæ concentratum, L.)—a. Yellow bark (coarsely powdered), 4 lbs.; boiling water, 8 lbs.; digest for 12 hours, express the liquid, add rectified spirit, 2 lbs., and after 24 hours’ repose decant the clear portion.

b. Yellow bark (in coarse powder), 4 lbs.; cold water, 8 lbs.; rectified spirit, 2 lbs.; dilute sulphuric acid, 4 fl. oz.; mix the fluids, and either macerate the bark in them for a week in a closed vessel, or proceed by the method of displacement. Very superior.

Obs. 1 fl. dr. of either of the above, added to 7 fl. dr. of water, produces an extemporaneous infusion of cinchona resembling that of the pharmacopœia. The concentrated preparation of the Ph. L. being more than 8 times the usual strength, is placed amongst Liquors.

3. From PALE BARK:—a. (Ph. L., Infusion of pale cinchona; Infusum cinchonæ pallidæ—Ph. L.) From pale bark, as INFUSION OF CINCHONA—Ph. L.

b. (Ph. D.; Infusum cinchonæ—Ph. D.) Crown or pale bark, 1 oz.; boiling water, ¹⁄₂ pint; infuse 1 hour in a covered vessel, and strain through paper.

Obs. “This infusion is inferior to the preceding” (from yellow bark) “in activity, and is a very unnecessary one. It is said to oppress the stomach less than that of the other cinchona bark; the reason is obvious—it is weaker.” (Pereira.)

c. Concentrated; Infusum cinchonæ pallidæ concentratum, L. As CONCENTRATED INFUSION OF CINCHONA, but using pale bark. The concentrated preparation of the Ph. L. will be found under Liquors.

Infusion of Cin′namon. Syn. Cinnamon tea; Infusum Cinnamomi, L. In flatulence, dyspepsia, and nervous colics.

Infusion of Cloves. Syn. Clove tea; Infusum caryophyllorum, I. cariophylli (B. P.), L. Prep. 1. (B. P.) Cloves (bruised), 1 oz.; boiling distilled water, 20 oz.; infuse for half an hour, and strain. Aromatic, stimulant, and stomachic, either alone or in combination; in colic, dyspepsia, gout, &c.—Dose, 1 to 2 oz.

2. (Concentrated: Infusum caryophylli concentratum, L.)—a. Bruised cloves, 3 oz.; boiling water, 16 fl. oz.; infuse as above and strain; when cold, add of rectified spirit ¹⁄₄ pint, and filter.

b. Bruised cloves, 1³⁄₄ lb.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; cold water, 3 quarts; macerate for 7 days, and express the liquid; sprinkle the marc with water, 12 fl. oz., and after the lapse of an hour again submit it to the press; lastly filter the mixed liquors. Very fine. The above are about eight times the strength of the INFUSION OF CLOVES.—Ph. L.

Infusion of Cof′fee. Syn. Infusum caffei, L. Prep. (Dr McBride.) Unroasted coffee berries (bruised), 30 in no.; cold water, 1 quart; macerate 2 or 3 hours. In calculus, &c.—Dose, ¹⁄₂ pint every morning.

Obs. Sir J. Floyer and Sir J. Pringle cured asthma with a strong solution of roasted coffee. M. Bouchardat prescribes a strong infusion made by displacement (percolation), and mixed with a little brandy, in poisoning by opium and other like narcotics, after the administration of emetics and ioduretted water. M. Honore also employs very strong-made coffee in albuminuria. Clausen gives it in gout, and Parker employs it as a nervous stimulant in lieu of ammonia and wine, for persons of a slightly sensitive and excitable temperament.

Infusion of Contrayer′va. Syn. Infusum contrayervæ, L. Prep. (Pereira.) Contrayerva (in powder), 1 oz.; boiling water, 12 fl. oz. Stimulant, tonic, and diaphoretic; in low fevers, &c.

Infusion of Copal′che Bark. Syn. Infusum copalchi corticis, L. Prep. (Dr Stark.) Bark of copalche bush (Croton pseudo-China), ¹⁄₂ oz.; boiling water, 1 pint; digest 2 hours, and strain. A warm bitter and stomachic.

Infusion of Cor′sican Moss. Syn. Infusum helminthocorti, L. Prep. (Farr.) Corsican moss, 5 dr., boiling water, 1 pint; macerate for 10 or 12 hours, and strain. Ad libitum in cancer. See Decoction.

Infusion of Cotula. Syn. Infusum cotulæ. From dried flowers of Anthemio cotula, as infusion of chamomiles.

Infusion of Cuspa′′ria. Syn. Infusion of angostura bark; Infusum cuspariæ (B. P.), I. angusturæ, L. Prep. (B. P.) Cusparia, in coarse powder, 1 oz.; distilled water, at 120°, 20 oz.; infuse 2 hours, and strain. Stimulant and tonic; in typhus fever, bilious diarrhœa, dysentery, &c.

Infusion of Daf′′fodil. Syn. Infusum narcissi pseudo-narcissi, L. Prep. (Dufresnoy.) Flowers of daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus), 3 to 16 in no.; boiling water, 1 pint. Expectorant, nauseant, and emetic. In hooping-cough.

Infusion of Dah′′lia Pe′tals. From the violet or blue varieties. Used for its colour and as a test.

Infusion of Dandeli′on. Syn. Infusion of taraxacum; Infusum taraxaci, L. 1. From the sliced root. Stimulant, resolvent, and tonic.

2. (Concentrated; Infusum taraxaci concentratum, L.) From the root (sliced), 1 lb.; exposed to a current of warm dry air until crisp, then coarsely pulverised, and digested for a week in a mixture of rectified spirit, 12 fl. oz.; cold water, 1¹⁄₂ pint. 8 times the usual strength.

3. (Compound; Infusum taraxaci compositum, L.—Meigs.) Infusion of dandelion, 4 fl. oz.; extract of do., 2 dr.; sesquicarbonate of soda, ¹⁄₂ dr.; tartrate of potassa, 3 dr.; tincture of rhubarb, 3 fl. dr.; tincture of henbane, 20 drops. In dropsical and visceral affections.—Dose. One third part thrice daily. See Decoction, Extract, &c.

Infusion of Digita′lis. See Infusion of Foxglove.

Infusion, Diuret′ic. Syn. Infusum diureticum, L. Prep. 1. Broom tops, 1 oz.; boiling water, 1 pint; infuse 1 hour, strain, cool, and add of sweet spirits of nitre, 3 fl. dr.—Dose. A wine-glassful every other hour.

2. Infusion of foxglove, 1 fl. oz.; tincture of foxglove, ¹⁄₂ fl. dr.; acetate of potassa, 1 dr.; laudanum, 10 drops.—Dose, 1 table-spoonful twice or thrice a day, carefully watching the effects.