MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS.

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waiei.—>-This solution of the vitriolic (or, as it is now more properlycalled, the sulphuric) acid is a medicine that may be given in a glass o<pure water, in doses of ten to forty drops, or more, two or three times ina day, for creating an appetite, allaying inordinate actions of the stomach,sickness and vomiting. It is not unfrequently mixed with the decoctionof cinchona and other medicinal oreparations, to give the liquor anagreeable acidity, and to render them cooling, antiseptic, restringent,tonic, and stomachic.

BALSAMS.

The subject of this section is not the natural balsams, but certain com-positions, which, from their beina supposed to possess balsamic qualities,generally go by that names. This class of medicines was formerly verynumerous, and held in great esteem: modern practice, however, hasjustly reduced it to a very narrow compass.

Anodyne Balsam.—Take of white Spanish soap, one ounce ; opium,unprepared, two drachms; rectified spirit of wine, nine ounces. Digestthem together in a gentle heat for three days; then strain off the liquor,and add to it three drachms of camphor.—This balsam, as its title ex-presses, is intended to ease pain. It is of service in violent strains andrheumatic complaints, when not attended with inflammation. It mustbe rubbed with a warm hand on the part affected; or a linen rag moist-ened with it may be applied to the part, and renewed every third orfourth hour, till the pain abates. If the opium is left out, this will resemble the Soap Liniment, or what is called Opodeldoc.

Locatelli's Balsam.—Take of olive oil, one pint; Strasburg turpentineand yellow wax, of each half a pound; red saunders, six drachms. Meltthe wax with some part of the oil over a gentle fire; then add the re-maining part of the oil and the turpentine: afterwards mix in thesaunders, previously reduced to a powder, and keep them stirring to-gether till the balsam is cold.—This balsam is recommended in erosionsof the intestines, the dysentery, hemorrhages, internal bruises, and insome complaints of the breast. Outwardly it is used for healing andcleansing wounds and ulcers. The dose, when taken internally, is fromtwo scruples to two drachms.

The compound Tincture of Benjamin, or the Vulnerary Balsam.—Take of henzoin, powdered, three ounces ; balsam of Peru, two ounces;hepatic aloes, in powder, half an ounce; rectified spirit of wkie, twopints. Digest them in a gentle heat for three days, and then strain Ihebalsam.—This balsam, or rather tincture, is applied externally to healrecent woutids and bruises. It is likewise employed internally to removecoughs, asthmas, and other complaints of the breast. It is said to easethe coiic, cleanse the kidneys, and to heal internal ulcers, &c.—Th<>dose is from twenty to sixty drops.—This, though a medicine of somevalue, does not deserve the extravagant encomiums which have beenbestowed on it. It has been celebrated under the different names oSThe Commanders Balsam, Persian Balsam, Balsam of Berne, Wade'sBalsam, Friar's Balsam, Jesuit's Drons, Turlington's Drops, &c