*1U

APPENDIX.

place of the diascordium.—The dose of this electuary is from a scrupleto a drachm.

CONSERVES AND PRESERVES

I

Every apothecary's shop was formerly so full of these preparations,that it might have passed for a confectioner's warehouse. They possessvery few medicinal properties, and may rather be classed among sweet-meats than medicines. They are sometimes, however, of use for reducing into boluses or pills some of the more ponderous powders, as the pre-parations. ,of iron, quicksilver and tin. Conserves are compositions offresh vegetables and sugar beaten together into an uniform mass. Inmaking these preparations, the leaves of vegetables must be freed fromtheir stalks, the flowers from their cups, and the yellow part of orange-peel taken off with a rasy. They are then to be pounded in marble mor-tar, with a wooden pestle, into a smooth mass ; after which, thrice theirweight of fine sugar is commonly added by degrees, and the beating con-tinued till they are uniformly mixed ; but the conserve will be better ifonly twice its weight of sugar be added. Those who prepare largequantities of conserve generally reduce the vegetables to a pulp by themeans of a mill, and afterwards beat them up with the sugar.

Conserve of Red Roses.—Take a pound of red rose-buds, cleared oftheir beals; beat them well in a mortar, and, adding by degrees twopounds of double-refined sugar, in powder, make a conserve.—After thesame manner are prepared the conserves of orange-peel, rosemary-flowers,sea-wormwood, of the leaves of wood-sorrel, &c.—The conserve of rosesis one of the most agreeable and useful preparations belonging to thisclass. A drachm or two of it, dissolved in warm milk, is ordered to begiven as a gentle restringent in weakness of the stomach, and likewise inphthisical coughs, and spitting of blood. To have any cons : derable ef-fects, however, it must be taken in larger quantities.

Conserve of sloes—This may be made by boiling the sloes gently inwater, being careful to take them out before they burst; afterwards ex-pressing the juiee, and beating it up with three times its weight of tinesugar.—In relaxations of the uvula and glands of the throat, thismakes an excellent gargle, and may be used at discretion.

Preserves are made by steeping or boiling fresh vegetables first in wa-fer, and afterwards in syrup, or a solution of sugar. The subject is eithetpreserved moist in the syrup, or taken out and dried, that the sugar maycandy upon it. The last is the most useful method.

Candied Orange-Peel.—Soak Seville orange-peel in several waters, tillit loses its bitterness: then boil it in a solution of double-refined sugarin water, till it becomes tender and transparent.—Candied lemon-peel isprepared in the same manner.—It is needless to add more of these pre-parations, a3 they belong rather to the art of the confectioner than thatof the apothecary.

DECOCTIONS.

Water readily extracts the gummy and saline parts of vegetables;and though its action is chiefly confined to these, yet the resinous andoily being intimately blended with the gummy and saline, are in great