676
FORMICA.—ANT.
FORMICA RUFA, Linn.-WOOD ANT.
Synonimes :— Fourmi rouge, Fr. ; Amei-sen, Germ. ; Myrer, Dax. ; Formica,Ital. ; Mrowky, Pol.
Bavar. ; Bruns. ; Dan. ; Hisp. ; Gall.;Ferr. ; Hamb. ; Hann. ; Hass. ; Lipp. ;Olden.; Pol. ; Borus. ; Ross.; Sax.;Wirtem.; Brugnatelli ; GuiBOURT;Piderit; Spielmann.
This hymenopterous insect is common inwoods. (Porte-aiguillons hétérogynes, Bat.;Fig. Lat Hist. nat. des fourmis, p. 133. V.23). It is blackish, with a great part ofthe head, the corslet, and scale yellowish-red.It exhales a very strong acid odour, owingto a secretion furnished by two glands situ-ated near the anus. This acid is calledFormic Acid.
Sometimes the ants are taken alone bymeans of small rods smeared with honey ;sometimes they are taken, in May or June,with their chrysalides, improperly calledeggs, which are white and cylindrical {For-mica cum acervo) .
Ants are sometimes employed in the formof cataplasm ; sometimes also paralyzedlimbs are thrust into ants' nests to be stung.
SPIRIT OF ANTS.
Spirilus Formicarum, Agua Magnanimitatissimplex. Alcohol Formicarum distillatum.(Batav. ; Bavar.; Bruns.; Hann.;Hass. ; Lipp. ; Olden. ; Palat. ; Pol. ;Ross. ; Wirtem. ; Herbip, ; Piderit)
R. Ants, collected in June or July,
one pound.Alcohol, two pounds.
Distil one pound. (Hass. ; Piderit)
Bruns. ; Palat.; Wirtem. ; and Her-bip. direct distillation to dryness. — Lipp.prescribes one pound of ants, and fourpounds of spirit from grain; two pounds tobe distilled.
R. Ants,
Alcohol (0.900), > of each, one part.
Water, J
Distil one part and a third. (Bavar.)
Hann.; Olden.; Pol. ; Borus.; Ross.;and Niemann prescribe one part of ants,two parts of alcohol, and two of water ; twoparts to be distilled.
It is recommended externally, in paraly-sis and gout ; internally, as an aphrodisiac,anti-apoplectic, and diuretic.
Dose, from one to two drams.
compound tincture op ants.
Tinctura Formicarum composita. (Au-gustin)
R. Ants, a sufficient quantity
to fill to one half a glass bottle ; then fillthe bottle with alcohol, impregnated withthe juices of the roots of male fern andbryony. Filter at the end of two or threedays.
It is extolled by Wendt in gout, in thedose of from forty to fifty drops, which isto be gradually augmented, if the patientcan bear it, to one hundred.
aqua magnanimitatis. (Wirtem ;Cadet de Gassicourt ; Spielmann)
R. Ants, two pounds.
Alcohol, three pounds.
Macerate for five or six days, and thendistil to dryness in a water-bath. Infusein the product for three days,
Cinnamon, one ounce.
Cloves, "1 of each,
Lesser Cardamoms, J six drams.
Cubebs, half an ounce.
Zedoary, ten drams.
Distil to drj-ness. (Wirtem. ; Cadetde Gassicourt)
R. Spirit of Ants, sixty ounces.
---------- Balm, forty-eight ounces.
Lemon Peel, haîf an ounce.
Cinnamon, three drams.
Cloves, one ounce.Cardamoms, 1
one ounce.
of each, three drams.
of each,one ounce and a half.
Cubebs,
Zedoary,
Mastic,
Suprax,
Benzoin,
Digest for eight days, and distil. (Spiel-mann)
It is reputed cordial, stomachic, nervine,and aphrodisiac.
oil of ants.
Oleum Formicarum. (Bruns. ; Palat. ;
Niemann)
R. Ants, four ounces.
Olive Oil, one ounce.
Digest in a moderate heat for twentydays, and strain. (Bruns. ; Niemann)
Palat. directs the ants to be maceratedfor a month in oil of bitter almonds.
It lias been extolled for strengthening thegenital organs, and paralyzed limbs.