BLACK PITCH.

721

Pint!

th

s daily. As a wash in chronic skin diseases, especially those affect-.8 uie scalps of children, I have frequently seen it used, and sometimes

*ith

apparent benefit.

v ' - Ukguentuh Picm liquidje, L.E.D.; Tar Ointment. —(Tar , Mutton°f each, lb. j. Melt them together, and press through a linen clothsieve, Z).] The Edinburgh College takes five ounces of Tar , and twoH] C(iS °f Bees’ Wax ; and having melted the wax with a gentle heat,(is S ^ le tai ’ an( i sl ' rs th 0 mixture briskly, while it concretes on cooling).Sc .Principal use is as an application to ring-worm of the scalp andIq e d head ; in which it sometimes succeeds, but more frequently fails,Cure. It i s n ow and then applied to foul ulcers.f) |' Oleum Picis liquidm {Oleum Pini rubrum; Oil of Tar). —This ist^'Ued by distillation from tar. It is a reddish, limpid fluid, havinga °dour of tar. By re-distillation it may be rendered colourless, and^ 11 becomes very similar to oil of turpentine. It is occasionally used'U a'! 'dedication to ring-worm of the scalp and scalledhead. Swallowed

a ^ ar ge dose it has proved fatal ( Lancet for March 8th, 1834).

2. Fix ni'gra, L.— Black Pitch.

Pix arida, E.

gJtasToRY.—This is the irloaa bip'a {drypitch) of Dioscorides (lib. i. cap.j’ "Inch, he says, some call itaXljnriaaa {pitch boiled again).i^^Aratton.—W hen vegetable tar is submitted to distillation, antli e ^ ( ,l Uor {pyroligneous acid) and a volatile oil {oil of tar) pass over;

j/csiduum in the still is pitch {Pix nigra, L.)taill^ 0I>ERTIES ‘— At ordinary temperatures it is a black solid, having adi >ant fracture. It softens at 99° F. and melts in boiling water. ItCaw' es in alcohol and in solutions of the alkalies and of the alkaline

tauates.

tat ! Posrrio N.—Pitch is composed of pyrogenous resin and colophony;^Principally oipyretine (Berzelius , Traitc de Chim. t. vi, p. 680).tlVsi0I -0GiCAL Effects. —Made into pills with flour or any farina-substance, pitch may be taken to a great extent, not only withoutdcjq 2 )u t with advantage

Jh but with advantage to the general health. It affords one of thea 11( j effectual means of controlling the languid circulation, and the inertji,. ai 'id condition of the skin (Bateman, Synopsis of Cutaneous Diseases,kL ’ bth ed.) As a local remedy it possesses great adhesiveness, and

tas

a Pplied to wounds and ulcers acts as a stimulant and digestive.

—Bateman {op. cit.) speaks favourably of the internal use of pitchtat ^yosis. It has been employed also in other obstinate skin diseases.

ti,

°*>to

principal use of pitch is in the form of ointment, as an applica-

, J cutaneous affections of the scalp.

Ministration.—D ose from grs. x. to5j, made into pills with flour,ta ( Pupleasant pitchy flavour of the pills is materially diminished bythem for some time.

Mi ri , Picis nigrm, L.; Unguentum Basilicurn nigrum vel Tetra-

tai^m.—(Black Pitch, Wax, Resin, of each Six. ; Olive Oil , fSxvj.

them together, and press through a linen cloth). Stimulant andta f „ S 1Ve i used in the obstinate cutaneous eruptions of the scalp. (Vide(:nt urn Pids liquids.)

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