1262
ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.
n 0 iilla. v
uncry stallizable, gum, albumen, and salts of potash and htae. a]1( lIf ourn. de Pharm. x. 23) obtained from the root, leaves, floiv e ’seeds, an acrid principle, which he has termed violine.
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1. Odorous principle .—This has not been isolated. It is supposed, how _. 0 lvVs th®of the nature of volatile oil. By digesting violets in olive oil, the , Ia “ er '•! 0 f vioU is ’odorous matter, and acquires the smell of violets ; this preparation is the at ^ n re d' 1 "—the huile de violette of perfumers. The eau, or esprit de violette, is nothing ^ 0( | 0 uran alcoholic tincture of the rhizome of the Florentine orris (p.677), which ha
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d to
similar to that of the violet.
2. Colouring matter. —It is soluble in water, hut not in alcohol. It is cha s yriipby the strong acids, and to green by the alkalies : hence the expressed J> )ice
are valuable as tests for discovering the existence of either acids or alkalies. asion of violets has been said to contain three kinds of colo uring matter; deft
colouring matter, not precipitable by the acetate of lead, but which is comp*^ - „hicl>lorized by sulphuretted hydrogen ; secondly, a. bright-red acid colouring jna ^ t iold'causes a bluish-green precipitate with the solution of acetate of lead; third ?’[ thrc" !red colouring matter , which does not precipitate the neutral acetate of lead,down a greenish-yellow precipitate with the subacetate of lead. inlOh ^
3. Violine (Emitine indigene ). —It was at first mistaken for emetina (p- 1 A taste,nature requires further investigation. It is a white powder, of a bitter, a • ; ta teOslightly soluble ill water, soluble in alcohol, and insoluble in ether. It ,s ,F r j e [ine-from its solution by infusion of nutgalls. Its operation is similar to that oi en
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Physiological Effects. —The odorous emanations of violets,those of some other flowers, are said to have occasionally p r0 ' Lgerous, and in one case were supposed to have brought on a P J , ] u i?(Triller, quoted by Murray, App. Med. i. 778). Dr. Lindley {FI- ^ v j 0 let sknown them cause faintness and giddiness. Taken internally , ' ^
act as laxatives. The seeds possess similar properties. The r >doses of from 3ss. to 5j., proves emetic and purgative. . . sV ruf-
Uses. —Violets are employed in the preparation of the officinalThey are useful as a test for acids and alkalies, and are much ^after for bouquets. The root might be employed as a substitiipecacuanha. e tab»
Smupus Violm, E. D. Syrup of Violets . (Fresh Violets [to® 1D.] lb.j. [lb. ij. D.] ; Boiling Water , Oijss. [Ov. D.] ; Pure Sugar,
[lb. xij. and 3j. D.] Infuse the flowers for twenty-four hourswater [in a covered glass or earthenware vessel, E.\ ; strain [throUp^^jlinen, D.] without squeezing, and dissolve the sugar in the a
liquor).—The colour of this preparation is improved by making^^j,tin or pewter vessel. No satisfactory explanation of this has beenThe Edinburgh College, fearful, I presume, of a metallic imp re o’ ^ 0 fdirect glass or earthenware vessels to be employed.—Genuine s ^ e yedviolets is readily distinguished from any counterfeit by its being re ^ aS aby an acid, and made green by an alkali. Hence it is empl 0 }.^.^^test.—As a medicine it is used as a mild laxative for new-born jsThus, a mixture of equal parts of oil of almonds and syrup ot ' l0often administered, in the dose of one or two tea-spoonfuls, f° rpose mentioned.
Other Medicinal ViolacetB.
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The roots of several species of Ionidium possess emetic qualities, and haveployed as substitutes for our officinal ipecacuanha (Cephaelis Ipecacuanha)■ ■n ra zili a9
The root of Ionidium Ipecacuanha, a native of the Brazils, is termed false