A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    423/554 (page 411)
    SODII SILICAS. 1.5 part of water and in six parts of alcohol at 15° C. (59° F.); very soluble in boiling water and in boiling alcohol. (U. S. P.) Salicylate of sodium is an antiferment and possesses antiseptic properties, thouoh not to the same extent as does salicylic acid. It is slightly analgesic. (Prosser James, Z^z«../, July 4, 1885.) It is unirntating and readily absorbed. General Surgery.—Inglessis has employed a six per cent, solution in glycerite of salicylate of sodium in the treatment of Erysipelas, the affe'cted part to be covered with lint saturated with the solution, and then covered with raw cotton. Diseases of the Nose and Throat.—Since in the internal treat- ment of Rheumatic Affections salicylate of sodium is of repute, it has been assumed that the same remedy would be valuable in the local treat- ment of Acute Rheumatic Pharyngitis and Laryngitis. The drug serves a useful purpose in Nasal Diphtheria in a wash in the proportion of twenty grains to the ounce. A. C. Baily {^Boston Med. and Surg. Journ., October 25, 1888) employs a gargle for Pharyngitis in the pro- portion of five grains to the ounce of water. SODII SILICAS. Silicate of Sodium. Silicate of Soda. Liquid Glass. Silicate of sodium (Na^SiOg, or frequently Na2Si409) is made by fusing one part of silica, fine sand, or powdered flint and two parts of dried carbonate of sodium, mixed in powder, in an earthenware crucible, and pouring out the fused mass on a stone slab to cool. This is pulverized and treated with boiling water to dissolve the soluble part. The solution is filtered and concentrated, so as to form crystals on cooling. These are then purified by dissolving them in water heated to 37.7° C. (100° F.), filtering the solution, and concentrating it so that it may recrystallize. The commercial solution of silicate of sodium usually contains about twenty per cent, of silica and ten per cent, of soda. (U. S. D.) Silicate of sodium is protectant. It is employed for the same purposes as are starch and plaster-of-Paris in fixing dressings. General Surgery.—Silicate of sodium is employed satisfactorily in retaining in position the turns of the bandage adapted to make extensions on the thigh, either in fracture of the femur or hip disease. After the dressings are adjusted the bandaged portion of the limb is brushed over with the solution, which is allowed to dry. Each individual turn of the bandage is thus fixed, so that a single application of the agent suffices during the treatment. When it is desired to secure more than ordinary rigidity the following plan is recommended : The limb is first enveloped in a roller bandage ; over this is applied (preferably with a brush) a solu- tion of silicate of sodium, having a syrupy consistence. A second roller bandage is then adapted to the parts, and it in turn is covered with the