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.

    55/554 (page 43)
    the itching and stinging of Urticaria, and also as a local application in SuDAMEN, or ''Prickly Heat, and in Pruritus. The modus oper- andi of the drug in these affections has never been explained. Diseases of the Mouth, Throat, etc.—From its agreeable taste citric acid enters into the composition of confections and lozenges, each mass containing two grains of the agent. Citrate of potash may take its place. ACIDUM GALLICUM. Gallic Acid. Like tannic a.cid, gallic acid is obtained from galls, and really is a product of the action of a ferment in the presence of water upon tannic acid, converting it into gallic acid. It is in delicate, shiny, acicular crystals, almost colorless. It is inodorous, of a sourish, as- tringent taste, and of an acid reaction. (U. S. D.) It is soluble in loo parts of cold and three of boiling water, in four and five-tenths parts of alcohol, in one part of boiling alcohol, in three parts of absolute alcohol and 39 parts of absolute ether. (U. S. D.) A solution of 40 grains to the ounce in glycerin may be diluted by water without precipitation. Unlike tannic acid, it does not precipitate solution of gelatin. The only official preparation is the ointment (Unguentum Acidi Gallici), containing ten per cent, of gallic acid. Gallic acid has the local properties of tannic acid; while a weaker astringent than it, it possesses the advantage of being less irritating. General Surgery.—As a topical astringent application gallic acid is greatly inferior to tannic acid, as it does not coagulate albumin. D. H. Agnew recommends equal parts of gallic acid and iodoform as a dusting application in the treatment of Chancroids. This combination is especially useful when the sore has an indolent appearance and a ten- dency to sero-purulent discharge. Equal parts of the ointment of gallic acid and ointment of stramonium is one of the most serviceable topical applications for External Piles. In a great majority of cases this, in conjunction with either hot or cold water sitz-baths, twice daily, and the use of a mercurial, will relieve the patient in a short time. Agnew also advises the use of gallic acid and glycerin as a prophylactic in the treat- ment of delicate and Tender Nipples, care being taken that the breast is thoroughly cleaned before nursing. Diseases of the Throat.—Some writers believe that the addition of one-third gallic acid to two-thirds tannic acid in local treatment of the inflammations of the nose and throat, diminishes the irritative effects of the latter without lessening its astringent properties. Used in the form of a lozenge, each mass should contain two grains of the agent.