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 cogn itive sci ence

Human Reasoning and

Cognitive Science

and
Keith Stenning and Michiel van Lambalgen

Human Reasoning
Cognitive Science
Human In Human Reasoning and Cognitive Science, Keith
Stenning and Michiel van Lambalgen—a cognitive

Reasoning
scientist and a logician—argue for the indispensability
Keith Stenning is Professor of Human “Once in a while there is a body of work that reconceptualizes a topic of research. of modern mathematical logic to the study of human
Communication in the School of Informatics at This book reports and reviews such a body of work. The result is a framing and reasoning. Logic and cognition were once closely

the University of Edinburgh. He is author of Seeing hypotheses about reasoning that, in my judgment, fundamentally reconstructs the
AND connected, they write, but were “divorced” in the past

Cognitive
psychology of inferential reasoning.... This book will be regarded as the major century; the psychology of deduction went from being
Reason and coauthor of Introduction to Cognition
turning point in the field’s development.” central to the cognitive revolution to being the subject of
and Communication (MIT Press, 2006).
widespread skepticism about whether human reasoning

Science
James Greeno, LRDC, University of Pittsburgh really happens outside the academy. Stenning and
van Lambalgen argue that logic and reasoning have

Michiel van Lambalgen is Professor of Logic and been separated because of a series of unwarranted

Van Lambalgen
Stenning AND
“This deep and stimulating book, by a leading psychologist and a leading logician, assumptions about logic.
Cognitive Science at the University of Amsterdam
is about the choice of logical formalisms for representing actual reasoning. There
and coauthor of The Proper Treatment of Events. Stenning and van Lambalgen contend that psychology
are two interlocking questions: what are the right formalisms to represent how people
cannot ignore processes of interpretation in which people,
reason, and what forms do the reasoners themselves bring to the world in order to
wittingly or unwittingly, frame problems for subsequent
reason about it? The authors’ answer to the first question, using closed-world
reasoning. The authors employ a neurally implementable
reasoning, allows them to analyze the wide range of strategies that people use for
defeasible logic for modeling part of this framing process,
shaping their thinking. For example, the book uncovers important links between
and show how it can be used to guide the design of
autism and nonmonotonic reasoning. This may be the first book in cognitive
experiments and interpret results. They draw examples
science that logicians can learn some new logic from.” from deductive reasoning, from the child’s development
of understandings of mind, from analysis of a psychiatric
Wilfrid Hodges, Queen Mary, University of London
disorder (autism), and from the search for the evolutionary
origins of human higher mental processes.

The picture proposed is one of fast, cheap, automatic

A Br ad f ord B ook The MIT Press but logical processes bringing to bear general knowledge
978-0-262-19583-6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Keith Stenning AND on the interpretation of task, language, and context, thus
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142
[Link] Michiel Van Lambalgen enabling human reasoners to go beyond the information
given. This proposal puts reasoning back at center stage.
Human Reasoning and Cognitive Science
 Human Reasoning and Cognitive Science

Keith Stenning and Michiel van Lambalgen

A Bradford Book
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2008
c Massachusetts Institute of Technology

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or infor-
mation storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or
sales promotional use. For information, please email special sales@[Link]
.edu or write to Special Sales Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street,
Cambridge, MA 02142.

This book was set in latex by the authors. Printed and bound in the United
States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stenning, Keith.
Human reasoning and cognitive science / Keith Stenning and Michiel van
Lambalgen.
p. cm. – (A Bradford book)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-262-19583-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cognitive science. 2.
Reasoning. 3. Logic. I. Lambalgen, Michiel van, 1954- II. Title.
BF311.S67773 2008
153.4–dc22
2007046686

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Nye (KS)
To Stijn (MvL)
Contents

I Groundwork 1
1 Introduction: Logic and Psychology 3
1.1 Forms of Rationality 4
1.2 How Logic and Cognition Got Divorced 8
1.3 Two Philosophers on the Certainty of Logic: Frege and
Husserl 9
1.3.1 Frege’s Idealism in Logic 10
1.3.2 Husserl as a Forerunner of Semantics 12
1.4 What the Reader May Expect 15
2 The Anatomy of Logic 19
2.1 How Not to Think about Logical Reasoning 20
2.2 Reasoning to an Interpretation as Parameter Setting 20
2.2.1 Classical Propositional Logic 25
2.2.2 Truth–Functionality without Bivalence 27
2.2.3 A Domain in which Bivalence is Truly Ridiculous 28
2.3 The Many Faces of Closed–World Reasoning 33
2.3.1 Closed–World Reasoning, More Formally 33
2.3.2 Unknown Preconditions 34
2.3.3 Causal and Counterfactual Reasoning 38
2.3.4 Attribution of Beliefs and Intentions 39
3 A Little Logic Goes a Long Way 43
3.1 The Mother of All Reasoning Tasks 44
3.2 A Preliminary Logical Distinction 46
3.3 Logical Forms in Reasoning 49
3.4 Logical Forms in the Selection Task 52
3.4.1 The Big Divide: Descriptive and Deontic
Conditionals 53
3.5 Giving Subjects a Voice 59
viii Contents

3.5.1 The Design of the Tutorial Experiment:

High-Energy Phenomenology 61
3.5.2 Subjects’ Understanding of Truth and Falsity 63
3.5.3 Dependencies between Card Choices 70
3.5.4 The Pragmatics of the Descriptive Selection Task. 74
3.5.5 Interaction between Interpretation and Reasoning 75
3.5.6 Subjects’ Understanding of Propositional
Connectives 80
3.6 Matching Bias: the “No-Processing” Explanation 86
3.7 The Subject’s Predicament 87
3.8 Conclusion 90
4 From Logic via Exploration to Controlled Experiment 93
4.1 Designing Experiments Following Observations 95
4.1.1 Conditions: Classical “Abstract” Task 95
4.1.2 Conditions: Two–Rule Task 95
4.1.3 Conditions: Contingency Instructions 96
4.1.4 Conditions: Judging Truthfulness of an
Independent Source 97
4.1.5 Conditions: Exploring Other Kinds of Rules than
Conditionals 99
4.1.6 Subjects 99
4.1.7 Method 99
4.1.8 Results 100
4.2 Discussion of Results 101
4.2.1 The Two–Rule Task 102
4.2.2 Contingency Instructions 105
4.2.3 Truthfulness Instructions 107
4.2.4 The Conjunctive Rule 107
4.2.5 Putting It All Together? 110
4.3 What Does This Say about Reasoning More Generally? 112
5 From the Laboratory to the Wild and Back Again 117
5.1 The Laboratory 117
5.1.1 Mental Logic 118
5.1.2 Mental Models 119
5.1.3 Darwinian Algorithms 120
5.1.4 Cold Water 120
5.2 A View with No Room 121
5.3 The Literate Wild 124
5.3.1 The Literate Wild: System 1 Processes 125
5.3.2 The Literate Wild: System 2 Processes 128
5.3.3 The Relation between System 1 and System 2 130
Contents ix

5.4 The Illiterate Wild 130

5.4.1 Excursion: Electroconvulsive Therapy and
Syllogistic Reasoning 134
6 The Origin of Human Reasoning Capacities 139
6.1 Crude Chronology 140
6.2 Evolutionary Thinking: From Biology to Evolutionary
Psychology 142
6.2.1 Analogy and Disanalogy with Language 143
6.2.2 Innateness 143
6.2.3 Adaptationism and its Discontents 145
6.2.4 Massive Modularity 148
6.3 What Evolutionary Psychology Has to Say about
Reasoning 152
6.3.1 Reassessing Cheater Detection 153
6.3.2 Why Cheater Detection Is Claimed to Override
Logical Form 155
6.3.3 Altruism 156
6.3.4 The Moral, Part 1: The Problem of Phenotypic
Description 157
6.3.5 The Moral, Part 2: What’s so Special about
Logical Reasoning 159
6.4 Modularity with a Human Face 160
6.4.1 Planning: Continuities with Our Ancestors 161
6.4.2 Discontinuities 163
6.5 Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings 164
6.5.1 Altriciality and Social Behavior 165
6.5.2 Altriciality and Neurogenesis 167
6.5.3 Altriciality in the Evolution of Homo 169
6.6 Conclusion: Back to the Laboratory (and the Drawing
Board) 170

II Modeling 173
7 Planning and Reasoning: The Suppression Task 177
7.1 The Suppression Task and Byrne’s Interpretation 180
7.2 Logical Forms in the Suppression Task 183
7.2.1 Logic Programming and Planning: Informal
Introduction 185
7.2.2 Logic Programming and Planning Formally 186
7.2.3 Strengthening the Closed–World Assumption:
Integrity Constraints 189
x Contents

7.2.4 Constructing Models 192

7.3 How Closed–World Reasoning Explains Suppression 195
7.3.1 The Forward Inferences: MP and DA 196
7.3.2 The Backward Inferences: MT and AC 200
7.3.3 Summary 202
7.4 Data from Tutorial Dialogues 203
7.4.1 Suppression of MP Exists 204
7.4.2 Evidence for the Involvement of Closed–World
Reasoning in Suppression 205
7.4.3 Is there a Role for Classical Logic? 207
7.4.4 Nonsuppression Comes in Different Flavors 208
7.4.5 Different Roles of the Second Conditional 209
7.4.6 Suppression is Relative to Task Setup 211
7.4.7 The Consistent Subject: a Mythical Beast? 212
7.5 Probabilities Don’t Help as Much as Some Would Like 213
8 Implementing Reasoning in Neural Networks 217
8.1 Closed–World Reasoning and Neural Nets 218
8.2 From Logic Programs to Recurrent Neural Networks 222
8.2.1 Positive Programs 222
8.2.2 Definite Programs 225
8.3 Backward Reasoning and Closed–World Reasoning for
Rules 231
8.4 Constructing the Nets 232
8.4.1 Fast Functional Links 232
8.4.2 Between the Sheets 234
8.5 A Hidden Layer of Abnormalities 235
8.6 Discussion 237
9 Coping with Nonmonotonicity in Autism 241
9.1 Psychological Theories of Autism 242
9.1.1 Theory of Mind 242
9.1.2 Affective Foundation 243
9.1.3 Weak Central Coherence 244
9.1.4 Executive Disorder 245
9.2 Logic and Experiment in the Study of Psychiatric Disorders 246
9.3 Theory of Mind and Reasoning 248
9.4 Reasoning in the False Belief Task 249
9.4.1 Formal Language and Principles 251
9.4.2 Closed–World Reasoning in the Normal Child
Older Than 4 Years 253
9.4.3 Attribution of Beliefs and Closed–World
Reasoning in the Younger or Autistic Child 254
Contents xi

9.4.4 Reasoning in an Unexpected Contents Task 255

9.4.5 What This Analysis of the Child’s Reasoning Tells
Us 257
9.5 Counterfactual Reasoning 259
9.6 Executive Dysfunction and the Box Task 262
9.6.1 Closed–World Reasoning in the Box Task 264
9.6.2 The Suppression Task as a Formal Analogue of the
Box Task 266
9.7 Autists’ Performance in the Suppression Task 267
9.8 Dialogue Data 269
9.8.1 Excerpts from Dialogues: MP 270
9.8.2 Excerpts from Dialogues: MT 270
9.8.3 Excerpts from Dialogues: AC 272
9.9 A Similar Task with very Different Outcomes 272
9.9.1 The ‘A not B’ Task 274
9.10 Summing up the Cognitive Analyses 276
9.11 The Biological Setting of Autism 279
9.11.1 Brain Development and Implementations of
Closed–World
Reasoning 282
9.11.2 The Genetics of Autism and Parental Resource
Allocation 288
10 Syllogisms and Beyond 297
10.1 Putting It All Back Together 297
10.2 What is the Syllogistic Task? 298
10.2.1 Syntax 299
10.2.2 Semantics 299
10.3 Euler Circles 301
10.3.1 Strategies for Combining Diagrams 303
10.3.2 Metalogical Considerations 306
10.4 Individual Differences in Interpretation 309
10.4.1 Immediate Inferences and the Understanding of
Deductive Tasks 310
10.4.2 A New Experiment on Immediate Inference 312
10.5 Syllogistic Reasoning 316
10.5.1 Individual Factors Influencing Reasoning 317
10.5.2 Statistical analysis 318
10.5.3 From Data Description to a Psychological Model 319
10.5.4 Incorporating Interpretation Factors into the
Reasoning Model 323
10.6 Mental Models 331
xii Contents

10.6.1 Experimental Evidence 331

10.6.2 What Is a Mental Model? 332
10.6.3 The “Algorithm” of the Mental Models Theory 332
10.6.4 Predictions 338
10.6.5 Conclusion: The Logic of Mental Models 339
10.6.6 Morals from Syllogisms? 341

III Is Psychology Hard or

Impossible? 343
11 Rationality Revisited 347
11.1 Logic and Information–Processing 347
11.1.1 Information Processing 348
11.1.2 Logic as Information–Processing 350
11.1.3 On Why We are Not Postmodern Relativists 352
11.1.4 Logic as Information Extraction: Examples 352
11.1.5 Some Information–Processing is Best Viewed as
Logic 354
11.1.6 Nonmonotonic Logic and the
Competence/Performance Distinction 355
11.2 The Bottom Line 356
11.2.1 Subjects and Experiments 357
11.2.2 Homo sapiens sapiens 365
Bibliography 367

Citation Index 391

General Index 397

Preface

In the late summer of 1998, the authors, a cognitive scientist and a logician,
started talking about the relevance of modern mathematical logic to the study of
human reasoning, and we have been talking ever since. This book is an interim
report of that conversation. It argues that results such as those on the Wason
selection task, purportedly showing the irrelevance of formal logic to actual
human reasoning, have been widely misinterpreted, mainly because the picture
of logic current in psychology and cognitive science is completely mistaken.
We aim to give the reader a more accurate picture of mathematical logic and, in
doing so, hope to show that logic, properly conceived, is still a very helpful tool
in cognitive science. The main thrust of the book is therefore constructive. We
give a number of examples in which logical theorizing helps in understanding
and modeling observed behavior in reasoning tasks, deviations of that behavior
in a psychiatric disorder (autism), and even the roots of that behavior in the
evolution of the brain.
The manuscript was tried out by us in many courses over the past five years,
and has been much improved as a result of the insightful questions of our stu-
dents. Rineke Verbrugge and Bart Verheij also taught a course from a draft
and we thank them and their students for much insightful feedback. We also
thank the colleagues who commented on individual chapters or their precur-
sors: Theodora Achourioti, Jonathan Adler, Marian Counihan, Richard Cox,
Hartmut Fitz, Jim Greeno, Fritz Hamm, Wilfrid Hodges, Tikitu de Jager, Phil
Johnson-Laird, Hans Kamp, Alex Korzec, Max Roberts, Lance Rips, Heleen
Smid, and Martin Stokhof. Special thanks go to Bob Kowalski, who read and
commented on the entire manuscript. The mistakes are, of course, our own.
We dedicate this book to our children.
PART I

Groundwork
1 Introduction: Logic and Psychology

The purpose of this book is twofold. Our first aim is to see to what extent the
psychology of reasoning and logic (more generally, semantics) are relevant to
each other. After all, the psychology of reasoning and logic are in a sense about
the same subject, even though in the past century a rift has opened up between
them. Very superficially speaking, logic appears to be normative, whereas the
psychology of reasoning is descriptive and concerned with processing. The first
question then is: what is the relation between these two fields of inquiry?
The psychology of reasoning as a field currently adopts a particular view of
this relation: we propose a quite different one. The book therefore should be
relevant to students of logic who are interested in applications of logic to cogni-
tion. But the book should also be relevant to any psychologist who is interested
in reasoning or communication, or any other cognitive capacity where a cog-
nitive account has to be founded on an informational analysis of a cognitive
capacity. These two groups come to the topic with very different methodolog-
ical equipment. The logic student interested in cognition comes with an un-
derstanding of the level of abstraction that modern logical theories operate at,
but with possibly sparse knowledge of psychological observations of reasoning.
Students of psychology come with knowledge of the experimental literatures,
but those literatures are strongly formed by a different conception of logic – a
conception, current in the nineteenth century,1 in which logic is thought of as a
mechanism for reasoning, and a universal, normatively valid mechanism at that.
This presents us with an educational dilemma. The logical analyses presented
here are couched at a level which is intended to be comprehensible to nonlo-
gicians with sufficient patience to digest logical formulas.2 From experience,
the problems encountered are not so much problems about the technicalities of
the systems (which are often not the main point here) but background assump-
tions about what logic is about and what such systems do and do not attempt
to provide. So our message to the psychology student venturing here would

1. Although already at that time more refined conceptions existed; compare section 1.3 on Husserl.
2. Chapter 2 does duty as an introduction to those aspects of logic most important for our purposes.
4 1 Introduction: Logic and Psychology

be that we promise to show that these analyses can make a real difference to
how empirical investigations are designed, so venturing is well worthwhile.
But understanding requires that many routine assumptions about logic are left
at the door. Modern logical theories provide a conceptual and mathematical
framework for analyzing information systems such as people’s reasoning and
communication. They do not settle mechanisms or processes of reasoning, but
without their conceptualization, it is impossible to know what are empirical and
what are conceptual questions.
To the student venturing from logic our message is that we obviously cannot
provide more than the very bare outlines of a few empirical results, along with
some pointers to the literature. So we need to warn against assuming that the
empirical phenomena are as simple or separable as they are bound to appear.
The immense contribution that psychology has made to understanding the mind
largely consists of bodies of empirical knowledge about what phenomena are
replicable under what range of conditions. Much of this knowledge is implicit
in the literature.
This educational dilemma leads naturally to our second wider aim, to dis-
cuss some of the theories offered in the literature from the point of view of
the philosophy and methodology of science. For instance, both mental models
theory and evolutionary psychology, which take their starting points in obser-
vations about the psychology of reasoning, have become hugely popular ex-
planatory paradigms in psychology. We will see that the experiments claimed
to support these theories are marred by conceptual confusions and attendant
methodological errors, and that the theories themselves show little awareness
of the subtleties of logic. Part of our purpose is therefore to propose a differ-
ent methodology for this field, which takes Marr’s idea of “levels of analysis”
seriously.

1.1 Forms of Rationality

Traditionally, rationality is taken to be a defining characteristic of human na-

ture: “man is a rational animal,” apparently capable of deliberate thought, plan-
ning, problemsolving, scientific theorizing and prediction, moral reasoning, and
so forth. If we ask what “rational” means here, we can read such things as: “In
rational discourse one strives to arrive at justified true belief,” a definition of ra-
tionality from an era oriented toward theory. Our more pragmatically oriented
age has extended this concept of rationality to actions. For instance, in the MIT
Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, “rational agency” is defined as a coherence
requirement:

[T]he agent must have a means-end competence to fit its actions or decisions, according
to its beliefs or knowledge representations, to its desires or goal-structure.
1.1 Forms of Rationality 5

Without such coherence there is no agent. The onus here is on the term fit
which seems to have a logical component. If an action is performed which is
not part of a plan derived to achieve a given goal, there is no fit. In this sense
checking my horoscope before mounting the bike to go to work is not rational,
and neither is first puncturing the tires.
Philosophy, then, studies the question: are there optimal rules for conducting
such activities? Various logics, scientific methodology, heuristics, probability,
decision theory, all have claims to normative status here, where normativity
means that everybody should obey the rules of these systems in all circum-
stances. As a consequence, there exists an absolute distinction between valid
arguments and fallacies. Judged by these standards, human reasoning in the
laboratory is very poor indeed (as shown by the seminal experiments of Wason
[295] for logic and Kahneman and Tversky [150] for probability), and it has
therefore been said that humans are actually not rational in the sense defined
above.
It is usually assumed that the results obtained in the psychology of reasoning
tell us something about the rationality, or rather the absence thereof, of hu-
man reasoning. The following extended quotation from Peter Wason, one of
the founding fathers of the field whose “selection task” will serve as our en-
trypoint below, exemplifies this attitude to perfection. He writes, concluding
an overview of his selection task paradigm for The Oxford Companion to the
Mind,
Our basic paradigm has the enormous advantage of being artificial and novel; in these
studies we are not interested in everyday thought, but in the kind of thinking which oc-
curs when there is minimal meaning in the things around us. On a much smaller scale,
what do our students’ remarks remind us of in real life? They are like saying “Of course,
the earth is flat,” “Of course, we are descended from Adam and Eve,” “Of course, space
has nothing to do with time.” The old ways of seeing things now look like absurd preju-
dices, but our highly intelligent student volunteers display analogous miniature prejudices
when their premature conclusions are challenged by the facts. As Kuhn has shown, old
paradigms do not die in the face of a few counterexamples. In the same way, our volun-
teers do not often accommodate their thought to new observations, even those governed
by logical necessity, in a deceptive problem situation. They will frequently deny the facts,
or contradict themselves, rather than shift their frame of reference.
Other treatments and interpretations of problem solving could have been cited. For in-
stance, most problems studied by psychologists create a sense of perplexity rather than
a specious answer. But the present interpretation, in terms of the development of dogma
and its resistance to truth, reveals the interest and excitement generated by research in
this area. (Wason [300,p. 644])

What lies behind remarks such as Wason’s is the view that reasoning, whether
logical or probabilistic, can be judged to be rational if certain reasoning rules
from a fixed, given set are followed. If these rules are not followed, dire conse-
quences may result. A good example of this attitude is furnished by Stanovich’s
book Who is Rational? [254]. The following quotation gives some idea of the
6 1 Introduction: Logic and Psychology

passions that infuse this approach. Stanovich considers irrationality to lead to

the occurrence of
wars, economic busts, technological accidents, pyramid sales schemes, telemarketing
fraud, religious fanaticism, psychic scams, environmental degradation, broken marriages,
and savings and loan scandals [254,p. 9]

and believes teaching good reasoning, that is, normatively correct rules, will go
some way toward improving this distressing situation.
Stanovich’s discussion of rules governing reasoning introduces a distinction
between normative, descriptive, and prescriptive rules. We give brief charac-
terizations of the three kinds, followed by representative examples.
• Normative rules: reasoning as it should be, ideally
– Modus tollens: ¬q, p → q/¬p,
P (S|D)P (D)
– Bayes’ theorem: P (D | S) = P (S) .

• Descriptive rules: reasoning as it is actually practiced

– Many people do not endorse modus tollens and believe that from ¬q, p →
q nothing can be derived.
– In doing probabilistic calculations of the probability of a disease given a
cluster of symptoms, even experts sometimes neglect the “base rate” and
put P (D | S) = P (S | D).
• Prescriptive3 rules: these are norms that result from taking into account
our bounded rationality, i.e., computational limitations (due to the computa-
tional complexity of classical logic, and the even higher complexity of prob-
ability theory) and storage limitations (the impossibility of simultaneously
representing all factors relevant to a computation, say, of a plan to achieve a
given goal).
– The classically invalid principle ¬q, p ∧ r → q/¬p ∧ ¬r is correct ac-
cording to closed–world reasoning, which is computationally much less
complex than classical propositional logic, and ameliorates storage prob-
lems.
– Chater and Oaksford’s “heuristic rules” for solving syllogisms. [36]
In terms of these three kinds of rules, Stanovich then distinguishes the following
positions on the relationship between reasoning and rationality [254,pp.4–9]:
• Panglossian. Human reasoning competence and performance is actually nor-
matively correct. What appears to be incorrect reasoning can be explained
3. The term is not very apt, but we will stick to Stanovich’s terminology.
1.1 Forms of Rationality 7

by such maneuvers as different task construal, a different interpretation of

logical terms, etc. (A famous defense of his point of view can be found
in Henlé [122].) As a consequence, no education in “critical thinking” is
necessary.

• Apologist. Actual human performance follows prescriptive rules, but the

latter are in general (and necessarily) subnormal, because of the heavy com-
putational demands of normatively correct reasoning. This point of view was
defended by Oaksford and Chater [205, 36]. As a consequence, education in
“critical thinking” is unlikely to be helpful.

• Meliorist. Actual human reasoning falls short of prescriptive standards,

which are themselves subnormal; there is therefore much room for improve-
ment by suitable education (Stanovich’s own position).

• Eliminativist.4 Reasoning rarely happens in real life, and mainly in insti-

tutional contexts such as schools. By contrast, true rationality is adaptive-
ness: we have developed “fast and frugal algorithms” which allow us to
take quick decisions which are optimal given constraints of time and energy.
This position is defended by evolutionary psychologists such as Cosmides
and Tooby[47, 48] and, in more constructive detail, by Gigerenzer [95].

It will be helpful for the reader if we situate our own position with respect to this
scheme. We are definitely not in the eliminativist camp, since we take the view
that reasoning is everywhere, most prominently in discourse comprehension.
This prime example is often overlooked because of the association of reason-
ing with conscious processing, but this association is wrong: some reasoning
is automatic.5 The same example leads us to think that human reasoning may
not be so flawed after all, since it operates rather competently in this domain.
We are not Panglossians either, although we emphasize that interpretation is
of paramount importance in reasoning. But even if interpretation is important,
and interpretations may differ, people may reason in ways which are inconsis-
tent with their chosen interpretation. From a methodological point of view this
means that if one uses a particular interpretation to explain performance, one
must have evidence for the interpretation which is independent of the perfor-
mance. The apologist and meliorist positions introduce the distinction between
normative and prescriptive rules. Here it becomes clear that Stanovich’s scheme
is predicated on the assumption that reasoning is about following rules from a
fixed, given set, say classical logic, rules which should apply always and every-
where. For if there is no given set of rules which constitutes the norm, and the
norm is instead relative to a “domain,” then the domain may well include the

4. Actually, this category does not occur in [254], but we have added it due to its increased prominence.
5. Chapter 5 has more on this.
8 1 Introduction: Logic and Psychology

cognitive constraints that gave rise to the notion of prescriptive rules, thus pro-
moting the latter to the rank of norm. This is what we will argue for in several
places in the book, in particular in chapter 11.
In the next section we briefly look at the role logic once played in cognitive
science, and the reasons for its demise.

1.2 How Logic and Cognition Got Divorced

The cognitive sciences really got off the ground after they adopted the information-
processing metaphor (Craik [52]):
1. Cognitive explanations must refer to models, conceived of as representa-
tional mechanisms
2. which function “in the same way” as the phenomena being represented
3. and which are capable of generating behavior and thoughts of various kinds.
The role of logic in this scheme was twofold: on the one hand as a formal, sym-
bolic, representation language (which is very expressive!), on the other hand as
an inference mechanism generating behavior and thoughts. It was furthermore
believed that these inference mechanisms are continuous with overt reasoning;
that is, the same processes can be applied both reflectively and automatically.
An extreme form of this attitude is of course Piaget’s “logicism” [216], which
maintains that the acquisition of formal-deductive operations is the crown of
cognitive development. Piaget did the first studies to show that preschool chil-
dren do not yet master simple classical predicate logic; but he also assumed
that everyone gets there in the end. This proved to be the Achilles heel of
this form of logicism. Indeed, Wason’s selection task was inter alia directed
against this assumption, and its apparent outcome – a striking deviation from
classical logical reasoning – seemingly undermined the role of logic as an infer-
ence mechanism. A further criticism concerned the alleged slowness of logical
inference mechanisms, especially when search is involved, for example when
backtracking from a given goal. Thus, Newell and Simon style “production sys-
tems”[199], of which Anderson and Lebiere’s ACT-R [2], is the most famous
example, keep only the inference rule of modus ponens, allowing fast forward
processing, at the cost of considerable complications elsewhere.
Lastly, the advent of neural network theory brought to the fore criticisms of
the symbolic representational format given by logic: it would be tied to brittle,
all-or-none representations, uncharacteristic of actual cognitive representations
with their inherently fuzzy boundaries. As a further consequence of this brit-
tleness, learning symbolic representations would be unrealistically hard. As a
result, from the position of being absolutely central in the cognitive revolution,
which was founded on conceptions of reasoning, computation, and the analysis
1.3 Two Philosophers on the Certainty of Logic: Frege and Husserl 9

of language, the psychology of deduction has gone to being the deadbeat of cog-
nitive psychology, pursued in a ghetto, surrounded by widespread skepticism as
to whether human reasoning really happens outside the academy. “Isn’t what
we really do decision?” we increasingly often hear. Many eminent psychology
departments do not teach courses on reasoning. Imagine such a psychology de-
partment (or indeed any psychology department) not teaching any courses on
perception. Even where they do teach reasoning they are more likely to be fo-
cused on analogical reasoning, thought of as a kind of reasoning at the opposite
end from deduction on some dimension of certainty.
We will argue that logic and reasoning have ended up in this ghetto because of
a series of unwarranted assumptions. One of the tasks of this book is to examine
these assumptions, and show that they do not bear scrutiny. As a prelude, we
consider the vexed issue of the normative status of logic, through some of the
history of present day conceptualizations.

1.3 Two Philosophers on the Certainty of Logic: Frege and Husserl

Famously, Aristotle provided the first rules for reasoning with quantifiers of the
form “All A are B,” “Some A are B,” “No A are B” and “Some A are not
B,” starting centuries of work on how to provide principled explanations for
the validity of some syllogisms, and the invalidity of others. This search for an
explanation turned to the notion of validity itself (überhaupt, we are tempted to
say), and Kant opined in the Critique of Pure Reason that logical laws constitute
the very fabric of thought: thinking which does not proceed according to these
laws is not properly thinking.6
In the nineteenth century, this “transcendental” doctrine of logic was wa-
tered down to a naturalistic version called psychologism, which holds that all of
thinking and knowledge are psychological phenomena and that therefore log-
ical laws are psychological laws. To take an example from John Stuart Mill,
the law of noncontradiction ¬(A ∧ ¬A) represents the impossibility of thinking
contradictory thoughts at the same time. Thus, normative and descriptive rules
coincide. What came after, a strong emphasis on normativity, can to a large
extent be seen as a reaction to this view. Gottlob Frege was the driving force
behind the reaction, and his views still exert their influence on the textbooks.

6. It is impossible to do justice here to Kant’s thinking on logic. It is still common to think of Kant’s logic
as primitive, and its role in the Critique of Pure Reason as an instance of Kant’s architectonic mania. This
is very far from the truth, and Kant’s thinking on, for instance, logical consequence remains relevant to this
day. In fact, our concluding chapter 11 has many affinities with Kant, although it would require another
book to explain why. Béatrice Longuenesse’s Kant and the Capacity to Judge [175] is an excellent guide to
the wider significance of Kant’s logic. The reader may also consult Patricia Kitcher’s Kant’s Transcendental
Psychology [159] for an exposition of Kant’s relevance to cognitive science. Kitcher’s remarks on the simi-
larities between Kant’s first Critique and Marr’s program in cognitive science [183] have influenced chapter
11. We thank Theodora Achourioti for pointing out these connections.
10 1 Introduction: Logic and Psychology

1.3.1 Frege’s Idealism in Logic

Frege did not hesitate to point out the weak empirical basis of psychologism: is
it really true that we cannot simultaneously think contradictory thoughts? Wish
it were so! His chief argument, however, was theoretical, and consisted of two
main reservations about a naturalistic treatment of logic (and mathematics):
1. Psychologism makes logic pertain to ideas only, and as a consequence it
lacks resources to explain why logic is applicable to the real world.
2. Logical and mathematical knowledge are objective, and this objectivity can-
not be safeguarded if logical laws are properties of individual minds.
We now present a few extracts from Frege’s writings to illustrate his views
on psychologism.
As regards 1 we read:
Psychological treatments of logic . . . lead then necessarily to psychological idealism.
Since all knowledge is judgmental, every bridge to the objective is now broken off. (G.
Frege, Nachgelassene Schriften; see [85])

Neither logic nor mathematics has the task of investigating minds and the contents of
consciousness whose bearer is an individual person. (G. Frege, Kleine Schriften; see
[85])

The logicians . . . are too much caught up in psychology . . . Logic is in no way a part of
psychology. The Pythagorean theorem expresses the same thought for all men, while each
person has its own representations, feelings and resolutions that are different from those
of every other person. Thoughts are not psychic structures, and thinking is not an inner
producing and forming, but an apprehension of thoughts which are already objectively
given. (G. Frege, letter to Husserl; see 6, p. 113 of [135])

The last sentence is especially interesting: if “thinking is not an inner producing

and forming,” cognitive science has no business investigating thinking, logical
reasoning in particular. What the psychologist finds interesting in reasoning
is precisely what steps the mind executes in drawing an inference, i.e., in the
process more than the result. The quotation just given suggests that logic itself
has little to contribute to this inquiry, and indeed psychologists have generally
heeded Frege’s message, either by designing logics which are supposedly cog-
nitively more relevant (e.g., Johnson-Laird’s ‘mental models’ [145]. See Chap-
ter 10, especially 10.6.3), or by ignoring the contributions that formal logic
can make to theories of processing. This is a pity, since, as will be shown in
the body of the book, the technical apparatus of logic has much to offer to the
psychologist.
Here is an excerpt relevant to 2:
If we could grasp nothing but what is in ourselves, then a [genuine] conflict of opinions,
[as well as] a reciprocity of understanding, would be impossible, since there would be
Other documents randomly have
different content
 Qualities. Form, small feathery crystals of a brilliant white colour, which are not
brittle, but possess a kind of ductility and elasticity, and, on being rubbed in a mortar,
assume the consistence of paste. Odour. As generally met with, it possesses a peculiar
aromatic smell, but this depends upon the oily matter which adheres to it, for Mr.
Guise informs us, that on dissolving the benzoic acid in as little alcohol as possible,
filtering the solution, and precipitating by water, the acid will be obtained pure, and
void of smell, the odorous oil remaining dissolved in the spirit. Taste, rather acrid and
sour; Specific Gravity, ·667. It is not altered by exposure to air. Solubility. Four
hundred parts of cold water dissolve but one, although the same quantity of boiling
water dissolves twenty parts, nineteen of which separate on cooling; in alcohol it is
soluble in a much greater proportion. Medicinal Uses. It is said to be stimulant and
expectorant; in certain cases of tracheal irritation, a pill, composed of two grains of
Benzoic acid, and three of Extract of Poppy, has been found serviceable. Officinal
Preparations. Tinctura Camphoræ Composita, L.D. Tinct: Opii Ammoniat: E. Impurities.
The crystals ought not to be discoloured; they should dissolve without residuum in
alcohol, and when subjected to heat, ought to be entirely volatilized.
Although this acid is commonly procured from the resinous substance called
Benzoin, yet it exists extensively in other vegetable, and in some animal substances.
In the Tonca bean (Dipterix odorata) it is frequently to be seen beautifully crystallized
on its surface. It exists also in vanello; cinnamon; cloves; ambergris; in the urine of
children, and sometimes in that of adults, and always in that of quadrupeds living on
grass and hay.

ACIDUM CITRICUM. (Crystalli) Citric Acid.

Concrete Acid of Lemons.

Qualities. Form, crystals which are right rhombic prisms, white, semi-transparent,
and persistent. Taste, extremely acid, almost caustic. Solubility, f℥j of cold water
dissolves ʒx, but of boiling, ℥ij. ʒx of the crystals dissolved in a pint of water, are about
equivalent to one pint of lemon juice, the solution however if kept is liable to
spontaneous decomposition. The following table of equivalents may be found of
practical use; the author is aware that they do not exactly agree with the proportions
of Dr. Haygarth, but they are the results of careful and repeated experiments, and as
such they are submitted with confidence.
EQUIVALENT PROPORTIONS OF CONCRETE CITRIC ACID AND LEMON
JUICE, NECESSARY FOR THE NEUTRALIZATION OF ALKALINE SALTS.

Citric Acid. Lemon Juice. A Scruple of Alkalies.

grs. x. fʒiij Carbonate of Potass.
grs. xv. fʒiiij Sub-Carbonate of Potass.
grs. xxv. fʒvij Sub-Carbonate of Ammonia.
 These alkaline citrates are decomposed by the oxalic, tartaric, and the stronger
mineral acids, and by the solutions of lime and barytes. Form. 107, 123, 137, 168.
Citric acid decomposes the following salts, viz. The Alkaline, Earthy, and Metallic
Carbonates; the Alkaline and Metallic Acetates; the Sulphurets of Earths and Alkalies,
and Alkaline Soaps. It is also incompatible with Tartrate of Potass, which it converts
into citrate and super-tartrate of potass. It curdles the milk of most animals, but it
does not produce that effect on human milk, whether applied hot or cold.
Adulterations. Tartaric Acid, with which it is sometimes mixed, may be detected by
adding to the solution an excess of Potass, which will instantly form with it an
insoluble super-tartrate, and precipitate in granular crystals, or, if a little of the
suspected acid be saturated with potass, and then boiled with a dilute solution of
muriate of Platinum, if tartaric acid be present, a black protoxide of Platinum will be
precipitated. If we add the tartrate of potass for this purpose, we may be deceived,
for the citric acid, by neutralizing a portion of its base, will convert the remainder into
super-tartrate. See Potassæ Tartras. Sulphuric Acid is known by the acetate of lead
producing a precipitate, insoluble in nitric acid. Muriatic Acid may be discovered in the
same manner, substituting only an acidulous solution of nitrate of silver for the acetate
of lead. The presence of Oxalic Acid may be inferred, if the solution, when added to
that of sulphate of lime, produce a precipitate. Malic acid has the power of
precipitating silver, mercury, and lead, from their solutions in nitric acid, but no doubt
or difficulty can arise from this circumstance, for the fact of its forming a soluble salt
with lime will prevent every chance of accidental intrusion, and its price at once
secures us against its fraudulent introduction; it might moreover be easily detected by
throwing the suspected precipitate upon burning coals, when it would be
decomposed. Where the presence of lime is suspected, it may be known by dissolving
some of the crystals in water, saturating the solution with ammonia, and then treating
it with the oxalate of that alkali, which, if lime be present, will immediately separate it
in a palpable form. The juices of many other fruits besides the lemon and lime, will
furnish the citric acid in abundance, and may be obtained from them by a similar
process; e. g. Vaccinium oxycoccus, the Cranberry; Prunus Padus, the Bird’s Cherry;
Dulcamara Solanum, the berry of the Nightshade; Cynosbatus, vel Rosa Canina, the hep or
fruit of the Wild Briar. There are many plants whose juices contain combinations of
the Citric and Malic acids in considerable abundance, such as Fragaria Vesca, the Wood
Strawberry, and the common Raspberry; Ribes Rubrum the Red Gooseberry; Vaccinium
Myrtillus, the Bilberry; Cratægus Aria, the Hawthorn; Prunus Cerasus, the Black Cherry,
&c. This fact is interesting, since the juices of such fruits have been long known to
possess the property of dissolving the tartareous incrustations on the teeth.

ACIDUM HYDRO-CYANICUM.

Hydro-cyanic Acid. Prussic Acid.

This peculiar acid exists in a great variety of native combinations in the vegetable
kingdom,[341] and imparts to them certain properties which have been long known, and
esteemed in medicine. It is, however, only lately, that it has been administered in its
simple but diluted form. As few practitioners will choose to prepare the acid, it seems
unnecessary in the present work to dwell upon the merits of the different processes
which have been proposed for its preparation; for a full account of them, as well as for
other details of importance, the practitioner is advised to consult a work by Dr.
Granville, entitled “An Historical and Practical Treatise on the use of Prussic Acid.
Second Edition. London, 1820.”
Qualities. A colourless transparent liquid, although it occasionally exhibits a yellow
tinge; Odour like that of bitter almonds; Taste bitterish and peculiar: these properties
however are soon lost by exposure to air and light, and the acid undergoes
spontaneous decomposition. Chemical Composition. The true nature of Prussic acid was
not ascertained until 1815, when Gay Lussac presented to the Royal Institute of
France, a memoir which at once developed its real chemical constitution; and it is now
admitted to consist of a peculiar gaseous and highly inflammable compound of carbon
and nitrogen, to which the name Cyanogene has been assigned, and of hydrogen; the
latter body acting as the acidifying principle, whence the term Hydro-cyanic acid is
well contrived to express its composition. The medicinal, or diluted acid, however,
contains but a small proportion of this concentrated compound; according to M.
Majendie, one part of the acid of Gay Lussac and eight parts and a half of water, by
weight, or one part of acid with six times its volume of water, constitute the
preparation which should be used in medicine; and which, to avoid the possibility of
mistake, ought always to be prescribed as the Acidum Hydro-cyanicum dilutum, and
is, in fact, the Prussic acid of Scheele. Dr. Ure, who has lately taken considerable pains
upon this subject, has constructed a table exhibiting the relations between the specific
gravities, and quantities of real acid, in preparations of different strength; from these
experiments it would appear that an acid of specific gravity 0·996 or 0·997 is such as
is usually prescribed in medicine.[342] Medical Uses. In a sufficient dose, hydro-cyanic
acid instantly destroys life by extinguishing the nervous energy of the body;[343] but it
has at the same time been observed that animals submitted to its action would often
continue to breathe for several hours freely, and to circulate their blood, although no
trace of sensibility or muscular contractility could be found after its application. This
remarkable property of extinguishing the general sensibility, without any ostensible
injury to respiration and circulation, naturally led to a belief that the hydro-cyanic acid,
or prussic acid, might be advantageously used in cases of excessive sensibility and
irritation, particularly when these two morbid states are likely to affect either the
respiratory organs or the circulation generally. This kind of analogical reasoning, it is
said, induced Professor Brera, ten years ago, to administer it in cases of high
pulmonary and other inflammations, in doses of four drops twice a day; when, as we
are told, the violence of the disease was quickly subdued. The remedy, however, does
not appear to have excited much attention, until after the first essay of Dr. Majendie,
who deserves whatever credit may belong to its introduction. Seven years of trial have
elapsed, and the general sense of the medical profession with respect to its utility may
now be collected. As a palliative in certain spasmodic coughs, there is reason for
supposing that it may sometimes be useful, but in that species of pulmonary irritation
for which it was at first so greatly extolled, I will venture to assert that it is far inferior
in efficacy to well directed doses of Conium. But there is another class of diseases in
which its exhibition is said to prove useful, in dyspeptic affections attended with
heartburn; where it is supposed to be capable of reducing the morbid irritability of the
stomach, and thereby of enabling the juices of that organ to be more slowly secreted
and of a more healthy character. Dr. Elliotson has published the result of his treatment
of stomach complaints with this medicinal agent, and would appear to appropriate to
himself the merit of originating the practice, a claim which Mr. Thomson, in the third
edition of his Dispensatory, refuses to concede.[344] As a local remedy, prussic acid has
also received no small share of commendation, and it has been said that it is the only
application that can be depended upon for allaying the cutaneous irritation so
frequently attendant upon certain impetiginous affections. It must, however, be
confessed that this medicine is rapidly declining in popularity.[345] Any prejudice raised
against it, upon the ground of its poisonous activity in large doses, is too absurd to be
believed; the knife and the caustic are unquestionably powerful, and may therefore
become dangerous instruments; but who ever blames the surgeon for employing a
sharp knife or an active caustic, seeing that both are to be directed by his eye, and
guided by his hand? Forms of Exhibition. It may be conveniently administered in any
liquid vehicle, as distilled water, camphor mixture, or in some vegetable infusion. See
Supplementary Formulæ, 1, 2, 3. A question has lately arisen whether the effects of
the prussic acid might not be more conveniently ensured by the administration of
some vegetable[346] in which it exists as a native ingredient; a company of associated
Physicians, Surgeons, and Naturalists at Florence, have accordingly expressed their
joint opinion, that the essential oil of the Prunus Lauro Cerasus is to be preferred in
medical practice to all other preparations which contain the hydro-cyanic acid; for, say
they, unlike the distilled water of the plant, and pure prussic acid, it contains the same
proportion of active matter, and of the same power, whether recently prepared or not;
whether made in one place or another; or whether it has been exposed or not to the
air, light, or heat. They are also of opinion that olive oil forms the best vehicle for its
exhibition in the proportion of one ounce to twelve drops of the essential oil. Other
practitioners again prefer Laurel Water, made by distilling two drachms of the fresh
leaves chopped, with four ounces of water, recommitting the distilled water twice
afterwards on the same quantity of fresh leaves, and making ultimately four ounces of
the menstruum, of which from ♏︎xxx to fʒj every six hours may be given until a
sedative effect is produced. See Oleum Amygdalæ Amaræ. Incompatible Substances.
Hydro-cyanic acid is decomposed by most of the oxydes usually employed in medicine,
particularly by those of Mercury and Antimony. The alkalies do not appear to diminish
its efficacy. Nitrate of Silver, and the salts of iron occasion precipitates; nor ought the
sulphurets, the mineral acids, or chlorine to enter with it into prescriptions. Dose. Of
the medicinal, or diluted hydro-cyanic acid, ♏︎ij,–viij. There is however considerable
difficulty with regard to the strength of the dilute acid employed in medicine, since the
density is a criterion of greater nicety than can be conveniently used by the majority
of practitioners; in fact, as Dr. Ure has observed, the liquid at 0·996, contains about
double the quantity of real acid, which it does at 0·998. Dr. Ure has accordingly
proposed another test of the strength of this powerful and dangerous medicine, which
is not only easier in use, but more delicate in its indications;[347] it is as follows. To 100
grains, or any other convenient quantity of the prussic acid, contained in a small phial,
add in succession, small quantities of the peroxide of mercury, (the common red
precipitate of the shops) in fine powder, till it ceases to be dissolved on agitation. The
weight of the red precipitate taken up, being divided by four, gives a quotient
representing the quantity of real prussic acid present. By weighing out before hand,
on a piece of paper, or a watch glass, forty or fifty grains of the peroxide, the residual
weight of it shews at once the quantity expended. The operation may always be
completed in five minutes, for the red precipitate dissolves as rapidly in the dilute
prussic acid, with the aid of slight agitation, as sugar dissolves in water. Adulterations.
If, says Dr. Ure, the presence of muriatic acid be suspected, then the specific gravity of
the liquid compared with the gravity of the peroxide dissolved, will shew how far the
suspicion is well founded; thus if 100 grains of acid, specific gravity 0·996, dissolve
more than 12 grains of the red precipitate, we may be sure that the liquid has been
contaminated with muriatic acid. Nitrate of Silver, in common cases, so valuable a
reagent for muriatic acid, is unfortunately of little use here, for it gives with prussic
acid, a flocculent white precipitate, soluble in water of ammonia, and insoluble in nitric
acid, which may easily be mistaken by common observers, for the chloride of that
metal. But the difference in the volatility of prussiate and muriate of ammonia may be
had recourse to with advantage; the former exhaling at a very gentle heat, the latter
requiring a subliming temperature of about 300° Fah. After adding ammonia in slight
excess to the prussic acid, if we evaporate to dryness at a heat of 212°, we may infer
from the residuary sal ammoniac, the quantity of muriatic acid present.
Antidotes. To counteract the poisonous effect of prussic acid, Orfila recommends,
after full vomiting has been excited, the exhibition of three or four spoonsful of oil of
turpentine, in the infusion of coffee, at intervals of half an hour. M. Virey conceives
that sulphate of iron in solution is the best antidote, he having observed that the salt
restored a cow that was nearly killed by the essential oil of bitter almonds. When an
overdose has been taken, hot brandy and water, and the ammoniated tincture of iron
are recommended by Mr. Thomson; on the former I should rely with much greater
confidence than upon the latter antidote, or, in other words, it is from vital agents,
counteracting its sedative influence, rather than from chemical substances, changing
its composition, that we can expect any benefit upon such an occasion. For the
chemical processes by which the presence of this acid may be ascertained, the reader
may consult my work on Medical Jurisprudence, vol. 2, p. 408.

ACIDUM MURIATICUM. L.E.D.

Muriatic Acid.
Qualities. Form, a liquid of the specific gravity 1·16, a fluid-ounce of which weighs
about 527 grains, and according to Dr. Powell ought, when diluted, to dissolve 220
grains of limestone. Odour, strong and pungent; if exposed to the air it emits white
fumes. Taste, intensely sour and caustic; it is however the weakest of the three
mineral acids; and no remarkable elevation of temperature is produced by dilution.
Chemical Composition. The liquid acid is a solution of muriatic acid gas in water; when of
the specific gravity 1·16, according to Davy, it contains 32·32 per cent of the gas,
which recent experiments have shewn to be a compound of Chlorine (Oxy-muriatic
acid) and hydrogen in equal volumes. It has therefore received a name expressive of
its composition, and is called Hydro-chloric[348] acid. We accordingly find that the
former element is disengaged from muriatic acid by adding any substance capable of
uniting with its hydrogen. For the purpose of obtaining Chlorine, we may take three
parts of common salt, one of black oxide of manganese, and rather less than three of
strong sulphuric acid.[349] Accounts have been received from Spain, that in the midst of
the dreadful contagion which reigned in that country, the inhabitants always escaped
in those houses where fumigations of chlorine had been used. In our own country, the
Penitentiary has lately undergone fumigation by this gas, under the superintendance
of Mr. Faraday.[350] Muriatic acid gas has also been strongly recommended for the
same purpose; it may be easily evolved by pouring sulphuric acid on common salt. If
nitric and muriatic acids be mixed, a mutual decomposition takes place, of which
water, chlorine, and nitrous acid are the results; this constitutes “nitro-muriatic acid,”
the Aqua regia of the older chemists. A bath acidulated with an acid of this kind has
been recommended by Dr. Scott, as a powerful remedy for diseases of the liver in
particular, and as a substitute for mercury in general. On the possible influence of this
bath, I would beg to make one observation,—that the extensive application of a dilute
acid to the surface of the body, is, under certain circumstances, capable of affecting
the bowels. I have witnessed such an effect from sponging with vinegar and water. In
this way the acidulated bath may occasionally produce benefit, but it is extremely
difficult to conceive how it can be indebted for its utility to any other mode of
operation. (See Journal of Science and the Arts, No. 2.) Forms of Exhibition. Muriatic
acid should be administered in some bland fluid, as barley water, gruel, &c. (Formula
145.) I have uniformly exhibited it with success in the most malignant cases of typhus
and scarlatina, during several years extensive practice in the Westminster Hospital.
See page 157. We should be careful not to apportion its dose in a leaden or pewter
spoon. The antiseptic properties of this acid have been long known; Sir Wm. Fordyce
relates that a “dry-salter” acquired a large fortune from possessing a secret that had
enabled him to send out provisions to India in a better state of preservation than any
others of the trade; his secret consisted in adding a small quantity of muriatic acid to
the contents of each cask. After a copious evacuation of the bowels, it is in my
experience the most efficacious remedy for preventing the generation of worms; for
which purpose the infusion of quassia, stronger than that of the Pharmacopœia, is the
best vehicle. Dose, ♏︎v-xx, frequently repeated. It may be here observed that where
the permanent influence of an acid is required, a mineral one should be always
preferred, as such bodies appear to be beyond the control of the digestive process,[351]
and are incapable of being decomposed by it; see Form. 158, whereas on the contrary
it seems probable that the organs of assimilation have command over those of a
vegetable nature, and generally decompose them. Dr. Marcet has very judiciously
noticed this fact in his luminous work on the treatment of calculi, and I have ventured
to offer some farther observations upon this subject, which may be of practical value,
under the consideration of Lithonthryptics, page 123. Adulterations. Sulphuric acid is
detected by diluting the acid with six parts of distilled water, and adding a few drops
of the muriate of baryta, which occasions a white precipitate if any be present. Iron,
by saturating a diluted portion with pure carbonate of soda, and adding prussiate of
potass, which will indicate its presence by a blue precipitate; or by a solution of
ammonia, which, when added slightly in excess, throws down the peroxide of iron of a
reddish yellow colour. Copper, by the production of a blue colour when supersaturated
with ammonia. The yellow tinge of the acid usually met with in commerce, may
depend either upon the presence of iron, vegetable extractive, or a small portion of
chlorine. This latter body may be recognised by the odour, or by its power of
dissolving gold leaf.

ACIDUM NITRICUM. L.E.D. Nitric Acid.

Aqua Fortis.
Qualities. A limpid liquid of the specific gravity 1·500, a fluid-ounce of which is equal
to about 11 drachms, 1 scruple by weight, and ought to decompose of pure limestone
an ounce; it emits white fumes of a suffocating odour. Taste, extremely acid; it is
highly corrosive, and tinges the skin indelibly yellow; an effect which is considerably
heightened by the subsequent application of an alkali, so that these agents afford the
means of detecting minute portions of animal matter, and were ingeniously employed
for such an object by Mr. Hatchett. Chemical Composition. When of the specific gravity
1·500, it contains 74·895 per cent. of dry acid; (whose ultimate elements are one
portion of nitrogen and five of oxygen) the compliment 25·105 parts is water. It is
decomposed with violent action by all combustibles, and when mixed with volatile oils,
it causes their inflammation. It boils at 210°, and when its specific gravity is below
1·4, it is strengthened, when stronger than 1·45 it is weakened by ebullition. Uses. It
is principally employed as a pharmaceutical agent; viz. for the preparation of Argenti
Nitras; Liquor Ferri Alkalini; Hydrargyri Nitri-co-oxydum; Spiritus Etheris Nitrici; and
Unguentum Hydrargyri Nitratis. As an escharotic it has been frequently employed for
the destruction of tumours, and is certainly of value where an immediate destruction
of diseased parts is required. The method of using the strong nitric acid in such cases
is to smear all the sound parts in the immediate vicinity of the ulcer with Ung: Resin:
Nig: and then to apply pledgets of lint firmly upon the ulcer for a few seconds, by
which the whole surface will be deadened, and a deep slough remain, underneath
which healthy suppuration and granulations will ensue.[352] Adulterations. Sulphuric acid
may be detected by a precipitate being produced on the addition of nitrate of baryta;
in the application however of this test, Mr. Hume has shewn that unless this as well as
the nitric acid be diluted, a precipitate will occur, although sulphuric acid should not be
present; a circumstance which depends upon the barytic salt yielding its water of
solution to the acid under examination, and becoming insoluble. Muriatic acid is
discovered by nitrate of silver, affording a precipitate at first white, but becoming
coloured by exposure to light; the nitric acid ought to be perfectly colourless, but to
preserve it in such a state it must be closely stopped, and kept in a dark place, or it
will soon be converted into nitrous acid.

ACIDUM NITRICUM DILUTUM. L.

Acidum Nitrosum Dilutum. E.D.

Dilute Nitric Acid.

It is much to be regretted that the proportion of water directed for the dilution of
the acid, varies considerably in the different pharmacopœias; that prepared according
to the Edinburgh and Dublin formulæ, being in strength to that of the present
Pharmacopœia of London, as 4 to 1: specific gravity, 1·080; each fluid-drachm
contains nearly 8½ grains of the concentrated acid, and saturates 18 grains of
crystallized sub-carbonate of soda. Dose ♏︎x to xl. The acid is a very powerful anti-
phlogistic remedy; it has been much extolled in diseases of the liver, and in syphilis.
Mr. Pearson however observes that we ought not to rely upon it in any form of lues
venerea, although it may be often serviceable in restraining the progress of the
disease when an impaired constitution or other circumstances render the exhibition of
mercury improper; when sufficiently dilute, it forms an excellent lotion for old indolent
ulcers. It proves also expectorant, see Form. 139, 140; and it is occasionally used with
success for the purpose of counteracting the consecutive effects of opium. See Form.
16.

ACIDUM NITROSUM. E.D. Nitrous Acid.

Qualities. A liquid emitting fumes of a flame-red colour, and of a very pungent and
remarkable odour. The acid is either blue, green, straw-coloured, clear orange yellow,
according to the proportion of nitrous acid gas[353] with which it is charged. Chemical
Composition. This acid is improperly denominated Nitrous, for it is nitric acid, holding
nitrous acid gas loosely combined; by dilution this last constituent is disengaged, and
the acid, after passing through a succession of different colours, becomes pure nitric
acid; the application of a gentle heat effects the same changes.

ACIDUM SULPHURICUM. L.E.D. Sulphuric Acid.

Oil of Vitriol, Vitriolic Acid.

Qualities. Form, a thick liquid of an oily consistence, specific gravity 1·85; a fluid-
ounce weighs a fraction of a grain more than fourteen drachms. Colour, none, but it
acquires a brown tinge from the smallest portion of carbonaceous matter; mere
exposure to the air is sufficient for this purpose, in consequence of the acid
disorganizing and carbonating the vegetable and animal matter suspended in the
atmosphere; it is therefore evident that bottles in which it is preserved ought not to
have stoppers of cork, but those of glass. Chemical Composition. Like the other mineral
acids, it has never been obtained in an insulated state without water; according to
Davy, the composition of the strongest acid may be thus expressed: sulphur 30,
oxygen 45, water 17. It has a very powerful affinity for water, and produces when
mixed with it a very considerable heat; exposed to the atmosphere it imbibes at least
seven times its own weight of water, and so rapidly as to double its weight in a
month; when of the specific gravity 1·85, it rises in vapour at about 550°, and distils
unaltered, whereas weaker acids lose water by being boiled, and are brought to that
degree of concentration; when diluted with 12 or 13 per cent. of water, an acid results
of the specific gravity 1·780, and in this state of dilution it boils at 435°, and freezes
sooner than water; a knowledge of this curious fact suggests to the prudent chemist
an important precaution; Mr. Parkes, in his Chemical Essays, vol. ii. relates the
occurrence of a terrible accident which happened in consequence of this circumstance
not having been attended to.—“Carboy after carboy burst by the expansion of the acid
in the act of freezing, and had not the packed carboys that remained been
immediately immersed in tepid water, not a single one would have escaped the
general wreck.”
Adulterations. The ordinary acid of the shops contains in general 3 or 4 per cent. of
saline matter, which consists of about two-thirds of sulphate of potass, and one-third
of sulphate of lead. Dr. Ure observes, that even more is occasionally found, in
consequence of the employment of nitre to remove the brown colour given to the acid
by carbonaceous matter; the amount of adulteration, he observes, may be readily
determined by evaporating a definite weight of the acid in a small capsule of platinum;
these impurities however in a medical point of view are immaterial, since they are at
once separated by dilution, but in a commercial sense they deserve attention, as their
presence considerably increases the specific gravity of the acid. Dr. Ure is of opinion
that genuine commercial acid should never exceed 1·8485, and that any density
beyond this is the effect of saline combination. Journal of Science and the Arts, No. 7.

ACIDUM SULPHURICUM DILUTUM. L.E.D.

Dilute Sulphuric Acid.

By the dilution of this acid two objects are accomplished,—it is purified, and its dose
is more easily apportioned; but it is a circumstance of regret that the strength of this
preparation should so materially vary in the different Pharmacopœias.
After the acid is diluted, the sediment ought to be carefully removed, and the water
employed for the purpose should be distilled, for although it be in its purest natural
state, it will nevertheless contain impregnations capable of affecting the acid. Uses. In
addition to the antiseptic and refrigerant virtues which it possesses in common with
the other mineral acids, it has astringent properties that render it a most valuable
medicine, especially in weakness and relaxation of the digestive organs, in colliquative
sweats, in internal hæmorrhagy; in Epistaxis and Hemopthysis it was Sydenham’s
favourite remedy; on the same account, when sufficiently dilute, it has been
successfully used as a collyrium in the atonic stages of ophthalmia, and as an injection
in protracted gonorrhæa. Dose, ♏︎x to xl, the quantity of strong sulphuric acid in any
given quantity of the dilute may be found by the Dynameter. To prevent it from
injuring the enamel of the teeth it may be sucked through a quill, and the mouth
should be carefully washed after each dose. The Infusum Rosæ furnishes an elegant
vehicle for its administration. See Form. 40. Officinal Preparations. Acidum Sulphuricum
Aromaticum.[354] E. Infusum Rosæ. L.

ACIDUM TARTARICUM. L.

Tartaric Acid.
Qualities. Form, Crystals of considerable size, whose primary form is an oblique
rhombic prism; they do not deliquesce when exposed to the air, but melt at a heat a
little exceeding 212°. Taste, very acid and agreeable. Solubility. Water at 60° dissolves
about one-fifth of its weight, and when boiling, a much greater proportion. The
solution, which, if saturated, has the specific gravity 1·230, acquires, when diluted,
like that of most vegetable acids, a mouldy pellicle by keeping. The saturating power
of crystallized tartaric acid is almost exactly equal to that of crystallized citric acid, the
atomic weight of the former being 76, and that of the latter 75. Chemical Composition.
When uncombined with water, as it exists in tartrate of potass, it is composed of 5
atoms of oxygen, 3 atoms of hydrogen, and 4 atoms of carbon. The crystals consist of
1 atom of acid and 1 of water. Incompatible Substances. Alkalies, Earths, and their
carbonates; the salts of lime and lead. The solutions of the salts of potass are
converted by it into bi-tartrate, or super-tartrate. Medicinal Uses. It is introduced into
the Pharmacopœia as a cheap and efficient substitute for the citric acid. It is also used
in the preparation of Sodaic powders, Seidlitz powders, &c. Adulterations. When
carelessly prepared it will contain sulphuric acid, to detect which, let a portion be
dissolved in distilled water, and a solution of acetate of lead be added. A precipitate
will appear which, if the acid be pure, will be entirely redissolved by a few drops of
acetic acid, or pure nitric acid. If any portion remain undissolved, sulphuric acid is the
cause. Muriate of Baryta also, when sulphuric acid is present, but not otherwise, gives
a precipitate insoluble by an excess of muriatic acid.

ACONITI FOLIA. L.E.D. (Aconitum Napellus.[355]) Aconite.

Woolfsbane, Monkshood.
Qualities. Taste, moderately bitter, and acrid, leaving in the mouth a painful
sensation of heat and roughness, followed by numbness in the gums and lips which
continues for two or three hours. Odour, faint and narcotic; their peculiar properties
are considerably deteriorated by drying. Chemical Composition. M. Brandes has
ascertained that the narcotic principle of this plant is a peculiar alkali, to which he has
given the name Aconita.[356] Solubility, water and alcohol only imperfectly extract their
virtues. Medicinal Uses. It is narcotic, and occasions, in over-doses, nausea, vomiting,
vertigo, hyper-catharsis, cold sweats, convulsions, and death; effects which entirely
depend upon its action on the brain. It was first administered in 1702, by Stöerk, of
Vienna, in chronic rheumatism, gout, schirrus, and paralysis; more lately it has been
employed in scrofula, cancer, and intermittents, and it is said with much effect. On
account of the variable strength of the leaves they can hardly be given with safety and
effect; the extract (which see,) presents the more eligible form of exhibition. The
leaves are, however, sometimes given in the form of powder, generally combined with
some mercurial alterative, or with antimonials, camphor, and other diaphoretics. Dose
gr. i-x. Officinal Prep: Extractum Aconiti. L.E.

ADEPS PRÆPARATA. L. Adeps Sui Scrofæ, vulgo Axungia Porcina. E. Adeps Suillus
Præparatus. D.

Prepared Hog’s Lard. Fat. Axunge.[357]

Qualities. Consistence, soft or nearly semifluid. Odour and Taste, none; at 97° it
melts. Chemical Composition. It consists of two distinct bodies which appear to exist
together in a state of mechanical mixture, viz. Stearin, (from στεαρ tallow) which is
white, brittle, and in appearance somewhat resembling wax; and Elain (from ελαὶον,
oil) very similar to vegetable oil in appearance, and is liquid at 59°. According to the
experiments of Braconnot, the proportion of Elain is to that of Stearin, in hog’s lard, as
62:38. Solubility. It is insoluble in water and alcohol; with the alkalies it unites and
forms soaps. Incompatible Substances. Extracts, Spirituous Preparations, Tinctures, and
Infusions, are incapable of uniting perfectly with lard, without some intermedium; the
following substances on the contrary are capable of contracting with it a most intimate
union. 1. All dry powders, whether of a vegetable or mineral nature. 2. Fixed and
Volatile Oils. 3. Balsams. 4. Camphor. 5. Soaps. It is principally employed in the
formation of ointments, plasters, and liniments.
ÆRUGO. L. D. (Sub-acetas Cupri Impura.) Sub-acetis Cupri. E.
Verdigris.
Qualities. Form, a dry mass composed of minute crystals, not deliquescent; Colour,
bluish green. Chemical Composition. Several constituents enter into its composition, viz.
Acetate and sub-acetate of copper, carbonate of copper, and copper partly metallic
and partly oxidized; it contains also the stalks of grapes and other extraneous
substances. Solubility. Boiling water dissolves it in part, and produces in it a chemical
change, by transforming one portion of the sub-acetate into the soluble acetate, and
another into an oxyd of copper, which is precipitated; with cold water this substance
demeans itself differently, the acetate is dissolved by it, whilst that portion which is in
the state of sub-salt remains suspended in the form of a fine green powder. Vinegar
converts all the Ærugo into a soluble acetate, this liquid therefore ought never to be
employed for favouring vomiting in cases where an overdose has been swallowed, for
the reasons stated in the first part of this work, p. 136. Sulphuric acid poured on
powdered verdigris decomposes it with effervescence, and vapours of acetic acid are
disengaged. It appears from the experiments and observations of Duval and Orfila,
that sugar exercises a chemical action on it, by which its solubility is diminished, and
that on this account it acts as a specific against its poisonous effects. Uses. It is so
uncertain and violent in its operation that it is rarely employed, except externally,[358]
when it acts as a powerful detergent, and mild escharotic; and in the form of
ointment, is a valuable application for many cutaneous affections, especially the
aggravated kinds of Tetter. Officinal Preparations. Ærugo Præparata, D. Linimentum
Æruginis. L. D. Adulterations. There is a spurious article sold under the name of
English Verdigris, which consists of sulphate of copper, triturated with acetate of lead;
and to make the fraud still more complete, the soft mass is mixed with the stalks of
Raisins.

ÆTHER SULPHURICUS RECTIFICATUS. L.

Rectified Sulphuric Æther.

Qualities. A colourless liquid of specific gravity 739°. Odour, pungent and fragrant; it
is highly volatile, and when perfectly free from alcohol it boils at 98°; it is extremely
inflammable, a circumstance which should be remembered when it is poured from one
vessel to another by candle light. Chemical Composition. When pure it consists of
oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon; the rectified æther however still contains some water
and alcohol, for Lovitz obtained an æther of 632. Solubility. One part requires for its
solution ten of water; with alcohol and ammonia it unites in every proportion. Solvent
Powers. It is one of the most powerful solvents known in vegetable chemistry, as it
dissolves balsams, resins, gum-resins, wax, camphor, extractive, &c.; it takes up about
a twentieth of its weight of sulphur, but it exerts no solvent power upon the fixed
alkalies. Forms of Exhibition. In any liquid vehicle, if in decoctions or infusions, they
should be previously cooled. See Formulæ 20, 22, 23. Medical Uses. It is highly
valuable as a diffusible stimulant, narcotic, and antispasmodic. Dose, fʒss to fʒij, which,
in order to produce the full effect of the remedy, must be repeated at short intervals.
Æther, independent of such virtues, has another valuable property consequent upon
its rapid evaporation, that of producing cold and dryness; it is therefore, when
externally applied and allowed to evaporate, a most powerful refrigerant, and has
proved valuable in scalds or burns, in facilitating the reduction of strangulated hernia,
and in diminishing excessive circulation in the brain; if however it be so confined, that
its rapid evaporation is prevented, a very opposite effect is produced, and it proves
stimulant, rubefacient, and even vesicatory. With regard to the other property
incidental to it, that of producing dryness, I am not aware that it has hitherto been
applied to any pharmaceutical purpose; the fact may be satisfactorily shewn by a very
simple experiment,—by rincing a phial with æther, to the interior of which drops of
water obstinately adhere, when by exposing it to a current of air, it will be completely
dry in a few minutes. It may be noticed in this place that a mixture of sulphuric and
muriatic æthers evaporates instantaneously, and produces a degree of cold
considerably below 0 of Fahrenheit. Officinal Preparations. Spiritus Æther: Sulph: L.
Spir: Æth: Sulph: comp: L. Spir: Æth: Aromat: L. Adulterations and Impurities. Its
specific gravity affords the best indication of its purity; Sulphuric Acid may be detected
by a precipitation on the addition of a solution of baryta, and by its reddening the
colour of litmus; Alcohol, by its forming with phosphorus a milky instead of a limpid
solution. M. Gay Lussac has observed that when kept for a considerable time without
disturbance, it undergoes spontaneous decomposition, and that acetic acid, perhaps
some alcohol, and a particular oil, are produced from it.

ALCOHOL.[359] L.D. Alcohol. Ardent Spirit.

Qualities. A transparent, and colourless liquid of the specific gravity ·815; it has not
hitherto been rendered solid by any diminution of temperature; it boils at 176°, and if
water be added, its boiling point is proportionably raised; hence, says Dr. Henry, the
temperature at which it boils is not a bad test of its strength; it is combustible, and
burns with a blue flame, leaving no residue. Chemical Composition. Alcohol, in a state of
complete purity, consists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, in proportions not hitherto
determined with accuracy; this preparation however contains 7 per cent. of water;
Lovitz and Saussure succeeded in obtaining it at a specific gravity of ·791, which may
be considered as nearly pure. Alcohol unites chemically with water; and caloric is
evolved during this union; the quantity of alcohol and water in mixtures of different
specific gravities, may be learned from Mr. Gilpin’s tables, Philosophical Transactions,
1794, or Nicholson’s Journal, 4to. vol. 1. The Edinburgh Pharmacopœia has no process
for the preparation of alcohol, but it most incorrectly assigns the title to that which is
the “Rectified Spirit” of the other Colleges. Solvent Powers. Alcohol dissolves soap;
vegetable extract; sugar; oxalic, camphoric, tartaric, gallic, and benzoic acids; volatile
oils; resins, and balsams; it combines also with sulphur, and the pure fixed alkalies,
but not with their carbonates: for its other habitudes, and applications, see Spiritus
Rectificatus.

ALLII RADIX. L.E.D. Allium Sativum.

Garlic.[360]
Qualities. This bulbous root has when recent a fœtid smell, and acrid taste, which
are extracted by watery infusion; by decoction they are nearly lost; by expression, the
root furnishes almost one-fourth of its weight of a limpid juice, and by distillation, an
odorous, acrid, essential oil is procured, in which the existence of sulphur may be
detected. Garlic has a considerable analogy to squill and onion, and like them, exerts a
diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant, and stimulant operation; (see p. 103). It is a very
common domestic remedy for the expulsion of tænia, and it is undoubtedly of
advantage in such cases; it is usually administered in the form of a decoction, with
milk, on an empty stomach; it is however but rarely used in modern practice, as it
possesses no superiority over remedies less nauseous and objectionable; the bruised
root, externally applied, is highly stimulant, and rubefacient. Sydenham speaks highly
of the application of garlic to the soles of the feet, as a powerful means of producing
revulsion from the head. Officinal Preparation. Syrupus Allii. D.[361]
 ALOES EXTRACTUM. Aloes.
There are three species met with in the shops, viz.
Socrotrine Aloes.
1. Alöe Spicata, L. Socotorina, D. Perfoliata. E.
Cape Aloes.
2. Alöe Vulgaris.[362] L. Hepatica, E. D. Common or Barbadoes Aloes.
3. Alöe Cabalina. Fetid, Cabaline, or Horse Aloes. Employed only by Farriers.
Qualities. The above varieties of aloe differ in their purity, and likewise in their
sensible qualities; the Socotrine is the purest, it is in small pieces of a reddish brown
colour; the Barbadoes is in large masses, of a lighter colour, and having an odour
much stronger and less pleasant; the Cabaline is still more impure and less powerful.
All the kinds are characterized by an intensely bitter taste, which, in the Socotrine, is
accompanied by an aromatic flavour. Chemical Composition. In this there appears to be
some obscurity; M. Braconnot (Ann. Chim. tom. 68.) conceives it to be a substance,
sui generis, which he terms “bitter resin,” while others regard it as composed of resin,
gum, and extractive, the proportions of which are supposed to vary in the different
species, but that their peculiar virtues reside in the extractive part. Solubility. It is to
the slowness with which aloe undergoes solution in the primæ viæ, that it is indebted
for the medicinal properties which distinguish this substance; by boiling water it is
dissolved, but on cooling a precipitation ensues, and by long decoction it becomes
quite inert; weak acids dissolve it more abundantly than water, but proof spirit is the
most perfect solvent: its solubility is increased by the addition of alkaline salts and
soaps, but by such a combination it undergoes a material change in its medicinal
properties; the bitterness is diminished, its purgative effects impaired, and it ceases to
operate specifically upon the large intestines, a fact so far valuable, as it enables us in
certain cases to obviate its irritating action upon the rectum. Medicinal Use. Aloe is a
bitter stimulating purgative, emptying the large intestines, without making the stools
thin; it likewise warms the habit, quickens the circulation, and promotes the uterine
and hemorrhoidal fluxes. Dose, gr. v.–xv. No greater effect is produced by a large dose
than from one comparatively moderate; its tendency, however, to irritate the rectum
renders it, in many cases, an objectionable remedy;[363] and its sympathetic action on
the uterus may occasionally produce mischief, in irritable habits, while in other states
it may, for reasons equally obvious, prove beneficial. Forms of Exhibition. The form of
pill should be preferred on account of its extreme bitterness, as well as being, for the
reasons above mentioned, the one most likely to fulfil the intention of its exhibition;
for in addition to what has been stated in a preceding part of this work, on the
important influence of solubility, it may be here observed that since the aloe does not
undergo solution in the stomach, it is admirably adapted for the basis of remedies
intended to obviate constitutional costiveness, for in our endeavours to supply the
deficiencies of nature by the resources of art, we should at least attempt to imitate
the modes of her operation; the natural stimulus of the intestines, the bile, is poured
into them below the stomach, and whenever it regurgitates into that organ it produces
disease; so it happens with our cathartic medicines, and unless we so modify their
solubility that their operation cannot commence until after their passage through the
stomach, we shall find that we only increase the evil we are endeavouring to obviate,
and that, in addition to the torpor of the intestinal canal, we shall induce the stomach
to participate in the disease, or excite a morbid fretfulness of that organ which will be
attended with the most distressing symptoms.[364] See Formulæ 12, 13, 79, 80, 81.
Aloes in combination with assafœtida furnishes an eligible purgative in the dyspepsia
of old persons; it is also well calculated to obviate the costiveness so generally
produced by Opium, (Form: 11, 12, 13.) See also p. 162. Officinal Preparations. Pulv:
Aloes comp: L. Pil: Alöes cum Myrrha. L.E.D. Pil: Aloes comp: Pil: Alöes cum
Assafœtida. E. Pil: Aloes cum Colocynthide. E. Pil: Cambogiæ comp: (B.M.) L. Pil:
Rhei. comp: (F) E. Pil. Scammon, cum Aloe. D. Decoctum Aloes comp: L. Extractum
Aloes purificatum. L.D. Extractum Colocynthidis comp: L.D. (F) Tinct: Alöes L.E.D.
Tinct: Alöes comp: L.E.D. Tinct: Alöes Ætherea, E. Tinct: Benzoin: comp: (G) L.E.D.
Tinct: Rhei et Aloes E. Vinum Alöes. L.E.D. Adulterations. It is frequently adulterated
with common resin, but the fraud more generally committed is that of mixing with, or
substituting the inferior species for the Socotrine, but the Barbadoes Aloes may,
independent of its want of aromatic flavour, be distinguished from the Socotrine by a
simple test, for the latter dissolves entirely in boiling water and alcohol, whereas the
former, when treated in a similar manner, leaves a considerable residue; sometimes
the Horse Aloes is made to appear so bright and pure, as not to be easily
distinguished by the eye even from the Socotrine, but its rank odour, of which no art
can divest it, will readily betray the fraud.

ALUMEN. (Super-sulphas Aluminæ et Potassæ.) Sulphas Aluminæ. E.

Alumen. D. Alum.
Qualities. Form, octohedral crystals, whose sides are equilateral triangles; they are
slightly efflorescent. Taste, sweet, rough, and acidulous. Chemical Composition. It is a
triple, or sometimes a quadruple salt, with excess of acid, consisting of sulphuric acid
and alumina, with potass, or ammonia, or frequently both of them; the nature of the
alkali however does not in the least appear to affect the properties of alum, although
it produces a crystallographic modification; for where potass is present the summit of
the crystal will exhibit a truncation. Dr. Ure has lately produced alum with soda, and
the combination differs from common alum only in its greater degree of solubility, a
property which at once recommends it to the attention of the pharmaceutist and
physician. Solubility. A fluid-ounce of cold water dissolves 30 grains, but if boiling four
drachms; it is insoluble in alcohol. Incompatible Substances. Alkalies and alkaline salts,
after neutralizing the excess of acid, precipitate the alumine. It is also decomposed by
carbonate and muriate of ammonia, carbonate of magnesia, and tartrate of potass, by
lime-water, acetate of lead, and the salts of mercury, as well as by many vegetable
and animal substances, especially galls and kino. It is on this account very injudicious
to combine alum with any vegetable astringent with a view to encrease its virtues;
thus the “Pulvis Sulphatis Aluminæ compositus” of the Edinburgh college, is less
powerful than any of the ingredients of which it is composed; and the addition of alum
to the decoction of bark, undoubtedly diminishes its efficacy as an astringent injection.
Medicinal Uses. Alum is internally a powerful astringent, in hæmorrhages and
inordinate fluxes, and is externally useful for repellent and astringent lotions, gargles,
and collyria. Dioscorides and Hippocrates praised its effects as a lotion in various kinds
of ulcers, and particularly in sores of the mouth, and in spongy, swelled gums. Van-
Helmont was the first person who employed alum in uterine hemorrhage, and the
success of the practice very considerably enhanced his reputation. Boerhaave’s
astringent powder for the ague consisted of Alum and Nutmeg with the addition of
Armenian bole. Dose, gr. x. In large doses it is liable to excite nausea, and to act upon
the bowels. Nutmeg or some aromatic should therefore be joined with it. Forms of
Exhibition. In solution, or in substance made into pills with extract; (Form: 53, 56,) it is
sometimes given with advantage in the form of whey (Alum-whey—Serum
Aluminosum) made by boiling ʒij with a pint of milk, and then straining, the dose of
which is a wine glass full; (Form; 54.) By briskly agitating a drachm of alum with the
white of an egg, a coagulum is formed, (Alum curd of Riverius; Albumen.
Aluminosum) which is serviceable in some species of ophthalmia, when applied
between two pieces of thin linen rag.[365] As alum is not decomposed by sulphate of
lime, hard water may be safely used for its solution. It has the effect of retarding, and
in some instances of preventing, the acetous fermentation in vegetables; thus when
added to common paste it prevents its becoming sour; animal substances, as glue, are
preserved by it in a similar manner. It has also the property of clearing turbid water,
wine, and spirituous liquors, for which purpose it is extensively employed. Officinal
Preparations. Liquor Alum: co. L. Pulv: Alum: co. E.
Alumen Exsiccatum, L. Ustum. D. Dried Alum. By the action of heat alum undergoes
watery fusion, yields its water of crystallization, and loses more than one third of its
weight; if the heat be too intense, or long continued, it is deprived of a great part of
its acid. It has been recommended in doses of a scruple, in cholic, when it has been
said to operate gently upon the bowels, and to relieve the pain: I have myself
experienced this good effect when the cholic has been produced by the action of lead:
Dr. Grashuis, a Dutch Physician, first recommended its use in Cholica Pictonum. The
preparation however is principally used as an external application, having a degree of
escharotic power, which renders it serviceable in venereal chancres, as well as in other
ulcers having weak and spongy granulations; it is also very frequently employed to
destroy fungous excrescencies, but it should be remembered that, as it owes such
power to an excess of acid, unless it be carefully prepared, it must be inefficient. It
ought to redden syrup of violets.
Alumen Rupeum. Roche or Rock Alum. This variety was originally brought from Roccha,
formerly called Edessa, in Syria, in fragments of about the size of an almond, covered
with an efflorescence of a pale rose colour; that however which is now sold under this
name is common English alum, artificially coloured. It is unimportant.
Alumen Romanum. Roman Alum is in irregular octohedral masses, powdery on the
surface; it is the purest kind, and contains no ammonia in its composition.

AMMONIACUM. L.E.D. (Heracleum Gummiferum.)

 Ammoniac.
Qualities. Form, masses composed of fragments, of tears, yellow on the surface, and
white within; Taste, a nauseous sweet, followed by a bitter flavour; Odour, faint but
not unpleasant. Specific gravity, 1·200. Chemical Composition. Gum-resin, gluten, and
some volatile matter. Solubility. It is partly soluble in water, vinegar, alcohol, æther,
and in the solutions of the alkalies; when triturated with water a milky liquor is
formed, which is a solution of gum holding the resin in suspension, and if the yolk of
an egg be employed the mixture is more permanent; water appears to be its proper
solvent. Uses. Stimulant, antispasmodic, and expectorant: in large doses gently
purgative and sometimes diuretic; after the exhibition of smart purgatives, in
combination with rhubarb, it proves valuable in mesenteric affections by correcting the
viscid secretion of the intestines; dissolved in nitric acid, it is said to prove an excellent
expectorant in cases where large accumulations of purulent or viscid matter exist with
feeble and difficult expectoration. See Form: 140. Forms of Exhibition. In solution, see
Mist: Ammoniac: it may also be given when dissolved in the Liquor ammoniæ acetatis;
ʒij of the former may be dissolved in ℥iij of the latter; or it may be exhibited in pills
with bitter extracts, myrrh, and other gum-resins; if rubbed with camphor a mass is at
once produced very suitable for pills; vinegar renders it soft, and adapts it for plasters.
Dose, grs. x to xxx. Officinal Preparations. Mist: Ammoniac: L.D. Pil: Scillæ co: L.E. (B)
Emplast: Ammoniac: L. Emplast: Gummos: E. Emplast: Ammoniac: cum Hydrargyro. L.
Adulterations. Two varieties are met with in the market, that in tears, guttæ
ammoniaci, ought to be white, clear, and dry; and that in lumps, lapis ammoniaci,
which sells for one-third the price of the former, being very impure, is generally
adulterated with common resin, for which it may be purified by softening the mass in
a bladder which is immersed in boiling water, and straining it while fluid.

AMMONIÆ SUB-CARBONAS. L. Carbonas Ammoniæ. E.D.

Sub-carbonate of Ammonia.
Qualities. Form: white, semi-transparent masses, of a striated or crystalline aspect,
which, on exposure to air effloresce; Odour, pungent and peculiar; Taste, acrid but
cooling. Chemical Composition. It will be found to vary materially in its composition
according to the temperature employed for its preparation; the quantity of alkali
varying from 20 to 50 per cent. Mr. Phillips considers the Sub-carbonate of ammonia
to be a Sesque-carbonate, composed of 3 atoms of carbonic acid, 2 atoms of
ammonia, and 2 of water; or that it is a definite compound of Carbonate and Bi-
carbonate, one atom of each, with two atoms of water; one hundred parts, by
experiment, consist, of 54·2 carb: acid, 29·3 Ammonia, and 16·5 water; if we consider
it as a Sesque-carbonate, its constitution, according to Dr. Wollaston’s scale, will be
55·72 Carbonic Acid, 29 Ammonia, 15·28 water. Solubility. According to Duncan it is
soluble in twice its weight of cold water; Mr. Phillips states four times; the mean of
these will be found nearly correct. Its solubility however is increased by increase of
temperature, but when dissolved in boiling water it effervesces, and undergoes a
partial decomposition; it is quite insoluble in alcohol, and hence on the addition of
spirit to a strong solution, a dense coagulum is produced. Incompatible Substances. It is
decomposed by acids, fixed alkalies, and their sub-carbonates, lime, solution of
muriate of lime, magnesia, alum, super-tartrate of potass, and all the acidulous salts,
sulphate of magnesia, acetate, sub-muriate, and oxy-muriate of mercury, acetate, and
sub-acetate of lead, and the sulphates of iron and zinc. If it be added to decoctions
and infusions they must be previously cooled. Forms of Exhibition. Since by exposure to
air its virtues are impaired, it ought not to be kept in powdered mixtures; in the form
of pill it is preserved much longer, especially if it be combined with some vegetable
extract. Uses. It is stimulant, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, powerfully antacid, exceeding
in this respect the fixed alkalies, and in large doses it is emetic. It is highly useful as a
stimulant in those gastric affections which supervene habits of irregularity and
debauchery; combined with opium it affords a powerful resource in protracted
diarrhœa attended with debility of the alimentary canal: and in cases of muscular
atony so frequently witnessed, as the sequela of chronic rheumatism, ammonia, in
large doses, offers the best remedy; I have moreover witnessed the beneficial effects
of this remedy in hoarseness depending upon relaxed states of the throat. In typhus
fever it has been particularly recommended by Huxham, Pringle, and many other
physicians, and some have considered it superior to any other stimulant upon such
occasions. It is also useful in syncope and hysteria, in the form of smelling salts;[366]
with respect to its application for making saline draughts, see Acid: Citricum: Dose, grs
v to ℈j: to produce emesis ʒss. See Form. 48, 49, 83, 152. Officinal Preparations.
Liquor Ammoniæ sub-carbonatis, L. Liquor Ammoniæ acetatis (I) L.E.D. Liniment:
Ammoniæ Sub-carbonatis. L. Cuprum Ammoniatum, (I) L.E.D. Adulterations. This salt
ought to be entirely volatilized by heat; if any thing remain it may be considered
impure; it ought also to be free from all fetor; should this not be the case it may be
corrected by subliming it in conjunction with powdered charcoal; there is at present a
large quantity of this impure article in the market, which has been manufactured from
the residue sold by the gas light companies.[367] When long exposed to the air, it
becomes opaque and friable, and the excess of ammonia, upon which its odour
depends, escapes, carbonic acid is absorbed, and an inodorous bi-carbonate remains,
consisting of carbonic acid 55·70, Ammonia 21·52, and water 22·76, or 2 atoms of
carbonic acid, 1 atom of ammonia, and 2 atoms of water.

AMMONIÆ MURIAS. L.E. Sal Ammoniacum. D.

vulgo Sal Ammoniac.

Qualities. Form, dense striated concavo-convex cakes which are persistent in the air,
or crystallized conical masses; in this latter form it generally contains other salts,
especially muriate of lime, which render it deliquescent. Taste, bitter, acrid, and cool.
Chemical Composition. In consequence of the present unsettled opinions respecting the
nature of muriatic acid and ammonia, and the changes which they undergo by
combination with each other, the composition of this salt is involved in some obscurity.
According to Dr. Thomson, it consists of equal volumes of muriatic acid gas and
ammoniacal gas, although he has subsequently observed that from the peculiar
properties of the substance, it may be a compound of Chlorine and Ammonium (the
hypothetical base of ammonia.) Unlike all the other ammoniacal salts, it does not
undergo decomposition by heat. Solubility, f℥j of water at 66° dissolves about two
drachms and a half; at 212° it dissolves its own weight; it is also soluble in 4½ parts
of alcohol; its solution in water is accompanied by considerable reduction of
temperature. Incompatible Substances. The sulphuric and nitric acids unite with the
ammonia, and disengage the muriatic acid, whilst ammonia is disengaged by the
action of potass and its carbonate, carbonate of soda, lime, magnesia, &c. which
combine with its muriatic acid; with oxy-muriate of mercury it combines and increases
its solubility, see Hydrarg: Oxy-murias. When united with acetate of lead, it
decomposes it, and a muriate of lead is precipitated. It is obvious also that nitrate of
silver, and all the metallic salts whose bases form insoluble compounds with muriatic
acid, are incompatible with it. Uses. Rarely employed as an internal remedy, externally
it is employed in lotions, either for the cold produced during its solution, in which case
it should be applied as soon as the salt is dissolved, or for the stimulus of the salt, on
which principle it acts as a powerful discutient in indolent tumours (Form. 146.) It is
also an ingredient in a very useful plaster, in which it undergoes chemical
decomposition; this plaster consists of Soap ℥j, lead plaster, ʒij, liquified together, to
which, when nearly cold, are added of muriate of ammonia finely powdered ʒss. The
alkali of the soap enters into combination with the muriatic acid of the muriate of
ammonia, and forms thereby muriate of potass, or soda, and ammoniacal gas (on
which the virtue of the plaster depends) is slowly but abundantly liberated, acting as a
powerful stimulant and rubefacient: it should be applied immediately after it is formed,
and be renewed every twenty-four hours, otherwise the intention is lost;
(Pharmacopœia Chirurgica.) I have often applied this plaster with evident advantage
to the chest in pulmonary affections, and I wish to recommend it to the attention of
practitioners. It is very useful also in that rheumatic affection of the muscles of the
chest, which is so frequently met with in persons in advanced life; during the last
winter I was consulted in two cases where the distress after exercise was so
considerable as to resemble angina pectoris. Officinal Preparations. Ammoniæ Sub-
carbonas (I). L.E.D. Liquor: Ammoniæ (K). L. Aqua Ammoniæ. E.D. Hydrarg: præcip:
alb: (I). L. Alcohol Ammoniatum, (I). E.D. Ferrum Ammoniat: (G). L.E.D. Adulterations.
This salt, if pure, may be entirely volatilized by a low heat; the sulphate of ammonia
however, as it is also volatile, cannot be discovered except by the muriate of baryta,
which will indicate its presence by a copious precipitate.

AMYGDALÆ DULCES. {Varieties of “Amygdalus Communis.”

AMYGDALÆ AMARÆ. {Sweet and Bitter Almonds.

Qualities. The sweet almond is inodorous, and has a sweet, bland taste; the bitter
almond,[368] when triturated with water, has the odour of the peach, and a pleasant
bitter flavour. Chemical Composition. Boullay has lately confirmed the analogy which
Proust had stated to exist between the emulsion of sweet almonds and human milk,
viz. the former consists of sweet oil 54, albumen 24, sugar 6, gum 3, with traces of
acetic acid; the indigestible property of the almond depends upon its albuminous
matter. The bitter almond, in addition to those constituents, contains hydro-cyanic
acid, (Prussic acid,) in union with a peculiar volatile oil, upon which its narcotic
properties depend; but this deleterious element is so modified by the natural state of
combination in which it exists with sweet oil and albumen, that they may be eaten
without inconvenience. The bitter almond has long been regarded as an antidote to
drunkenness; Plutarch states it as a fact on the authority of his physician Claudius.
Other bitters were however supposed to possess similar powers in this respect, hence
the Poculum Absinthiatum to which we have before alluded. See page 79. Both sorts
of almonds yield by expression a large quantity of fixed oil, which is perfectly mild.
See Oleum Amygdal. The water distilled from the bitter almond, when strongly
impregnated, has been found to exert a deleterious action on the human body, and to
prove fatal to many animals. Solubility. By trituration with water a milky mixture is
produced, (an emulsion), for which purpose the sweet almonds should be previously
freed from their cuticle, (blanched), and this ought to be performed by infusing them
in tepid water; for when hot it separates a portion of their oil, as is evident from their
being thus rendered yellow, and the emulsion is therefore more liable to ferment, and
be decomposed. ℥ij of almonds saturate about f℥vj of water; since however this
extemporaneous preparation is tedious and inconvenient, the London Pharmacopœia
very judiciously directs a confection to be ready prepared, ʒj of which, when triturated
with f℥j of water, immediately forms an elegant emulsion. See Mistura Amygdal.
Almonds form a useful intermedium for suspending in water many substances which
are of themselves not miscible with it, as camphor, and several of the gum-resins;
they also assist in the pulverization of refractory substances, as Ipecacuan, &c.
Officinal Preparations. Confectio Amygdalarum. L. Emulsio Camphoræ (M.) E. Emulsio
Acaciæ Arab: E. D.
Amygdalæ Placenta. Almond Cake is the substance left after the expression of the oil,
which when ground forms Almond Powder, so generally used for washing the hands.[369]
Oil of Bitter Almonds. For obtaining this oil, the expressed cake is submitted to
distillation, when a highly volatile, pungent, oil passes over. See Oleum Amygdalæ
Amaræ.

AMYLUM. L.E.D. Starch. (Triticum Hybernum Amylum.[370])

Qualities. Form, white columnar masses; Odour and Taste, none. Chemical
Composition. Fecula is one of the proximate principles of vegetable matter, and Starch
is the fecula of wheat.[371] Solubility. It is soluble in boiling water, forming with it a
semi-transparent, insipid, inodorous, and gelatinous paste, very susceptible of
mouldiness, but which is retarded by the addition of alum; it is insoluble, but falls to
powder in cold water; nor is it dissolved by alcohol or ether; although potass dissolves
starch, yet the solution of it is not disturbed by potass, carbonate of potass, nor
ammonia, but an alcoholic solution of potass produces a precipitate; acetate of lead,
and infusion of galls occasion also precipitates. Starch is susceptible of several
interesting and important changes; thus, if it be exposed to heat until its colour
becomes yellow, its properties are so far altered that it is no longer insoluble in cold
water; and according to the experiments of Saussure, if it be mixed with water, a
spontaneous decomposition takes place, and a quantity of sugar is formed, amounting
in weight to one half of the starch employed, in addition to which a peculiar gummy
matter results, and a substance intermediate between gum and starch, to which the
name of Amidine has been given. Starch moreover is convertible into saccharine
matter by the agency of sulphuric acid. Uses. Being demulcent it is generally employed
as a vehicle for the exhibition of opium in the form of enema. The ordinary blue starch
is coloured by a solution of smalt and alum, and is unfit for medicinal use; formerly it
was tinged yellow with saffron or turmeric, but this went out of fashion on the
execution of the famous midwife Mrs. Collier, who was hanged in a ruff starched with
that colour. Officinal Preparations. Mucilago Amyli. L.E.D. Pulvis Tragacanth: comp: (B)
L. Pil: Hydrargyri (M) E. Troschisi Gummos: E.
It has been lately observed that Iodine is a delicate test of the presence of starch; if
a drop or two of a solution of this substance in alcohol be added to an aqueous
solution of starch, a blue compound is formed which eventually precipitates. Iodine
may therefore be employed for ascertaining the goodness of starch, a test which is
very important, for much of what is sold under the name of starch, does not possess
its peculiar characters; it ought however to be stated, that the blue indication is
prevented from taking place by a variety of different bodies, as Arsenious acid,
corrosive sublimate of mercury, &c. &c.

ANETHI SEMINA. L. E.

(Anethum Graveolens. Semina.) Dill Seed.

These seeds when dry have an aromatic sweetish odour, and a warm pungent taste,
qualities residing in an essential oil, which is extracted by distillation with water and by
digestion with alcohol; the bruised seeds yield their flavour to boiling water by simple
infusion. The seeds are but rarely used. The distilled water is a valuable carminative
for children.

ANISI SEMINA. L. E. D.

(Pimpinella Anisum. Semina.) Anise Seeds.

Like the dill seeds, warm and carminative; water extracts very little of their flavour;
rectified spirit the whole. It may be remarked in this place that the value of aniseed,
as well as all those seeds which yield essential oil by distillation, may be estimated by
their specific gravity, the heaviest yielding the largest proportion of oil; a
chrondrometer employed by corn-chandlers might be very conveniently applied to
such a purpose.[372] The seeds imported from Spain, which are smaller than the
others, contain most oil, and are to be preferred.
 ANTHEMIDIS FLORES. L. E.

(Anthemis Nobilis.) Chamomile Flowers.

Qualities. The Odour of the flowers is strong and fragrant; Taste, bitter and
aromatic, with a slight degree of warmth. Chemical Composition. The active principles
are essential oil, resin, and bitter extractive. Solubility. Both water and alcohol take up
the active parts of the flowers; hot water, by infusion, dissolves nearly one-fourth of
their weight, but boiling dissipates the essential oil, on which account they should
never form an ingredient in a decoction. Uses. The flowers given in substance are said
to have cured intermittents; they are however but rarely used; externally they are
applied in fomentations. See Infusum Anthemidis. Officinal Preparations. Decoctum
Anthemidis nobilis. E.D. Infusum Anthemidis. L.[373] There is a great variety in the
quality and price of chamomile flowers; those which are large and whitish are to be
preferred as the freshest; by keeping they become invalid, and are deprived of their
aromatic principle and essential oil. They are always inferior in wet seasons. The
double flowered varieties are also less powerful than the single kind, since the
qualities reside in the disc florets.

ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM. L.

Sulphuret of Antimony.
Qualities. This article appears in the market in conical loaves, which are dark grey
externally, but internally possess a bladed structure and considerable brilliancy; the
Edinburgh and Dublin colleges direct this substance to be levigated with water, and
kept in the state of powder; it should however never be purchased in that form, as it
is not unfrequently adulterated with sulphuret of lead, whereas it cannot contain such
admixture when its form is characteristically crystalline and bladed. Chemical
Composition. Antimony 100, Sulphur 35·572. From the time of Basil Valentine to the
present, this preparation has been known in the market by the name of Antimony, a
name which it is evident can only with propriety be applied to the pure metal.
Solubility. It is insoluble in water and alcohol; since however it is slightly acted upon
by vegetable acids, cups were formerly made of it, which imparted to wine that stood
in them for some time, an emetic quality.[374] Uses. It is principally employed for the
preparation of the other antimonial combinations, for which purpose it is more eligible
than the metal itself, as being less contaminated with metallic impurities. Its medicinal
energies depend altogether upon the state of the stomach, and must therefore be
extremely uncertain; when it meets with any acid in the stomach, it acts with extreme
violence, a circumstance which requires precaution. It was formerly much more
employed as an Alterative than at present. Stoll recommends its use in chronic
rheumatism, and advises its union with Myrrh. In the treatment of affections of the
skin it has been long used, both singly, and in union with other substances, such as
Conium, Dulcamara, Guaiacum, &c. In Scrophulous diseases, connected with
cutaneous eruptions, or ulcerations, it has been a favourite remedy with many
practitioners, and it forms the basis of several foreign Nostrums. In times of remote
antiquity it was used by females as a black pigment for staining the eye-lashes, a
custom which continues to this day in the east.[375] It is at present given to horses
mixed with their food, to make their coats smooth, and very large doses may be given
to these animals without producing any deleterious effects. Officinal Preparations. Dr.
Black constructed a table representing a view of all the preparations whose basis was
antimony; many of these however have fallen into disuse, and the nomenclature of all
is changed. The following arrangement of the medicines prepared from the sulphuret
of antimony,[376] is presented to us by Mr. Thomson, in his London Dispensatory. 1. By
trituration, Sulphuretum Antimonii Præparatum. E.D. 2. By the Action of Heat with
Phosphate of Lime, (oxidized) Pulvis Antimonialis, L.D. Oxidum Antimonii cum Phosphate
Calcis. E. 3. By the Action of Alkalies, (oxidized), Antimonii Sulphuretum Præcipitatum.
L.E. Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum. D. 4. By the Action of Acids, (oxidized,) Antimonii
Oxydum. L. Oxydum Antimonii Nitromuriaticum. D. Antimonium Tartarizatum. L. Tartris
Antimonii, olim Tartarus Emeticus. E. Tartarum Antimoniatum, sive Emeticum, D.
Vinum Antimonii Tartarizati. L. Vinum Tartaritis Antimonii. E.
Adulterations. The importance of employing this article in a state of great purity, for
the preparation of so many active and valuable medicines, is obvious. It ought to be
entirely volatilized by a read heat; Lead is discovered by its imparting to the antimony
a foliated instead of a bladed texture, and from not being vaporizable; Arsenic, by the
garlic odour emitted when thrown upon live coals; or by the numerous tests
mentioned under the history of that article; Manganese and Iron, from not being
vaporizable, and from other tests: the most usual adulteration is black oxide of iron, or
the scoriæ of that metal, “Smithy dust.”

ANTIMONII SULPHURETUM PRÆCIPITATUM. L. E.

Sulphur Antimoniatum Fuscum. D.

Precipitated Sulphuret of Antimony.

Qualities. Form, a brilliant orange coloured powder; Taste, slightly styptic, but
inodorous. Chemical Composition. Very complicated attractions are exerted during the
preparation of this substance; the result of which is an hydro-sulphuret of Oxide of
Antimony, with excess of sulphur. Solubility. It is quite insoluble in water. Uses.
According to the dose, it is diaphoretic, cathartic, or emetic; it is, however, less certain
than many other preparations, and, unless in combination with mercury, for cutaneous
affections, is not very often employed. Incompatible Substances. All acids and acidulous
salts increase its emetic properties; when therefore acid is suspected to prevail in the
primæ viæ, it should be combined with soap, magnesia, (Form: 128,) or aromatic
confection; on the contrary, the confection of roses, and vehicles containing acids,
should be carefully avoided. Form of Exhibition. Pills. Dose, grs. 1 to v. Officinal
Preparations. Pilulæ Hydrargyri Sub-Muriatis (H) L. Adulterations. It is often
sophisticated with chalk and other extraneous matter; it ought not to effervesce with
acids; it should be entirely vaporizable by heat, and its colour should be that of bright
orange. A spurious article is vended, which consists of sulphur and sulphuret of
antimony coloured with Venetian red.

ANTIMONIUM TARTARIZATUM. L.

Tartris Antimonii. E. Tartarum Antimoniatum. D.

Tartar Emetic.[377]
Qualities. Form, crystals whose primitive form is the regular tetrahedron, although it
assumes a variety of secondary forms. Colour, white. Odour, none. Taste, slightly
styptic and metallic; on exposure to the air, the crystals slightly effloresce and become
opaque; thrown upon burning coals, they become black and afford metallic antimony.
Chemical Composition. This is involved in much doubt and obscurity; it is stated in the
various dispensatories to be a triple salt, consisting of tartaric acid, oxide of antimony,
[378]
and potass, and which therefore, says Mr. Thomson, on the principles of the
reformed nomenclature, ought to be termed a tartrate of antimony and potass. The
truth of these views, however, is extremely questionable. I am inclined to believe with
Gay Lussac, that in the various metalline compounds, of which super-tartrate of potass
is an ingredient, this latter substance acts the part of a simple acid; an opinion which
receives much support from the great solvent property of cream of tartar, and from
the striking fact that it is even capable of dissolving various oxides which are insoluble
in tartaric acid, of which the protoxide of antimony is an example. According then to
this view, tartar emetic is a salt composed of bi-tartrate (super-tartrate) of potass,
which acts the part of an acid, and protoxide of antimony: from the experiments of Mr.
Phillips, it would appear that 100 parts of the bi-tartrate will dissolve 70 of the
protoxide. In this state of doubt it must be admitted that no name can be more
appropriate than Antimonium Tartarizatum, and the London College have therefore
properly disregarded the suggestions which have been offered for changing its name.
Solubility. Much discrepancy of opinion exists upon this subject, owing probably to the
variations and incidental impurities to which the salt is liable. Dr. Duncan, who
selected very pure specimens for examination, states that it is soluble in three times
its weight of water at 212°, and in fifteen at 60°. This solution, when the salt is pure,
is perfectly clear and transparent, but if long kept, unless a portion of spirit be added,
it undergoes decomposition; a precipitate indeed sometimes takes place very rapidly,
but this is generally tartrate of lime, an incidental impurity, derived from the super-
tartrate of potass. Incompatible Substances. Mineral Acids, Alkalies, and their Carbonates,
most of the Metals, Soaps, Hydro-Sulphurets, and many infusions and decoctions of
bitter and astringent Vegetables, e. g. f℥j. of the decoction of yellow bark is capable of
completely decomposing ℈j of this salt, and of rendering it inert.[379] Berthollet has
accordingly recommended the immediate exhibition of this decoction when an
overdose of the salt has been taken; and Orfila has given a very satisfactory case in
which this antidote succeeded. Infusion and tincture of galls throw down curdled and
inert precipitates of a dirty white colour, inclining to yellow. Rhubarb is equally
incompatible: the extract of this substance therefore never ought to be employed in
forming pills of tartar emetic: but it deserves notice that this salt is not decomposed
by the infusions of gentian or wormwood. The Alkaline Sulphates, provided they be
perfectly neutral, produce no disturbance in solutions of tartar emetic, and therefore
cannot be considered incompatible with them; if there be any excess of acid, as in
alum, bi-sulphate of potass, &c. then its decomposition is effected, and a white
insoluble sulphate of antimony is precipitated. It appears therefore that the famous
“Emeto-purgative” of the French school, consisting of sulphate of soda, and tartarized
antimony in solution, is by no means the unchemical mixture which some have
considered it to be, and that it really produces its effects from the operation of its
original ingredients, and not from that of the compounds (Sulphate of Antimony,
Tartrate of Soda, and Sulphate of Potass) which have been erroneously supposed to
result. Forms of Exhibition. Solution is its best form, see Liquor Antimonii Tartarizati.
Dose. It either vomits, purges, or sweats, according to the quantity exhibited; thus gr.
1/4 will, if the skin be kept warm, promote a diaphoresis; gr. ½ will procure some
stools first, and sweating afterwards; and gr. j will generally vomit and then purge,
and lastly sweat the patient; in very minute doses, as gr. 1/10 or 1/12 combined with
squill and ammoniacum, it acts as an expectorant, see Formulæ 1, 2, 3, 8, 60. It is
decidedly the most manageable, and the least uncertain of all the antimonial
preparations, and the practitioner would probably have but little to regret, were all the
other combinations of this metal discarded from our pharmacopœias. Some authors
have considered this substance as possessing sedative powers, independent of its
nauseating and diaphoretic effects. It undoubtedly acts upon the heart, and controls
the force of the circulation in fevers, without occasioning any other sensible effect. Mr.
Brodie, after having given large doses of this salt to animals, found that the heart beat
very feebly, and although artificial respiration was kept up, it soon ceased to act
altogether. Lenthois of Montpellier advises small doses of it in incipient phthisis, and it
would on some occasions appear to diminish the febrile excitement. The following is
the form in which Dr. Lenthois recommends it to be exhibited upon such occasions. He
directs a grain of Tartarized Antimony to be dissolved in eight table spoonsful of
distilled water, which are to be added to six or eight pints of water, and to be taken as
common drink. Tartar emetic, when triturated with lard, in the proportion of ʒiss or ʒij
to ℥j of the latter, forms a very powerful rubefacient, occasioning a pustular eruption
on the skin, and proving very serviceable in deep-seated inflammation; or the
application may be made by dusting a piece of adhesive plaster with tartarized
antimony, taking care to leave a margin untouched that it may more firmly adhere. Dr.
Jenner, in a late Essay on the influence of artificial eruptions on certain diseases,
recommends the following formula for such a purpose.—℞. Antimonii Tartarizati (in
pulverem subtilem trit.) ʒij—Unguenti Cetacei ʒix;—Sacchari albi[380] ʒj;—Hydrargyri
Sulphureti Rubri gr. v. M. ut fiat Unguentum. The Pustules which are produced by the
inunction have been generally compared to variolous pustules, they are, however, in
general much smaller, not so red at the base, nor so tense and white when fully
suppurated. They are very painful. In Hooping cough, frictions with this ointment upon
the region of the stomach have been greatly extolled. By this application, says Dr.
Jenner, we can not only create vesicles, but we can do more,—we have at our
command an application which will at the same time both vesicate and produce
diseased action on the skin itself, by deeply deranging its structure beneath the
surface. This is probably one cause why the sympathetic affection excited by the use
of Cantharides, and those changes produced by Tartar Emetic are very different. The
eruption should be kept up for some time, either by the re-application of small
portions of the diluted tartaremetic ointment, to the affected part, or by other gently
stimulating ointments. Should they become much irritated and very painful, a soft
bread and milk poultice will in general afford relief, without interfering with the
progress of the eruption. Officinal Preparations. gr. j. is contained in f℥ss of Liquor
Antimonii Tart: L. and Vinum Tartratis Antimonii. E.[381] Adulterations. It should be
always purchased in its crystalline form; and a solution of it in distilled water ought to
furnish a copious gold coloured precipitate with sulphuret of ammonia; a precipitate
soluble in nitric acid, with acetate of lead; and a white and extremely thick precipitate,
dissolving with facility in pure nitric acid, with lime water. If the crystals deliquesce,
the presence of other salts may be inferred. M. Sexullas, in a memoir of which there is
a copious extract in the Journal de Pharmacie for 1821, has shewn that all the
antimonial preparations used in medicine, except carefully crystallized Tartar Emetic,
contain more or less arsenic, which metal was originally combined with the antimony
in the ore, and has continued pertinaciously associated with it through all its
modifications.

AQUA. Water.
Water, from its extensive powers as a solvent, never occurs in a state of absolute
purity, although the nature and degree of its contamination must necessarily vary
according to circumstances and situation. It is generally found holding earthy matter
in a state of mechanical suspension, or saline and other bodies in chemical solution.
The usual varieties of common water are classed and defined by Celsus; and modern
chemists have not found any reason to reject the arrangement. “Aqua levissima
pluvialis est; deinde fontana, tum ex flumine, tum ex puteo; posthæc ex nive, aut
glacie; gravior his ex lacu; gravissima ex palude.”
1. Rain Water. Aqua Pluvialis, when collected in the open fields, is certainly the
purest natural water, and consequently of the least specific gravity; the bodies which it
holds in solution are, carbonic acid, a minute portion of carbonate of lime, with traces
of muriate of lime. Dew is said to be water saturated with air. Rain water ought,
however, to be boiled and strained whenever it is collected near large towns;
Hippocrates gives this advice, and M. Margraaf of Berlin has shewn the wisdom of the
precaution by a satisfactory series of experiments.
2. Spring Water. Aqua Fontana, in addition to the substances detected in rain water,
generally contains a small portion of muriate of soda, and frequently other salts; but
the larger springs are purer than smaller ones, and those which occur in primitive
countries, and in siliceous rocks, or beds of gravel, necessarily contain the least
impregnation. An important practical distinction has been founded upon the fact, that
the water of some springs dissolves soap, whilst that of others decomposes, and
curdles it; the former has been termed soft, the latter hard water; soft water is a more
powerful solvent of all vegetable matters, and is consequently to be preferred for
domestic as well as medicinal purposes; the brewer knows well from experience how
much more readily and copiously soft water will dissolve the extractive matter of his
malt. Horses by an instinctive sagacity always prefer soft water, and when by
necessity or inattention they are confined to that which is hard, their coats become
rough and ill-conditioned, and they are frequently attacked with the gripes. Pigeons
also refuse hard water when they have been accustomed to that which is soft.[382]
3. River Water. Aqua ex Flumine, being derived from the conflux of numerous
springs and rain water, generally possesses considerable purity; that the proportion of
its saline ingredients should be small, is easily explained by the precipitation which
must necessarily take place from the union of different solutions; it is, however, liable
to hold in suspension particles of earthy matter, which impair its transparency, and
sometimes its salubrity; this is particularly observed of the Seine, the Ganges, and the
Nile.[383]
4. Well Water. Aqua ex Puteo, is essentially the same as spring water, being derived
from the same source; it is, however, more liable to impurity from its stagnation, or
slow infiltration;[384] hence our old wells furnish much purer water than those which
are more recent, as the soluble particles are gradually washed away. Mr. Dalton
observes that the more any spring is drawn from, the softer the water becomes.
5. Snow Water. Aqua ex Nive, has been supposed[385] to be unwholesome, and in
particular to produce bronchocele, from the prevalence of that disease in the Alps, but
it does not appear upon what principle its insalubrity can depend; the prejudice
however is a very ancient one, for Hippocrates observes that snow or ice water is
unwholesome, in consequence of its finer particles being evaporated and lost during
its solution: it appears to differ only from rain water in being destitute of air, to which
water is certainly indebted for its briskness, and perhaps for many of its good effects
upon animals and vegetables. The same observations apply to Ice Water.
6. Lake Water. Aqua ex Lacu, is a collection of rain, spring, and river waters,
contaminated with various animal and vegetable bodies, which from its stagnant
nature have undergone putrefaction in it.
7. Marsh Water. Aqua ex Palude being the most stagnant is the most impure of all
water, and is generally loaded with decomposing vegetable matter.
To what extent the impurities of water are capable of influencing its salubrity, has
been a subject of interesting inquiry from the age of Hippocrates to the present day.
To many of these natural contaminations, too much importance has been certainly
attached; it is an affected refinement to suppose that the presence of minute portions
of such earthy and calcareous salts, as generally occur in solution, can impart any
noxious quality to water;[386] whilst on the contrary, animal and vegetable impurities,
or earthy bodies in a state of mechanical suspension, cannot fail to prove injurious,
and must be regarded as the true “SCELERA AQUARUM.” Guided by false analogies many
have supposed that they recognised the origin of all calcareous diseases in the earthy
impurities of water; the researches however of chemistry have removed this delusion,
by demonstrating that the substances found in water never enter into the composition
of urinary calculi.[387] Metallic and other accidental contaminations are necessarily
highly injurious, and the water in which their presence is suspected, should be
submitted to the most careful examination.
For the purification and preservation of water numerous methods have been
adopted; the mechanical impurities may be removed by filtration, which is performed
through porous stones, or alternate layers of sand or charcoal; muddy water may be
also cleared by adding a few grains of alum to each pint,[388] and in that proportion,
the water is not rendered in the least disagreeable: when water has contracted a
putrid smell, it may be rendered sweet by agitating it with a small portion of
magnesia, or with black oxide of manganese, in the proportion of 1½ parts to 250
parts of water. Dr. Black observes that nitrate of silver, which is one of the most
antiseptic substances known, will preserve water from putrefaction for ever, and that it
may at any time be separated therefrom in a few minutes by adding a small lump of
common salt; this fact in itself is curious, but the experiment is too hazardous to be
recommended. Dr. Alston prefers lime, as a preservative of the water, and proposes to
remove it by the addition of a carbonate of magnesia; Dr. Henry has however found
that it is more economically precipitated by the introduction of a current of carbonic
acid into the cask. As that peculiar property of water which is termed hardness,
generally depends upon the presence of sulphate of lime, the addition of an alkaline
carbonate twenty-four hours previous to its being used, will be found to restore it, or
if it should depend upon supercarbonate of lime, long ebullition without any addition
will be found sufficient for its cure.
Water when kept for a long time in casks, especially on long voyages, is partially
decomposed, and a volume of carburetted hydrogen is evolved,[389] imparting to such
water the peculiar smell and taste which characterise it; this decomposition may in a
great degree be obviated by charring the interior of the water casks; it is, however,
prevented in the Navy by substituting iron tanks for wooden vessels. In Pharmacy it
ought to be remembered that whenever common water is employed it should not be
hard; filtered rainwater maybe recommended as the most eligible on such occasions.

AQUA DESTILLATA. L.E.D. Distilled Water.

Qualities. Taste, vapid from the absence of air, and slightly empyreumatic in
consequence probably of the presence of a small quantity of extractive matter which
has undergone partial decomposition; a fluid-ounce weighs 454½ grains. Medicinal
Use. In extemporaneous prescriptions, distilled water should be always ordered
whenever the formula contains any of the following substances:—Acidum
Sulphuricum; Acidum Citricum; Antimonium Tartarizatum; Argenti Nitras; Cuprum
Ammoniatum; Ferrum Tartarizatum; Hydrargyri Oxy-murias; Liquor Ammoniæ; Liquor
Plumbi Sub-Acetatis; Liquor Potassæ; Plumbi Acetas; Solutio Muriatis Barytæ; Vinum
Ferri; Zinci Sulphas; Ferri Sulphas. Distilled water ought also to be employed in
preparations where much water is evaporated, as in the formation of extracts, since
the residual matter of common water will remain mixed with the product of the
process, and uselessly add to its bulk, or even in some cases produce in it chemical
changes; unless however under such circumstances, common water purified by
filtration should be ordered, as the air which it contains imparts to it a pleasant and
sprightly flavour. In making infusions or decoctions, it is very important that the water
should be free from those impurities which impart to it hardness, and which render it
a far less powerful solvent of vegetable matter, nor indeed can resinous substances be
mixed with such water, even when assisted by a mucilaginous medium. On which
account, in prescribing emulsions, it may perhaps be prudent to direct the
employment of distilled water. Tests of its Purity. Its transparency ought not to be
disturbed by the addition of nitrate of silver, or muriate of baryta.

AQUA MARINA. Sea Water.

Until the late able researches of Dr. Murray, we possessed but an imperfect
knowledge of the composition of sea water; it is not therefore surprising that the
analysis performed by different chemists should be found to be so materially at
variance; the true cause of such discordance is now easily understood, for it appears,
that in the examination of a mineral water or any compound saline solution, the
substances obtained from it are not necessarily the original ingredients, but frequently
the products of new combinations established by the operation of analysis, and that
consequently the nature of the result obtained may vary according to the modes in
which such analysis has been conducted, or even according to the degree of dilution
in which the saline substances exist.[390] The elements of the salts contained in a pint
of sea water are Lime 2·9, Magnesia 14·8, Soda 96·3, Sulphuric Acid 14·4, Muriatic
Acid 97·7, total 226·1 grains, and supposing these elements to be combined in the
modes which Dr. Murray’s views appear to establish, the saline contents of a pint of
sea water may be expressed as follows, Muriate of Soda 159·3, Muriate of Magnesia
35·5, Muriate of Lime 5·7, Sulphate of Soda 25·6 grains, total 226·1 grains; besides
such saline contents, it is contaminated with various animal and vegetable bodies, in
consequence of which it becomes, when long kept, highly offensive; it ought also to
be stated that Dr. Wollaston has discovered the presence of a minute proportion of
potass in sea water; and Dr. Marcet has more lately detected ammonia in combination
with muriatic acid. Medicinal Use. As a cathartic, a pint is the ordinary quantity, which
should be taken in the morning, at two doses, with an interval of half an hour
between each; this quantity contains half an ounce of purgative salt, of which about
three-fourths are muriate of soda, but it is much more active than a similar portion of
any artificial combination. In procuring sea water for medicinal purposes, there is a
precaution, the importance of which experience has suggested to me, that it be not
hastily drank on the beach, before the particles of sand, with which under such
circumstances it is generally mixed, are allowed to subside; from the neglect of this
precaution I have witnessed serious consequences. The most important advantages of
sea water are derived from its external use as a bath.
 AQUÆ DESTILLATÆ. L.D.

Aquæ Stillatitiæ. E. Distilled Waters.

These are waters impregnated with the essential oils of
vegetables, and are principally designed as grateful vehicles for the
exhibition of more active remedies; ample directions for preparing
them are given in the several Pharmacopœias, and if they be
rectified by redistillation they may be kept for several years; the
usual mode of preserving them is by adding spirit, which has also
the incidental advantage of preventing them from being frozen
during the winter season. Some recommend a film of the essential
oil to be diffused over the water’s surface. They may be
extemporaneously prepared by adding to water what have been
called Essences, which consist of essential oil and alcohol, or by
rubbing any essential oil with ten times its weight of sugar, or, what
answers still better, of magnesia: when however they are so
prepared they never retain their transparency. The college, in the
present Pharmacopœia, have directed the distillation off the
essential oil, as well as off the recent herb; this alteration is one of
practical convenience. The properties of each water may be learnt
by referring to the vegetable from which it is distilled.

AQUÆ MINERALES. Mineral Waters.

Although all waters that flow from the earth, are, as they contain
mineral bodies in solution, strictly speaking, mineral waters, yet this
term is conventionally applied to such only as are distinguished from
spring, lake, river, or other water, by a peculiarity in colour, taste,
smell, or any obvious properties, or by the medicinal effects which
they produce, or are known to be capable of producing.
To the medical practitioner the history of these waters is most
interesting and instructive, involving highly important subjects of
chemical and physiological inquiry. These waters are without doubt
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