Chapter LV: Part 2 (16)

=Quinine and Iron, Cit′rate of.= _Syn._ CITRATE OF IRON AND QUININE; FERRI ET QUINÆ CITRAS, B. P. _Prep._ 1. (B. P.) Solution of persulphate of iron, 4-1/2; sulphate of quinia, 1; dilute sulphuric acid, 1-1/2; citric acid, 3; solution of ammonia and distilled water, of each a sufficiency; mix 8 of the solution of ammonia with 40 of the water, and to this add the solution of persulphate of iron, previously diluted with 40 of the water, stirring them constantly and briskly. Let the mixture stand for 2 hours, stirring it occasionally, then put it on a calico filter, and when the liquid has drained away, wash the precipitate with distilled water until that which passes through the filter ceases to give a precipitate with chloride of barium. Mix the sulphate of quinia with 8 of the water, add the sulphuric acid, and when the salt is dissolved, precipitate the quinia with a slight excess of solution of ammonia. Collect the precipitate on a filter, and wash it with 30 of the water. Dissolve the citric acid in 5 of the water, and having applied the heat of a water bath, add the oxide of iron, previously well drained; stir them together, and when the oxalic acid has dissolved, add the precipitated quinia, continuing the agitation until this also has dissolved. Let the solution cool, then add, in small quantities at a time, 1-1/2 solution of ammonia, dilute with 2 of the water, stirring the solution briskly, and allowing the quinia which separates with each addition of ammonia to dissolve before the next addition is made. Filter the solution, evaporate it to the consistence of a thin syrup, then dry it in layers on flat porcelain or glass plates, at the temperature of 100° Fahr., remove the dry salt in flakes, and keep it in a stoppered bottle. Solubility, 2 in 1.——_Test._ Taste bitter as well as chalybeate. When burned with exposure to air, it leaves a residue (oxide of iron) which yields nothing to water. 50 gr., dissolved in an ounce of water, and treated with a slight excess of ammonia, gives a white precipitate (quinia) which, when collected on a filter and dried, weighs 8 gr. The precipitate is entirely soluble in pure ether, indicating absence of quinidia and cinchonia. When burned it leaves no residue. When dissolved by the aid of an acid it forms a solution which, after decolorisation by a little purified animal charcoal, turns the plane of polarisation strongly to the left (cinchona turns it to the right).——_Dose_, 5 to 10 gr. as a tonic, three times a day, in solution or in pill.

2. (Ph. U. S.) Triturate sulphate of quinine, 1 oz., with distilled water, 6 fl. oz., and having added sufficient diluted sulphuric acid to dissolve it, cautiously pour into the solution water of ammonia with constant stirring, until in slight excess. Wash the precipitated quinine on a filter, and having added solution of citrate of iron, 10 fl. oz., keep the whole at a temperature of 120° by means of a water bath, and stir constantly until the alkaloid is dissolved. Lastly, evaporate the solution to the consistence of a syrup, and spread it on plates of glass, so that, on drying, the salt may be obtained in scales.——_Dose_, 2 gr. to 5 gr.

=Quinine and Iron, I′odide of.= _Syn._ QUINÆ ET FERRI IODIDUM, L. _Prep._ From protiodide of iron, 2 parts; hydriodate of quinine, 1 part; rectified spirit, 12 parts; heat them together, and either evaporate to dryness or crystallise by refrigeration. A powder, or crystalline scales.

=Quinine and Iron, Sul′phate of.= _Syn._ FERROSULPHATE OF QUININE; QUINÆ FERRO-SULPHAS, QUINÆ ET FERRI SULPHAS, L. _Prep._ From solutions of the sulphates of iron and quinine, in atomic proportions, mixed whilst hot, and the crystals which form as the liquid cools carefully dried and preserved from the air.

QUININE AND MERCURY. See MERCURIC AND QUININE CHLORIDE.

=QUINOA.= The seed of this plant (a species of _Chenopodium_) is largely consumed by the people who dwell in the elevated regions of Chili and Peru, in which countries it is found growing at a height of some 13,000 feet above the sea-level. Mr Johnston says there are two varieties of it, a sweet and a bitter one. It is a highly nutritious cereal, resembling ointment in properties.

According to Voelker, quinoa has the following composition:

Quinoa seeds dried Quinoa
at 212° F. flour.

Nitrogenous matter 22·86 19
Starch 56·80 60
Fatty matter 5·74 5
Vegetable fibre 9·53 ——
Ash 5·05 ——
Water —— 16

=QUINOID′INE.= _Syn._ AMORPHOUS QUININE, CHINOIDINE; QUINA AMORPHA, QUINA INFORMIS, QUINOIDIA, QUINOIDINA, QUINOIDINUM, CHINOIDEUM, L. A few years after the discovery of the quinine by Pelletier and Caventou, Sertuerner, a German physician, and known as the discoverer of morphia, obtained, by a peculiar method, from yellow bark, an amorphous alkaloid which was called by him Chinoidin[131] (to which the name amorphous quinine is improperly given), and also fever-killer (Fiebertödter). He found that not only this alkaloid itself, but also all its compounds with acids, were equally amorphous. As recent investigations have proved that this amorphous alkaloid occurs in all cinchona barks, and is found particularly in many young Indian barks in great quantity, it is quite natural that in the manufacture of quinine the uncrystallisable sulphate of this alkaloid should accumulate in the mother liquors of the sulphate of quinine. From such liquors it is precipitated in an impure state by an alkali, and brought into commerce under the name of quinoidine. As this amorphous alkaloid has the property of preventing the crystallisation of the salts of the other alkaloids, particularly those of quinidine, it is clear that the quinoidine of commerce very often contains quinidine and also cinchonidine. Dr de Vrij, for instance, found sometimes more than 20% of quinidine in some samples of quinoidine of commerce. Although commercial quinoidine contains many impurities which may have their origin partly in the adulteration of the cinchona-alkaloids, unadulterated quinoidine, no doubt, chiefly consists of the amorphous alkaloid discovered by Sertuerner.

[Footnote 131: Sertuerner, ‘Die neuesten Entdeckungen in der Physik, Heilkunde, und Chemie,’ 3ter Band, 2tes Heft, Suite 269 (1830).]

The quinoidine of commerce ought never to be used in medicine unless purified. For this purification there are two methods: 1. That of Mr Bullock, which gives the purer but the more expensive product. Crude quinoidine is exhausted with ether, which, after defecation, is distilled off, leaving the purified quinoidine behind. This process has been patented in England by Mr Bullock. 2. That of Dr de Vrij, which consists in boiling 9 parts of crude quinoidine with a solution of 2 parts of oxalate of ammonium in water. By this process the alkaloids contained in the quinoidine are dissolved whilst the impurities, and amongst them the lime which is often contained in the crude quinoidine, remain undissolved. The solution is mixed with a large bulk of water, then filtered and the purified quinoidine precipitated by a slight excess of liquor of soda.

_Prop., &c._ In its crude form quinoidine somewhat resembles aloes; in its purest state it is a yellowish-brown, resin-like mass, freely soluble in alcohol and ether, but nearly insoluble in water; with the acids it forms dark-coloured, uncrystallisable salts. It is powerfully febrifuge, but less so than either quinidine or quinine, although it is identical in chemical composition with both of them.——_Dose_, 2 to 4 gr. for adults, 1/4 to 1 gr. for children, given in wine, lemonade, or acidulated honey.

=QUINOM′ETRY.= _Syn._ CINCHONOMETRY. The art of estimating the quantity of quinine in cinchona bark, and in the commercial salts of this alkaloid.

_Proc._ 1. FOR BARK.——_a._ (Ph. E.) A filtered decoction of 100 gr. of bark, in distilled water, 2 fl. oz., is precipitated with 1 fl. dr., or q. s. of a concentrated solution of carbonate of soda; the precipitate, after being heated in the fluid so as to become a fused mass, and having again become cold, is dried and weighed. “It should be 2 gr., or more, and entirely dissolve in a solution of oxalic acid.” To render the result strictly accurate, the product should be dissolved in 10 parts of proof spirit, containing 1/20th of sulphuric acid, and to this solution carefully added an alcoholic solution of iodine as long as there appears a brown precipitate, which immediately turns black by stirring with a glass rod. This precipitate, collected upon a filter, washed with strong alcohol and dried on a water bath, is Herapath’s iodosulphate of quinine, of which 100 parts represent 56·5 parts of pure quinine.

_b._ (Rebourdain.) 100 gr. of the bark (coarsely powdered) are exhausted with acidulated water, and the filtered solution rendered alkaline with solution of potassa; it is next shaken with about 1-3rd of its volume of chloroform, and then allowed to repose for a short time; the chloroform holding the alkaloid in solution sinks to the bottom of the vessel in a distinct stratum, from which the supernatant liquid is separated by decantation; the chloroformic solution, either at once or after being washed with a little cold water, is allowed to evaporate; the residuum, when weighed, gives the per-centage richness of the sample.

_Obs._ A like result may be obtained with ether instead of chloroform; in which case the solution of quinine will form the upper stratum.

_c._ Instead of Rebourdain’s process, Dr de Vrij prefers that of Charles,[132] so far as regards the separation of the total mixed alkaloids from the bark. To this mixture is applied the process mentioned above (_a_), viz. solution in acidulated proof spirit, &c.

[Footnote 132: ‘Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie,’ 4e série, t. 12, p. 81 (Août, 1870).]

2. For the SALTS. The above methods, as well as several others which have been devised for the purpose, may also be applied to the salts of quinine; but, unfortunately, they are inapplicable when great accuracy is required, owing to the non-recognition of the presence of quinidine, as such, and which, consequently, goes to swell the apparent richness of the sample in quinine. The following ingenious method, invented by Dr Ure, not merely enables us to detect the presence of cinchonine and quinidine in commercial samples of the salts of quinine, but, with some trifling modifications, it also enables us to determine the quantity of each of these alkaloids present in any sample:——“10 gr. of the salts to be examined” (the sulphate is here more especially referred to) “is put into a strong test-tube, furnished with a tight-fitting cork; to this are to be added 10 drops of dilute sulphuric acid (1 acid and 5 water), with 15 drops of water, and a gentle heat applied to accelerate solution. This having been effected, and the solution entirely cooled, 60 drops of officinal sulphuric ether, with 20 drops of liquor of ammonia, must be added, and the whole well shaken while the top is closed by the thumb. The tube is then to be closely stopped, and shaken gently from time to time, so that the bubbles of air may readily enter the layer of ether. If the salt be free from cinchonine and quinidine, or contain the latter in no greater proportion than 10%, it will be completely dissolved; while on the surface, where contact of the two layers of clear fluid takes place, the mechanical impurities only will be separated. After some time the layer of ether becomes hard and gelatinous, and no further observation is possible.”

“From the above statement respecting the solubility of quinidine in ether, it appears that the 10 gr. of the salt examined may contain 1 gr. of quinidine, and still a complete solution with ether and ammonia may follow; but in this case the quinidine will shortly begin to crystallise in a layer of ether. The least trace of quinidine may be yet more definitely detected by employing, instead of the ordinary ether, some ether previously saturated with quinidine, by which means all of the quinidine contained in the quinine examined must remain undissolved. It is particularly requisite, in performing this last experiment, to observe, (immediately) after the shaking, whether all has dissolved; for, owing to the great tendency of quinidine to crystallisation, it may become again separated in a crystalline form, and be a source of error.”

“If more than 1-10th of quinidine or (any) cinchonine be present, there will be found an insoluble precipitate at the limits of the two layers of fluid. If this be quinidine, it will be dissolved on the addition of proportionately more ether, while cinchonine will remain unaffected.”

_Note._ To Dr Ure’s test Dr de Vrij prefers, for several reasons, Dr Kerner’s test, ‘Zeitschrift für Analytische Chemie,’ von Fresenius, 1st Jahrg, 1862; ‘Ueber Die Prufung des Käuflichen Schwefelsauren Chinins auf fremde Alkaloides,’ von Dr G. Keraer.

=QUINOVIC ACID.= C_{28}H_{33}O_{4}. This is insoluble in water, also in chloroform, and difficultly soluble in alcohol. It can be obtained from the boiling alcoholic solution, by cooling, in small crystals. In the leaves, bark, and wood of the cinchona tree this acid is contained, together with quinovin, and it is this mixture which has been recently applied in therapeutics, as a powerful tonic in cases of dysentery, &c. The mixture can easily be obtained from the leaves, bark, or wood of cinchona, and even from bark which has been exhausted by ebullition with water or diluted acids, by cold maceration with weak milk of lime, by which it is dissolved, as it combines easily with bases. It is only the quinovate of lime which has till now been used in medicine.——_Dose_, 2 to 8 gr. every two hours.

=QUINOVIN.= C_{30}H_{48}O_{8}. _Syn._ CINCHOVIN, QUINOVIA.

=QUINOVIN.= A very bitter amorphous glucoside contained in the genus Cinchona, Nauslea, and probably in many other allied genera. It is insoluble in water, very soluble in rectified spirit and in chloroform, with which last liquid it forms, in concentrated solutions, a jelly. If a current of hydrochloric gas is passed into its alcoholic solution the liquid becomes hot and the quinovin is split up into a peculiar kind of sugar.

=QUIN′QUINA.= Dr de Vrij states that the substance known under this name is a mixture of hydrochlorate of cinchonidine and of cinchonine. See CINCHONA.

=QUIN′SY.= See THROAT AFFECTIONS.

=QUINTES′SENCE.= _Syn._ QUINTA ESSENTIA, L. A term invented by the alchemists to represent a concentrated alcoholic solution of the active principles of organic bodies. It is still occasionally employed in perfumery and the culinary art. See ESSENCE, TINCTURE, &c.

=QUITTOR.= It generally shows itself at the top or coronet of the hoof of the horse, in the form of a fistulous opening (whence quittor is also called ‘the pipes’), filled with a purulent discharge.

Quittor invariably points to the presence of an internal ulcer, abscess, or some other irritating cause, the discharge from which, accumulating under the hard hoof, slowly works its way to the surface. The origin of quittor is generally some injury to the hoof, such as a corn, a prick, or an inequality of tread.

The first thing to be done is to remove the animal’s shoe, to cut away any dead or discoloured horn, so as to reach the seat of the suppuration, and to allow it to escape by a more direct outlet. Hot-water fomentations and poultices should afterwards be applied for a few days. Should the sores show an indisposition to heal, the parts should be washed with a tolerably strong solution of sulphate of zinc, or of bichloride of mercury——25 grams of the latter to an ounce of water. The application of strong caustics is to be particularly deprecated.

=QUOTID′IAN.= Occurring or returning daily. See AGUE.

=RAB′BIT.= The _Lepus cuniculus_ (Linn.) of the Cuvian order _Rodentia_. The domestic rabbit, when young, is a light and wholesome article of food, approaching in delicacy to the common barn-door fowl; but has less flavour than the wild animal. The fat is among the ‘simples’ of the Ph. L. 1618. Its hair and skin are made into cheap furs, gloves, hats, &c.

_Composition of Rabbit’s Flesh_ (BARTLETT).[133]

[Footnote 133: ‘Lancet,’ March 29th, 1873.]

+---------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
| | Rabbit | Rabbit | Rabbit | | |
| | No. 1. | No. 2. | No. 3. | Average |Percentage.|
| | Grains. | Grains. | Grains. | Grains. | Grains. |
+---------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
|Water | 5,982 | 6,623 | 7,315 | 6,640 | 73·17 |
|Fibrin and Syntonin | 1,143 | 1,247 | 1,393 | 1,261 | 13·90 |
|Gelatin | 302 | 335 | 350 | 329 | 3·63 |
|Fat | 240 | 272 | 345 | 286 | 3·15 |
|Albumen | 276 | 305 | 340 | 307 | 3·38 |
|Alcoholic extract, | 106 | 119 | 135 | 120 | 1·32 |
| including salts | | | | | |
|Watery extract | 102 | 108 | 125 | 112 | 1·23 |
|Calcium phosphates | 16 | 19 | 25 | 20 | 0·22 |
| +---------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
| Edible portion | 8,167 | 9,028 | 10,029 | 9,075 | 100·00 |
| | | | | | |
|Additional gelatin | | | | | |
| from stewing bones | 215 | 232 | 251 | 233 | 2·06 |
|Bones, &c., dissected| | | | | |
| out and stewed | 1,501 | 1,674 | 1,854 |} |{ 17·88 |
|Shank bones, fur and | | | |} |{ |
| eyes, thrown away | 313 | 352 | 382 |} 2,027 |{ waste. |
| +---------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+
| | 10,201 | 11,286 | 12,516 | 11,335 | ... |
+---------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-----------+

=Rabbit Pie.= Cut up two young rabbits, season with white pepper, salt, a little mace, and nutmeg, all in fine powder; add also a little cayenne. Pack the rabbit with slices of ham, forcemeat balls, and hard eggs, by turns in layers. If it is to be baked in a dish add a little water, but omit the water if it is to be raised in a crust. By the time it is taken out of the oven have ready a gravy of knuckle of veal, or a bit of the scrag, with some shank bones of mutton, seasoned with herbs, onions, mace, and white pepper. If the pie is to be eaten hot, truffles, morels or mushrooms may be added, but not if intended to be eaten cold. If it be made in a dish put as much gravy as will fill the dish, but in raised crusts the gravy must be carefully strained, and then put in cold as jelly.

=Rabbit Pudding.= Cut a rabbit into sixteen pieces, and slice a quarter of a pound of bacon; season with chopped sage, pepper, and salt; then add potatoes and onions according to the size of the family, and half a pint of water. Boil for two hours. The meat and vegetables must be well mixed. Rice may be substituted for potatoes if preferred.

=Rabbit, Ragout of.= “Wash and clean a good-sized Ostend rabbit; boil the liver and heart, chop them, and mix with veal stuffing; fill the rabbit, sew it up, and tie it into shape. Put a piece of fat beef and 1 lb. of bacon, cut in slices, into a saucepan, with 1 oz. of dripping; put in the rabbit to brown, turning it over to brown both sides; pour off the dripping, and put in 1 quart of water; let it simmer gently an hour and a half. A quarter of an hour before serving skim off all the fat, and thicken the gravy with a little corn flour; season with pepper and salt, and, if liked, stew a bunch of herbs and half an onion with it. Lay the rabbit on a dish with the bacon round it, and pour the gravy over.” (Tegetmeier.)

=RAC′AHOUT.= _Syn._ RACAHOUT DES ARABES. This is said to be farina prepared from the acorns of _Quercus Ballota_, or Barbary oak, disguised with a little flavouring. The following is recommended as an imitation:——Roasted cacao or chocolate nuts, 4 oz.; tapioca, and potato farina, of each 6 oz.; white sugar, slightly flavoured with vanilla, 1/2 lb. Very nutritious. Used as arrow-root.

=RACE′MIC ACID.= _Syn._ PARATARTARIC ACID. This compound was discovered by Kestner in 1820, replacing tartaric acid in grape juice of the Department of the Vosges. Racemic acid and tartaric acid have exactly the same composition, and yield, when exposed to heat, the same products; the racemates also correspond in the closest manner with the tartrates. Racemic acid is rather less soluble than tartaric, and separates first from a solution containing the two acids. A solution of racemic acid precipitates a neutral salt of calcium, which is not the case with tartaric acid. A solution of racemic acid does not affect a ray of polarised light, while a solution of tartaric acid rotates the ray to the right.

“Dessargnes and Jungfleisch found by experiment that under the influence of heat ordinary tartaric acid is readily transformed into inactive tartaric acid and racemic acid, and the latter chemist thought to find in this fact an explanation of the production of racemic acid.

“But observations continued through many years upon mother liquors from various tartaric acid factories showed that although more or less inactive tartaric acid was present in all of them, racemic acid was not, even when they had been subjected to prolonged treatment, and its occurrence in appreciable quantity was confined to a small number of specimens. In fact, some samples of mother liquor from factories where evaporation was carried on in a partial vacuum contained more racemic acid than others from factories where evaporation was carried on over a pure fire. Recently Jungfleisch noticed that the liquors richest in inactive tartaric acid were also rich in alumina, and the suspicion that alumina favoured the conversion was confirmed by direct experiment; also that the neutral aluminum sulphate has but little action. Jungfleisch has come to the conclusion that when there is an accumulation of alumina on the mother liquor, the conditions are favorable for the production of a large proportion of inactive tartaric acid, and a small proportion of racemic acid, although when the latter is present in considerable quantity, it becomes the most manifest through its comparative insolubility. Examination of liquors from which racemic acid has been deposited has always shown them to contain much inactive tartaric acid. This theory does not exclude the probability that certain vines under particular conditions produce racemic acid.”[134]

[Footnote 134: ‘Pharmaceutical Journal.’]

=RACK′ING.= See CIDER and WINES.

=RAD′ICLE.= _Syn._ RADICAL. According to the binary theory of the constitution of saline compounds, every salt is composed, like chloride of sodium (NaCl), of two sides or parts, which are termed its radicals. That part of a salt which consists of a metal, or of a body exercising the chemical functions of one, is called the metallic, basic, or basylous radical; while the other part, which, like chlorine, by combining with hydrogen would produce an acid, is designated the chlorous or acidulous radical. Every salt, therefore, consists of a basic and of an acid radical. Sometimes radicals are elementary in their nature, when they are called _simple_; and sometimes they are made up of a group of elements, when they are termed _compound_. Some radicals, both simple and compound, have been isolated, while many have but a hypothetical existence. In the following formulæ the vertical line separates the basic from the acid radicals, the former being on the left, the latter on the right:——

H | F Hydrofluoric acid (_Fluoride of hydrogen_).
Na | Cl Chloride of sodium.
K | CN Cyanide of potassium.
Ca | CO_{3} Carbonate of calcium.
NH_{4} | Cl Chloride of ammonium.
C_{2}H_{5} | NO_{2} Nitrite of ethyl.

=RAD′ISH.= The common garden radish (RAPHANUS, L.) is the root of _Raphanus sativus_ (Linn.), one of the _Cruciferæ_. There are several varieties. They are all slightly diuretic and laxative, and possess considerable power in exciting the appetite. The seed is pressed for oil. The horseradish (ARMORACIA, L.) belongs to a distinct genus.

=RAIN-GAUGE.= _Syn._ OMBOMETER, PLUVIAMETER, UDOMETER. An instrument for determining the quantity of water, which falls as rain, at any given place. A simple and convenient rain-gauge for agricultural purposes is formed of a wide mouthed funnel, or open receiver, connected with a glass tube furnished with a stop-cock. The diameter of the tube may be exactly 1-100th that of the receiver, and if the tube be graduated into inches and tenths, the quantity of rain that falls may be easily read off to the 1-1000th of an inch. The instrument should be set in some perfectly open situation; and, for agricultural purposes, with its edge as nearly level with the ground as possible. Another form of gauge is furnished with a float, the height of which marks the amount of liquid. The diameter of the gauge should range between 4 and 8 inches. The quantity of water should be duly measured and registered at 9 a.m. daily.

Mr Symonds, F.R.B.S., has drawn the following code of instructions for the guidance of those registering the amount of rainfall at any locality:——

1. _Site._ A rain-gauge should not be set on a slope or terrace, but on a level piece of ground, at a distance from shrubs, trees, walls, and buildings——at the very least as many feet from their base as they are in height.

Tall growing flowers, vegetables, and bushes must be kept away from the gauges. If a thoroughly clear site cannot be obtained, shelter is most endurable from north-west, north, and east; less so from south, south-east, and west; and not at all from south-west or north-east.

2. _Old Gauges._ Old-established gauges should not be moved, nor their registration discontinued, until at least two years after a new one has been in operation, otherwise the continuity of the register will be irreparably destroyed. Both the old and the new ones must be registered at the same time, and the results recorded for comparison.

3. _Level._ The funnel of a rain-gauge must be set quite level, and so firmly fixed that it will remain so, in spite of any gale of wind or ordinary circumstances. Its correctness in this respect should be tested from time to time.

4. _Height._ The funnel of gauges newly placed should be one foot above grass. Information respecting height above sea level may be obtained from G. J. Symons, Esq., 64, Camden Square, N.W., London.

5. _Rust._ If the funnel of a japanned gauge become so oxidised as to retain the rain in its pores, or threatens to become rusty, it should have a coat of gas tar or japan black, or a fresh funnel of zinc or copper should be provided.

6. _Float Gauges._ If the measuring rod is detached from the float it should never be left in the gauge; if it is attached to the float it should be pegged or tied down, and only allowed to rise to its proper position at the time of reading. To allow for the weight of the float and rod these gauges are generally so constructed as to show 0 only when a small amount of water is left in them. Care must always be taken to set the rod to the zero or 0.

7. _Can and Bottle Gauges._ The measuring glass should always be held upright. The reading is to be taken midway between the two apparent surfaces of the water.

8. _Date of Entry._ The amount measured at 9 a.m. on any day is to be set against the previous one, because the amount measured at 9 a.m. of, say, the 17th, contains the fall during fifteen hours of the 16th, and only nine hours of the 17th. (The rule has been approved by the meteorological societies of England and Scotland, cannot be altered, and is particularly commended to the notice of observers.)

9. _Mode of Entry._ If less than one tenth (·10) has fallen, the cipher must always be prefixed; thus, if the measure is full up to the seventh line, it must be entered as ·07——that is, no inches, no tenths, and seven hundredths. For the sake of clearness it has been found necessary to lay down an invariable rule that there shall always be two figures to the right of the decimal point. If there be only one figure, as in the case of one tenth of an inch (usually written ·1), a cipher must be added, making it ·10. Neglect of this rule causes much inconvenience. All columns should be cast _twice_——once up and once down——so as to avoid the same error being made twice. When there is no rain a line should be drawn rather than a cipher inserted.

10. _Caution._ The amount should always be written down before the water is thrown away.

11. _Small Quantities._ The unit of measurement being ·01, observers whose gauges are sufficiently delicate to show less than that are, if the amount is under ·005, to throw it away; if it is ·005 to ·010 inclusive, they are not to enter it as ·01.

12. _Absence._ Every observer should train some one as an assistant; but where this is not possible, instructions should be given that the gauge should be emptied at 9 a.m. on the 1st of the month, and the water bottled, labelled, and tightly corked, to await the observer’s return.

13. _Heavy Rains._ When very heavy rains occur it is desirable to measure immediately on their termination; and it will be found a safe plan, after measuring, to return the water to the gauge, so that the morning registration will not be interfered with. Of course, if there is the slightest doubt as to the gauge holding all the falls it must be emptied, the amount being previously written down.

14. _Snow._ In snow three methods may be adopted; it is well to try them all:——(1) Melt what is caught in the funnel by adding to the snow a previously ascertained quantity of warm water, and then deducting this quantity from the total measurement, enter the residue as rain. (2) Select a place where the snow has not drifted, invert the funnel, and, turning it round, lift and melt what is enclosed. (3) Measure with a rule the average depth of snow, and take one twelfth as the equivalent of water. Some observers use in snowy weather a cylinder of the same diameter as the rain-gauge, and of considerable depth. If the wind is at all rough all the snow is blown out of a flat-funnelled rain-gauge.

15. _Overflow._ It would seem needless to caution observers on this head, but as a recent foreign table contains _six instances in one day_, in which gauges were allowed to run over, it is evidently necessary that British observers should be on the alert. It is not desirable to purchase any new gauge of which the capacity is less than four inches.

16. _Second Gauges._ It is often desirable that observers should have two gauges, and that one of them should be capable of holding eight inches of rain. One of the gauges should be registered daily, the other weekly or monthly, as preferred, but always on the 1st of each month. By this means a thorough check is kept on accidental errors in the entries, which is not the case if _both_ are read daily.

17. _Dew and Fog._ Small amounts of water are at times deposited in rain-gauges by fog and dew. They should be added to the amount of rainfall, because (1) “they tend to water the earth and nourish the streams,” and not for that reason only, but (2) because in many cases the rain-gauges can only be visited monthly, and it would then obviously be impossible to separate the yield of snow, rain, &c.; therefore, for the sake of uniformity, all must be taken together.

18. _Doubtful Entries._ Whenever there is the least doubt respecting the accuracy of any observation, the entry should be marked with a ?, and the reason stated for its being placed there.

_Obs._ The height at which the rain-gauge is elevated from the ground is a matter of considerable moment. Thus, one observer found the fall of rain at York for twelve months (1833-1834) to be——at a height of 213 feet from the ground, 14·96 inches; at 44 feet, 19·85 inches; and on the ground, 25·71 inches.

Later experimentalists have confirmed this curious fact. Thus, Colonel Warde found the following to be the relative rainfall at different periods for the four years extending from 1864 to 1867:

Inches.
On a level with the ground 1·07
At a height of 2 inches 1·05
” 6 ” 1·01
” 1 foot 1·00
” 2 feet 0·99
” 3 ” 0·98
” 5 ” 0·96
” 10 ” 0·95
” 20 ” 0·94

One of the causes that have been assigned for this singular phenomenon has been——the greater exposure in elevated situations of the rain to dispersive action of the wind, a surmise which derives some support from the circumstance, that when a rain-gauge is placed on a building, the roof of which is flat, of large area, and with few, if any, chimneys to disturb the air currents, an amount of rain is collected equalling that obtained on the surface of the ground.

=RAI′SINS.= _Syn._ DRIED GRAPES; UVÆ (B. P.). UVÆ SICCATÆ, UVA (Ph. L.), UVÆ PASSÆ (Ph. E. & D.), L. “The prepared fruit of _Vitis vinifera_” (Linn.)——Ph. L. The grapes are allowed to ripen and dry on the vine. After being plucked and cleaned, they are dipped, for a few seconds, into a boiling lye of wood ashes and quicklime at 12° or 15° Baumé, to every 4 galls. of which a handful of culinary salt and a pint of salad oil has been added; they are then exposed for 12 or 14 days in the sun to dry; they are, lastly, carefully garbled, and packed for exportation. The sweet, fleshy kinds of grapes are those selected for the above treatment; and, in general, their stalks are cut about one half through, or a ring of bark is removed, to hasten their maturation.

Raisins are nutritious, cooling, antiseptic, and, in general, laxative; the latter to a greater extent than the fresh fruit. There are many varieties found in commerce. Their uses as a dessert and culinary fruit, and in the manufacture of wine, &c., are well known, and are referred to elsewhere. See GRAPES, WINES, &c.

=RANCID′ITY.= The strong, sour flavour and odour which oleaginous bodies acquire by age and exposure to the air. For its prevention, see FATS, OILS (Fixed), &c.

=RAPE OIL.= See OILS (Fixed).

=RASH.= Erasmus Wilson notices four different affections, as included under this head:——

1. ST ANTHONY’S FIRE, or ERYSIPELAS, the severest of them all, already referred to.

2. NETTLE-RASH, or URTICARIA, characterised by its tingling and pricking pain, and its little white elevations on a reddish ground, like the wheals caused by the sting of a nettle. This efflorescence seldom stays many hours, and, sometimes, not even many minutes, in the same place, and is multiplied or reproduced whenever any part of the skin is scratched or even touched. No part of the body is exempt from it, and when many of them occur together, and continue for an hour or two, the parts are often considerably swelled, and the features temporarily disfigured. In many cases these eruptions continue to infest the skin, sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, for one or two hours together, two or three times a day, or perhaps, for the greatest part of the twenty-four hours. In some constitutions this lasts only a few days; in others several months.

There are several varieties of nettle-rash or urticaria noticed by medical writers, among which URTICARIA FEBRILIS, PERSISTANS, and EVANIDA, are the principal.

The common cause of nettle-rash is some derangement of the digestive functions, arising either from the use of improper food or a disordered state of the nervous or other systems of the body. Lobsters, crabs, mussels, shrimps, dried fish, pork, cucumbers, mushrooms, and adulterated beer or porter, bear the character of frequently causing this affection. In childhood it commonly arises from teething. Occasionally, in persons of peculiar idiosyncrasy, the most simple article of food, as almonds, nuts, and even milk, rice, and eggs, will produce this affection.

The treatment may consist of the administration of gentle saline aperients, and in severer cases a gentle emetic, followed by the copious use of acidulated diluent drinks, as weak lemon-juice-and-water, effervescing potassa-draughts, &c., and, when required, diaphoretics. The clothing should be light, but warm, and the itching, when severe, may be allayed by the application of a lotion of water to which a little vinegar or camphorated spirit has been added; the latter must, however, be employed with caution. A hot knee-bath is useful in drawing the affection from the face and upper part of the body. A ‘compress,’ wrung out of cold water until it ceases to drip, and kept in contact with the stomach by means of a dry bandage, has been recommended to relieve excessive irritation of the stomach and bowels. It has been stated that decoction of Virginian snake-root is particularly useful in relieving chronic urticaria.

3. RED-RASH, RED-BLOTCH, or FIERY SPOT, is commonly the consequence of disordered general health, of dyspepsia, and particularly, of females, of tight lacing. Sometimes it is slight and evanescent; at others it approaches in severity to the milder forms of erysipelas, there being much swelling and inflammation. Chaps, galls, excoriations, and chilblains are varieties of this disease produced by cold, excessive moisture, or friction. The treatment is similar to that of nettle-rash.

4. ROSE-RASH, FALSE MEASLES, or ROSEOLA, is an efflorescence, or rather a discoloration of a rose-red tint, in small irregular patches, without wheals or papulæ, which spread over the surface of the body, and are ushered in by slight febrile symptoms. There are several varieties. The causes are the same as those which produce the preceding affections, and the treatment may be similar. In all of them strict attention to the diet, and a careful avoidance of cold applications, or exposure to cold, so as to cause a retrocession, are matters of the first moment.

=RASP′BERRY.= _Syn._ HINDBERRY. The fruit of _Rubus Idæus_ (Linn.), a small shrub of the natural order _Rosaceæ_. It is cooling, antiscorbutic, and mildly aperitive. It is frequently used to communicate a fine flavour to liqueurs, confectionery, wine, &c. See FRUITS and VEGETABLES.

Fresenius gives the following as the composition of raspberries:

CULTIVATED.
Wild Red. Red. White.
_Soluble Matter_——
Sugar 3·597 4·708 3·703
Free acid (reduced to equivalent
in malic acid) 1·980 1·356 1·115
Albuminous substances 0·546 0·544 0·665
Pectous substances, &c. 1·107 1·746 1·397
Ash 0·270 0·481 0·318

_Insoluble Matter_——
Seeds }
Skins, &c. } 8·460 4·106 4·520
Pectose 0·180 0·502 0·040

[_Ash from insoluble matter included
in weights given_] [0·134] [0·296] [0·081]
Water 86·860 86·557 88·180
———————— ———————— ————————
100·000 100·000 100·000

=RATAFI′A.= Originally a liquor drank at the ratification of an agreement or treaty. It is now the common generic name in France of liqueurs compounded of spirit, sugar, and the odoriferous and flavouring principles of vegetables, more particularly of those containing the juices of recent fruits, or the kernels of apricots, cherries, or peaches. In its unqualified sense this name is commonly understood as referring to cherry-brandy or peach-brandy.

Ratafias are prepared by distillation, maceration, or extemporaneous admixture, in the manner explained under the head LIQUEUR. The following list includes those which are commonly prepared by the French liquoristes:——

=Ratafia d’Angelique.= From angelica seeds, 1 dr.; angelica stalks, 4 oz.; blanched bitter almonds, bruised, 1 oz.; proof spirit or brandy, 6 quarts; digest for 10 days, filter; add, of water, 1 quart; white sugar, 3-1/2 lbs.; mix well, and in a fortnight decant the clear portion through a piece of clean flannel.

=Ratafia d’Anis.= See (Liqueur) CORDIAL, ANISEED.

=Ratafia de Baume de Tolu.= From balsam of Tolu, 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; dissolve, add water, 3 pints; filter, and further add of white sugar, 1-1/2 lb. Pectoral and traumatic.

=Ratafia de Brou de Noix.= From young walnuts with soft shells (pricked or pierced), 60 in no.; brandy, 2 quarts; mace, cinnamon, and cloves, of each 15 gr.; digest for 8 weeks; press, filter, add of white sugar, 1 lb.; and keeping it for some months before decanting it for use. Stomachic.

=Ratafia de Cacao.= _Syn._ R. DE CHOCOLAT. From Caracca cacao-nuts, 1 lb.; West Indian do., 1/2 lb.; (both roasted and bruised;) proof spirit, 1 gall.; digest for 14 days, filter, and add, of white sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.; tincture of vanilla, 1/2 dr. (or shred of vanilla may be infused with the nuts in the spirit instead); lastly, decant in a month, and bottle it.

=Ratafia de Café.= From coffee, ground and roasted, 1 lb.; brandy or proof spirit, 1 gall.; sugar, 2 lbs. (dissolved in); water, 1 quart; as last.

=Ratafia de Cassis.= From black currant juice, 1 quart; cinnamon, 1 dr.; cloves and peach kernels, of each 1/2 dr.; brandy, 1 gall.; white sugar, 3 lbs.; digest for a fortnight, and strain through flannel.

=Ratafia de Cerise.= From Morello cherries, with their kernels bruised, 8 lbs.; brandy or proof spirit, 1 gall.; white sugar, 2 lbs.; as last.

=Ratafia de Chocolat.= Ratafia de cacao (see _above_).

=Ratafia de Coings.= From quince juice, 3 quarts; bitter almonds, 3 dr.; cinnamon and coriander seeds, of each 2 dr.; mace, 1/2 dr.; cloves, 15 gr. (all bruised); rectified spirit, (quite flavourless), 1/2 gall.; digest for a week, filter, and add of white sugar, 3-1/2 lbs.

=Ratafia de Crème.= From crème de noyeau and sherry, of each 1/4 pint; capillaire, 1/2 pint; fresh cream, 1 pint; beaten together.

=Ratafia de Curaçoa.= Curaçoa.

=Ratafia de Framboises.= Raspberry cordial.

=Ratafia de Genièvre.= From juniper berries (each pricked with a fork), 1/4 lb.; caraway and coriander seed, of each 40 gr.; finest malt spirit (22 u. p.), 1 gall.; white sugar 2 lbs.; digest a week, and strain with expression.

=Ratafia de Grenoble.= From the small wild black cherry (with the kernels bruised), 2 lbs.; proof spirit, 1 gall.; white sugar, 3 lbs.; citron peels, a few grains; as before.

=Ratafia de Grenoble, de Teyssère.= From cherries (bruised with the stones), 1 quart; rectified spirit, 2 quarts; mix, digest for 48 hours, then express the liquor, and heat it to boiling in a close vessel; when cold, add of sugar or capillaire, q. s., together with some noyeau, to flavour, and a little syrup of the bay laurel, and of galangal; in 3 months decant, and bottle it.

=Ratafia de Noyeau.= From peach or apricot kernels (bruised), 120 in no.; proof spirit or brandy, 2 quarts; white sugar, 1 lb.; digest for a week, press, and filter.

=Ratafia de Œillets.= From clove-pinks (without the white buds), 4 lbs.; cinnamon and cloves, of each 15 gr.; proof spirit, 1 gall.; macerate for 10 days, express the tincture, filter, and add of white sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.

=Ratafia d’Ecorce d’Orange.= Crème d’Orange.

=Ratafia de Fleurs d’Oranger.= From fresh orange petals, 2 lbs.; proof spirit, 1 gall.; white sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.; as last. Instead of orange flowers, neroli, 1 dr., may be used.

=Ratafia à la Provençale.= From striped pinks, 1 lb.; brandy or proof spirit, 1 quart; white sugar, 3/4 lb.; juice of strawberries, 3/4 pint; saffron, 20 gr.; as before.

=Ratafia des Quatre Fruits.= From cherries, 30 lbs.; gooseberries, 15 lbs.; raspberries, 8 lbs.; black currants, 7 lbs.; express the juice, and to each pint add, of white sugar, 6 oz.; cinnamon, 6 gr.; cloves and mace, of each 3 gr.

=Ratafia Rouge.= From the juice of black cherries, 3 quarts; juices of strawberries and raspberries, of each 1 quart; cinnamon, 1 dr.; mace and cloves, of each 15 gr.; proof spirit or brandy, 2 galls.; white sugar, 7 lbs.; macerate, &c., as before.

=Ratafia Sec.= Take of the juice of gooseberries, 5 pints; juices of cherries, strawberries, and raspberries, of each 1 pint; proof spirit, 6 quarts; sugar, 7 lbs.; as before.

=Ratafia à la Violette.= From orris powder, 3 oz.; litmus, 4 oz.; rectified spirit, 2 galls.; digest for 10 days, strain, and add of white sugar, 12 lbs.; dissolved in soft water, 1 gall.

=RATS.= The common or brown rat is the _Mus Decumanus_ (Linn.), one of the most prolific and destructive species of the _Rodentia_. It was introduced to these Islands from Asia; and has since spread over the whole country, and multiplied at the expense of the black rat (_Mus Rattus_——Linn.), which is the old British species of this animal, until its inroads on our granaries, our stores, and dwelling-houses have increased to such an extent, that its extirpation has become a matter of serious, if not of national, importance.

For the destruction of these noxious animals two methods are adopted:——

1. Trapping. To render the bait more attractive, it is commonly sprinkled with a little of one of the rat scents noticed below. The trap is also occasionally so treated.

2. Poisoning. The following are reputed the most effective mixtures for this purpose:——

ARSENICAL PASTE. From oatmeal or wheaten flour, 3 lbs.; powdered indigo, 1/2 oz.; finely powdered white arsenic, 1/4 lb.; oil of aniseed, 1/2 dr.; mix, add of melted suet, 2-1/2 lbs.; and beat the whole into a paste. A similar compound has the sanction of the French Government.

ARSENICAL POWDER. From oatmeal, 1 lb.; moist sugar, 1/4 lb.; white arsenic and rotten cheese, of each 1 oz.; rat-scent, a few drops.

MILLERS’ RAT POWDER. From fresh oatmeal, 1 lb.; nux vomica (in very fine powder), 1 oz.; rat-scent, 5 or 6 drops. This is highly spoken of by those who have used it.

MINERAL RAT-POISON. From carbonate of baryta, 1/4 lb.; sugar and oatmeal, of each 6 oz.; oils of aniseed and caraway, of each a few drops.

PHILANTROPE MUOPHOBON. A French preparation, which, according to Mr Beasley, consists of tartar emetic, 1 part, with farinaceous matter, 4 parts, and some other (unimportant) ingredients.

PHOSPHOR PASTE.

RAT-SCENTS. The following are said to be the most attractive:

_a._ Powdered cantharides steeped in French brandy. For traps. It is said that rats are so fond of this, that if a little be rubbed about the hands they may be handled with impunity.

_b._ From powdered assafœtida, 8 gr.; oil of rhodium, 2 dr.; oil of aniseed, 1 dr.; oil of lavender, 1/2 dr.; mix by agitation.

_c._ From oil of aniseed, 1/2 oz.; tincture of assafœtida, 1/4 oz.

_d._ From oil of aniseed, 1/4 oz.; nitrous acid, 2 to 3 drops; musk, triturated with a little powdered sugar, 1 gr.

=RA′ZORS.= See PAPERS, PASTE, and SHAVING.

=REA′GENTS.= See TESTS.

=REAL′GAR.= This valuable red pigment is the bisulphide of arsenic. It is found native in some volcanic districts; but that of commerce is prepared by distilling, in an earthen retort, arsenical pyrites, or a mixture of sulphur and arsenic, of orpiment and sulphur, or of arsenious acid, sulphur, and charcoal, in the proper proportions. See DISULPHIDE OF ARSENIC.

=RECOMMENDATIONS TO FARMERS.= A series of valuable suggestions, intended for the guidance of farmers in the purchase of manures and cattle-feeding materials have lately been issued by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. In substance they are as follows:——In the purchase of feeding-cakes, the guarantee of ‘pure’ should be insisted upon, since this means a legal warranty that the article is produced from good clean seed. The terms ‘best’ and ‘genuine’ are of no value, and should be objected to. Furthermore, the sample should be subjected to analysis. For this purpose a sample should be taken out of the middle of the cake, whilst the remainder of the cake from which the sample has been selected, should be sealed up and placed aside for reference in case of dispute.

The following advice is given to farmers about to purchase manures:——Raw bones or bone dust should be purchased ‘as pure,’ whilst they should be guaranteed to contain not less than 45 per cent. of tribasic phosphate of lime, and 4 per cent. of ammonia. ‘Boiled bones’ should be purchased as ‘pure’ boiled bones, guaranteed to contain not less than 48 per cent. of tribasic phosphate of lime, and 1-3/4 per cent. of ammonia. Dissolved bones vary so greatly that the buyer should insist on a guarantee of quality under the heads of ‘soluble phosphate of lime,’ ‘insoluble phosphate of lime,’ and ‘nitrogen’ or ‘ammonia,’ also for an allowance at current rates for each unit per cent. if the bones should prove on analysis to contain less than the guaranteed per-centages, &c. It should be insisted that mineral superphosphates are delivered dry and in good condition, and be guaranteed to contain a certain per-centage of soluble phosphates at a certain price per unit per cent. No value is to be attached to ‘insoluble phosphates.’ Compound artificial manures, which are rarely used, should be purchased on exactly the same terms. Nitrate of soda should be purchased on exactly the same terms. Nitrate of soda should be guaranteed to contain 94 to 95 per cent. of pure nitrate. Sulphate of ammonia should yield 35 per cent. of ammonia. Peruvian guano should be sold under that name, and guaranteed to be in a dry, friable condition, and to contain a certain per-centage of ammonia.

In buying artificial manures the purchaser is recommended to obtain a guarantee that they shall be delivered in a sufficiently dry and powdery condition to allow of sowing by the drill.

Samples, taken out of three or four bags, should be well mixed together, and they should be analysed not later than three days after delivery. Two tins, holding about half a pound each, should be filled in the presence of a witness, sealed up, one sent to the analyst, and the other retained for future reference.

=RECTIFCA′TION.= The redistillation, &c., of a fluid, for the purpose of rendering it purer.

=RED.= A term denoting a bright colour, resembling blood. Red is a simple or primary colour, but of several different shades or hues, as scarlet, crimson, vermilion, orange-red, &c.

=RED, AN′ILINE.= _Syn._ ROSANILINE. This artificial base is prepared by the action of bichloride of tin, mercurial salts, arsenic acid, and many other oxidising agents, upon aniline. The aniline reps of commerce, now so largely used for dyeing, are saline compounds, more or less pure, of rosaline, with 1 equiv. of acid. These compounds are known under the names of ‘magenta,’ ‘fuchsine,’ ‘roseine,’ ‘azaleine,’ &c. In England the aniline red commonly employed is the acetate of rosaniline, which has been prepared by Mr Nicholson in splendid crystals of very considerable dimensions. In France the hydrochlorate of rosaniline is chiefly employed. The free base presents itself in colourless crystalline plates, but its compounds with 1 equiv. of acid have, when dry, a beautiful green colour, with golden lustre, and furnish with water an intensely coloured red solution. See PURPLE (Aniline) and RED DYE, also TAR COLOURS.

=RED DYE.= The substances principally employed for dyeing reds are cochineal, lac-dye, and madder, which, under proper treatment, yield permanent colours of considerable brilliancy, the first and third more particularly so. Extremely beautiful but fugitive colours are also obtained from Brazil wood, safflower, archil, and some other substances. For purple-red or crimsons (magenta, fuchsine, &c.), on silk or wool, the aniline reds (salts of rosaniline) are now extensively used. (See TAR-COLOURS.) The mode of applying them is noticed under PURPLE DYE. SILK is usually dyed of a permanent red or scarlet with cochineal, safflower, or lac dye; wool, with cochineal and, still more frequently, with madder; and cotton, with madder (chiefly), Brazil wood, &c. The leading properties of these substances are given under their respective names, and the methods of employing them are generally referred to in the articles DYEING, MORDANTS, &c., and, therefore, need not be repeated here. The following may, however, be useful to the reader:——

1. First, give the ‘goods’ a mordant of alum, or of alum-and-tartar, rinse, dry, and boil them in a bath of madder. If acetate of iron be used instead of alum, the colour will be purple, and by combining the two, as mordants, any intermediate shade may be produced.

2. The yarn or cloth is put into a very weak alkaline bath at the boiling temperature, then washed, dried, and ‘galled’ (or, when the calico is to be printed, for this bath may be substituted one of cow-dung, subsequent exposure to the air for a day or two, and immersion in very dilute sulphuric acid. In this way the stuff gets opened, and takes and retains the colour better). After the ‘galling’ the goods are dried, and alumed twice; then dried, rinsed, and passed through a madder bath, composed of 3/4 lb. of good madder for every lb. weight of the goods; this bath is slowly raised to the boiling point in the course of 50 or 60 minutes, more or less, according to the shade of colour required; after a few minutes the stuff is taken out, and slightly washed; the operation is then repeated, in the same manner, with fresh madder; it is, lastly, washed and dried, or passed through a hot soap bath, which carries off the fawn-coloured particles.