Page 416 - My FlipBook

414 DENTAL MEDICINE.

It is in the form of a light white crystalline powder, with a de-
cidedly sweet taste.
Therapeutic Uses.—Gluside is used as a sweetening agent to
cover the taste of nauseous medicines. It is also antiseptic and
is administered in diabetes, and other diseases where sugar is con-
tra-indicated. In alcoholic solutions it has a very decided action
on the bacteria of the oral cavity, as stated by Dr. Miller.
Dose.—Gr. ss to ij or more.
GLYCERINUM—GLYCERIN.
Formula.—C3H5(OH)3. Sp. gr. 1.25.
Source.—Glycerin is obtained from the saponification of fats
and fixed oils, and contains a small percentage of water. It is
a colorless, inodorous, syrupy liquid, of a sweet taste, and freely
soluble in water and alcohol, but not in ether or chloroform.
Medical Properties and Action.—Glycerin is nutrient and emol-
lient, possessing considerable power as a solvent and preservative.
The addition of i^, ^, or even ^^ part of glycerin to a lotion
or poultice, or an external application, renders it particularly
emollient and soothing. It keeps the parts moistened and soft,
and corrects or prevents the disagreeable odor of discharges, and
it does not evaporate or dry at an ordinary teniperature. Gly-
cerin dissolves carbolic acid, creasote, tannic acid, borax, iodine,
quinine, iodide of potassium, gallic acid, etc., and its uses as a
solvent and a vehicle for other remedies are very numerous. It
has been prescribed as a substitute for cod-liver oil, where the
latter nauseates. Officinal solutions of medicinal agents in
glycerin are known as glycerites {glyceritd).
Therapeutic Uses.—Glycenn is rarely used alone as an internal
remedy, its chief use being external, or in combination with other
medicinal substances. It has been prescribed in phthisis, diabetes,
acne ; externally, as an emollient in acute coryza, chronic follicu-
lar pharyngitis, chapped hands and face, fissures, skin diseases,
dressing for wounds and ulcerated surfaces, and as a vehicle for
the application of astringents to the eye ; also to soften cerumen
and for the removal of insects from the ear, and for diminishing
the secretion of pus j also in burns, abraded surfaces, erysipelas.