Emplastrum Aconiti.—Aconite Plaster.
Related entry: Aconitum (U. S. P.)—Aconite
Preparation.—Take of aconite root, in coarse powder, 4 troy ounces, moisten it with 6 fluid ounces of alcohol, sp. gr. 0.835, and permit it to macerate 24 hours; then put it in a displacer, and pour on gradually alcohol, sp. gr. 0.835, a sufficient quantity to make a pint of tincture. Distill off ¾ of the alcohol, evaporate the residue on a water-bath to a thick, syrupy consistence, then add lead plaster, in a melted state, 3 ½ troy ounces, and stir constantly until it is properly incorporated with the soft resinous extract, and cools.
Description.—This forms a brown, homogenous mass, weighing about 4 troy ounces. It should, when used, be spread in a thin layer on skin or oiled-silk, and may be used several times when its application has not been too long continued at first. It is considered superior to that in which only aconitine enters, being more uniform in its strength and of equal efficacy.
Action and Medical Uses.—It possesses the medicinal efficacy of the root, and has been found a valuable application in neuralgia, headache, rheumatic pains, painful tumors of the breast and other parts, and in inflammatory dysmenorrhoea (W. Procter, Jr.).
