Pulvis Rhei Compositus. U. S., Br. Compound Powder of Rhubarb. Pulv. Rhei Co.
Related entry: Rhubarb - Ginger
Magnesia and Rhubarb, Gregory's Powder; Poudre de Rhubarbe composee, Fr.; Pulvis Magnesise cum Rheo, P. G.; Kinderpulver, Pulvis Infantum, s. P. Antacidus, G.
"Rhubarb, in No. 60 powder, twenty-five grammes [or 386 grains]; Magnesium Oxide, sixty-five grammes [or 2 ounces av., 128 grains]; Jamaica Ginger, in No. 60 powder, ten grammes [or 154 grains], to make one hundred grammes [or 3 ounces av., 231 grains]. Rub the rhubarb and ginger together, then gradually add the magnesium oxide and continue the trituration until they are thoroughly mixed, then pass through a No. 60 sieve." U. S.
"Rhubarb Root, in powder, 22 grammes; Light Magnesia, 66 grammes; Ginger, in powder, 12 grammes. Mix." Br.
Properties.—"A pinkish-white, mobile powder, becoming darker on exposure to moisture; when examined under the microscope it exhibits flue particles of magnesium oxide, numerous starch grains and characteristic fragments of vegetable tissues; starch grains of ginger, more or less elliptical or ovoid, frequently with a prominent beak, from 0.005 to 0.06 mm. in diameter; starch grains of rhubarb, single or compound, either spherical or polygonal, often with a central cleft, from 0.002 to 0.02 mm. in diameter; mounts made with hydrated chloral T.S. give a strong effervescence and show more clearly the fragments of reticulate tracheae, the reddish-brown parenchyma of rhubarb with numerous small starch grains or rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, varying from 0.05 to 0.1 mm. in diameter. With solutions of the alkalies many of the fragments of rhubarb become of a deep red color." U. S.
This is a good laxative antacid, well adapted to bowel complaints, especially in children.
Dose, for an adult, from one-half to one drachm (2.0-3.9 Gm.); for a child two or three years old, from five to ten grains (0.32-0.65 Gm.).
