Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/46

28] sensations that necessarily arise in an organized system. Hence we should fortify the mind equally, for encountering the most agreeable as well as the most disastrous tidings.  IPECACUANHA, a medicinal root imported from the West Indies. There are three kinds distinguished by the eye, namely, the ash-coloured, or grey, brown, and white; but the first of these is justly preferred; for it is more efficacious than the white, and less violent in its operation than the brown sort.

The ash-coloured ipecacuanha, as imported from Peru, is a small wrinkled root, bent and contorted into a great variety of figures; its cortical part is compact, brittle, and on breaking, presents a smooth, resinous surface; it has little smell, but a somewhat bitter and sub-acrid taste, so that it covers the tongue with a kind of mucilage.

According to, , , and Sir , the roots of a kind of dog's bane (apocynum), are frequently substituted for the genuine ipecacuanha, and have in various instances produced fatal etfects. But, if the above-mentioned charaders be attended to, accidents of a similar nature may easily be obviated.

Ipecacuanha is one of the safest and mildest emetics, and possesses this peculiar advantage, that it passes off by the skin or bowels, if it should not operate by vomiting. In dysenteries, it is almost a specific, and often contributes to perform a cure in a very few days. When given in powder, its action is more certain than in any other form: hence it is now employed in many diseases, where full vomiting is indicated; for which purpose from 15 to 25 grains are prescribed for a full dose. It is also beneficially administered in very small doses, so as neither to operate by vomiting, purging, nor sweating; for instance, a third or fourth part of a grain, to be taken every half-hour or oftener, with a view to vellicate the intestinal canal, and by its nauseating effect, to give a different tone to the action of the stomach and bowels. Thus, it is recommended to be given in the paroxysm of spasmodic asthma, as well as in obstinate coughs; and a dose of 3 or 4 grains every morning, in chronical asthmatic cases.  IRON, the hardest and most extensively useful of the imperfect metals: it is naturally of a livid, whitish-grey colour, and found in great abundance in various parts of the world, both in a pure state, and intermixed with other fossil matters.

The iron manufactured in Great Britain is obtained from three different kinds of ores: 1. The Lancashire ore, thus denominated from the county where it abounds; being very heavy; of a fibrous texture; a dark purple colour, inclining to black; and lodged in veins like other metals. 2. The bog ore, which resembles a deep yellow clay, and has probably been deposited by some ferruginous rivulets: it is found in strata from 12 to 20 inches thick, and of various breadth. 3. Iron stones, of an irregular shape, which frequently lie in beds of great extent, and, like other stony masses, are sometimes intersected with seams or veins of pit-coal.

After the ore is dug out of the earth, it is crushed in a mill, and washed in a stream, in order to separate the grosser particles of earth. Next, it is melted in  naces,