Glycerinum

Glycerin. A colorless, inodorous, sirupy liquid, of a sweet taste, and having the specific gravity of 1·25. It is soluble in water and in alcohol, but not in ether.

Suppositoria Glycerini

Suppositories of glycerin. (Glycerin, 60 grm.; sodium carbonate, 3 grm.; stearic acid, 5 grm. To make ten rectal suppositories.)

Glyceritum Vitelli

Glyconin. An emulsion of glycerin and the yelk of eggs—45 grm. of the yelks and 55 grm. of glycerin. (U. S. P.)

Glycerin-Cream

(Glycerin, 1; soft soap, 1; cherry-laurel water, 1.) (Squire.)

Glycerin-Cream with Camphor

(Glycerin, 2; camphor, 1; rectified spirit, 1.) (Squire.)

Glyceritum Amyli

Glycerite of starch. (Starch, 10 grm.; glycerin, 80 grm.; water, 10 c. c.)

Properties

Exposed to the air, glycerin slowly absorbs moisture, but it does not evaporate, and it does not become rancid or undergo fermentation spontaneously. It is unctuous to the touch, and is obstinately sticky. Glycerin possesses remarkable solvent powers. One part of iodine and one of iodide of potassium dissolve in two parts of glycerin. Bromine, the iodide of sulphur, the chlorides of potassium and sodium, the alkalies, some of the alkaline earths, many of the neutral salts, the vegetable acids, especially tannic, most of the alkaloids (morphine, quinine, strychnine, veratrine, and atropine), and carbolic acid, are soluble in glycerin. The fatty acids, cocoa-butter, camphor, chloroform, calomel, iodide of lead, and the resins, do not dissolve in glycerin.

The antiseptic property of glycerin is decided. Vaccine lymph may be preserved unchanged almost indefinitely when stored up in pure glycerin; and anatomical preparations, and specimens of natural history, are kept in preservative solutions consisting chiefly of this substance. Microscopical and pathological specimens are after a time softened and disintegrated by pure glycerin.

Applied to the tissues of the body, glycerin, if pure, is perfectly bland and unirritating, as a rule, but in some subjects severe smarting is produced on contact of the purest glycerin with the mucous membrane. When it contains the fatty acids, oxalic or formic acids, it possesses very positive irritant qualities. It abstracts water from the tissues.

Therapy

No systemic effects are produced by the stomach administration of glycerin. It is an efficient remedy in acidity, pyrosis, and flatulence, in the dose of a drachm, before, with, or after meals.

Glycerin has been proposed and used as a substitute for cod-liver oil, in the various cachectic states in which the latter is prescribed. It has been conclusively shown that it is inferior to cod-liver oil in every respect. As a vehicle for the administration of cod-liver oil, it is extremely serviceable (glyconin, a tea-spoonful; cod-liver oil, a tea-spoonful; tincture of cinnamon, ten drops).

Good results have been reported from the use of glycerin in diabetes, but the data are as yet insufficient to enable a correct estimate of its real value to be made. The internal administration of glycerin has been resorted to for the removal of acne with success. It is said to destroy intestinal trichina, and may be given freely in trichinosis.

The most important applications of glycerin, besides its numerous uses as a vehicle, are topical as an emollient. Applied to the affected mucous membrane by means of a camel's-hair pencil, pure glycerin affords great relief in acute coryza. Chronic follicular pharyngitis, accompanied with profuse secretion, is generally improved by the same application, but the addition of tannic acid greatly enhances its curative power in this affection. A solution of morphine in glycerin, applied to the fauces with a brush, relieves the cough of phthisis. A better application in many respects is a mixture of glycerin, crystallized sugar, and whisky. This mixture, allowed to trickle slowly down the fauces, allays irritability and keeps the mucous membrane moist (glycerin, two parts; whisky, one part; crystallized sugar, a sufficiency).

An enema of glycerin and infusion of flaxseed (one to four) allays the tenesmus in cases of acute dysentery.

For chapped hands or face, glyconin is an excellent application. In seborrhoea, glycerin-cream gives good results. For fissures of the nipple, Stillé strongly recommends a "liniment made by adding one part of tincture of benzoin to six or eight of glycerin, and filtering the mixture."

In pityriasis and in the papular eruptions, glycerin is serviceable, but, in general, it may be stated that its use in skin-diseases is disappointing, and that it is inferior as a local application to the usual oils and fats employed in this way.

Glycerin has been used as a dressing for wounds and ulcerated surfaces, with more or less advantage. It is largely prescribed by gynaecologists as a topical application to erosions and ulcerations of the cervix uteri, and for the relief of vaginal leucorrhoea.

The glycerite of starch (plasma) is an excellent vehicle for the application of astringents to the eye, and is much employed by ophthalmologists for this purpose. Glycerin is used by otologists to soften cerumen, to entangle insects which have entered the ear, to diminish the secretion of pus, and to relieve the morbid state of the auditory canal in cases of otorrhoea.