Turmeric

“ Turmeric gives a reddish tinge to the natural brown, and when it is applied to the skin of a pretty woman the effect is like that of the tint of an American belle who has spent a summer at the sea-side or on a yachting cruise, and has not been careful of her complexion. ”

“ Adult. Dr Maisch [139] says the presence of turmeric may be detected in powdered rhubarb by the following method:—A small quantity of the suspected rhubarb is agitated for a minute or two with strong alcohol, and then filtered, chrysophanic acid being sparingly soluble in this menstruum. The brown yellow colour of the filtrate is due to the resinous principles of rhubarb mainly; if adulterated with turmeric, the tincture will be of a brighter yellow shade; a strong solution of borax produces in both tinctures a deep red-brown colour. ”

“ If a lighter shade is wanted, add a drop of sulphuric acid to the starch bath and pass feathers through. If the sample to match be more on the yellow order, about twice the amount of turmeric in the first bath; and if desired more on the red, use no turmeric, only copperas, in the first bath. If a darker shade is wanted, let them remain a longer time than [29] that specified in the logwood bath. Any light color can be used to make a Bismarck brown; but if very dark colors are used, it is well to draw off some of the color, doing it in the usual way. ”

“ Paper tinged with litmus plunged into the tube containing the transmitting or positive wire was immediately strongly reddened. Paper colored by turmeric introduced into the other tube had its color much deepened; the acid matter gave a very slight degree of turgidness to solution of nitrate of soda. The fluid that affected turmeric retained this property after being strongly boiled; and it appeared more vivid as the quantity became reduced by evaporation; carbonate of ammonia was mixed with it, and the whole dried and exposed to a strong heat ”

“ A strip of turmeric paper is dipped into the liquid and then held in a warm place—near a stove or lamp—till dry. If boric acid or borax was present in the sample the turmeric paper becomes bright cherry red when dry. A drop of household ammonia changes the red color to dark green or greenish black. If too much hydrochloric acid is used the turmeric paper may take on a brownish-red color even in the absence of boric acid. In this case, however, ammonia changes the color to brown just as it does turmeric paper which has not been dipped into the acid solution. ”

“ In Catarrhal and Purulent Ophthalmia, especially in that termed "Country Sore-Eye," a Decoction of Turmeric (one ounce of the bruised root to 20 ounces of water) proves a very effectual lotion for relieving the burning and moderating the urgency of the symptoms. A piece of soft rag soaked in it should be kept constantly over the affected eye. ”

“ At the end of ten hours, the result was examined with care, when it appeared that the positively electrified water had the strong smell of oxymuriatic acid, and copiously precipitated nitrate of silver; while that which was negative affected turmeric, and left by evaporation a residuum which appeared to consist of lime and soda. ”

“ People who want to injure a child get hold of its coat and lay it out in the sun to dry, in the belief that the child’s body will dry up in a similar manner. In order to avert the evil eye they burn some turmeric and juāri flour and hold the newly-born child in the smoke. It is also branded on the stomach with a burning piece of turmeric, perhaps to keep off cold. For the first day or two after birth a child is given cow’s milk mixed with water or honey and a little castor oil, and after this it is suckled by the mother. ”

“ To each of the two larger pots a piece of turmeric and betel leaf are tied, and nine kinds of grain are placed in them. The bridegroom has brought with him the tāli tied to a cocoanut, seven rolls of betel, seven plantains, seven pieces of turmeric, a garland, a new cloth for the bride, etc. The linked fingers of the contracting couple are placed on a tray containing salt and a ring. They go thrice round a lamp and the plank within the pandal, and retire within the house where the bridegroom is served with food on a leaf. ”

“ Mix a bath of one ounce of turmeric to one ounce of archil and half the old logwood bath; bring to a boil and enter feathers, letting them remain in bath about six minutes; take out and rinse. Then mix a bath of luke warm water and starch, add a couple of drops of sulphuric acid and a couple of drops of picric acid diluted, pass feathers through, squeeze out thoroughly and dry by rubbing in powdered starch between the hands; beat out on a clean board until all the starch is removed from the feathers. ”

“ Thus the lungs of a fox must be a specific for asthma, because that animal is remarkable for its strong powers of respiration. Turmeric has a brilliant yellow color, which indicates that it has the power of curing the jaundice; for the same reason, poppies must relieve diseases of the head ”

“ They then proceed to the riverside, and, making a little ball from the flesh of the sacrificed animal, place it together with the bags of turmeric on a leaf platter, and throw the whole into the river saying, ‘Ancestors, find your home.’ If the ball sinks at once they consider that the ancestors have been successful, but if any delay takes place, they attribute it to the difficulty experienced by the ancestors in the selection of a home and throw in two pice to assist them. The pith of a bamboo may be substituted for turmeric to represent the bones. ”

“ These white garments are hardly ever clean and are unpleasantly discoloured with the turmeric which is so commonly and lavishly used. This powder is not only used as an aid to beauty, as in the south, but is supposed to prevent skin diseases; and even tiny children and grown men rub it on their bodies. ”

“ In Catarrh, or severe "Cold in the head," the fumes of burning Turmeric inhaled through the nostrils act as a local stimulant or irritant, causing a considerable discharge of mucus from the nasal cavity; this is generally followed by a marked degree of relief to the congestion or fulness often so troublesome in these cases. ”

“ It is entirely soluble in both water and alcohol. Its aqueous solution alters the colour of turmeric either not at all or but very slightly, nor does it affect litmus paper, or effervesce with acids. Nitric acid and starch being added together, it becomes blue. It is not coloured by the addition of tartaric acid with starch. No precipitate occurs on adding either a solution of hydrate of calcium or of chloride of barium. 100 gr., dissolved in water, by the addition of nitrate of silver, yield a precipitate of 141 gr. ”

“ This article of commerce is furnished by the branches of the rhizome or root-stock of the Curcuma longa, and C. rotunda, plants which are natives of Eastern Asia, but have been grown in England and the West Indies. They thrive well in a rich light soil, and are readily increased by offsets from the roots.
In the East Indies, where it is known as Huldee, turmeric is much employed in dyeing yellow, principally silks, but the color is very fugitive. It is also used medicinally as an aromatic carminative, and as a condiment ”

“ Waller [240] and Martin from the examination of 14 samples of very low grade dry mustard, as found on the New York market: [139] —
Eight samples were coloured with turmeric, 4 with Martius’ yellow, 12 contained starch, and 5 showed the presence of calcium sulphate. ”

“ Three ounces of turmeric, the same of coriander seed, one ounce of ground ginger, the like quantity of ground black pepper, a quarter of an ounce of cinnamon, the same weight of cumin seed and of cayenne, and half an ounce of cardamoms.
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To Clean Woodstock Gloves.—Wash them in soap and water till the dirt is out, then stretch them on wooden hands, or pull them out in their proper shape. Do not wring them, as that puts them out of form, and makes them shrink; put them one upon another and press the water out. ”

“ A tincture of 1⁄4 oz. of turmeric to 3 oz. of spirits of wine, allowed to stand for some days and well shaken daily, gives a rather higher colour.
Red may be produced by (No. 1) taking a pound of Brazil wood, with some rain water, a handful of unslaked lime, and two handsful of ashes; soak all for half an hour in water, "cook" it, and pour it out into another pot, in which is a measure of gum arabic. The wood to be coloured must be cooked in alum water, and then brushed over with the warm colour ”

“ American Turpentine—A viscid honey-like fluid, of yellowish colour, somewhat opaque, but becoming transparent by exposure to the air; it has an agreeable odour and warm bitterish taste. When long kept in a bottle, it is seen to separate into two layers, the upper clear and faintly fluorescent, the lower somewhat turbid or granular. When the latter portion is examined under the microscope, it is found to consist mainly of minute crystals of peculiar curved or bluntly elliptic form. These crystals are abietic acid; when the turpentine is warmed, the crystals are speedily dissolved. ”

“ Turpentine Ointment is prepared by melting together at a gentle heat one ounce of Oil of Turpentine, 60 grains of White or Black Dammar (372) , half an ounce of Yellow Wax, and half an ounce of Kokum Butter. The ingredients, when melted together, should be removed from the fire, and the mixture constantly stirred whilst cooling. It constitutes a good stimulant application to Indolent and ill-conditioned Ulcerations, &c. Diluted with equal parts of ghee, it forms a highly useful dressing for Carbuncles, aiding the separation of sloughs, and stimulating to healthy action. ”

“ I have heard of well-attested cases of the efficacy of the oil of turpentine in destroying worms.
The expressed juices of onions and of garlic are very common remedies for worms. From one of the experiments, it appears that the onion juice possesses strong anthelmintic virtues.
I have often prescribed a tea-spoonful of gunpowder in the morning upon an empty stomach, with obvious advantage. The active medicine here is probably the nitre.
I have found a syrup made of the bark of the Jamaica cabbage-tree [46] , to be a powerful as well as a most agreeable anthelmintic medicine. ”

“ The tourmaline is a most complex substance; almost every stone obtained has a different composition, some varying but slightly, with mere traces of certain constituents which other stones possess in a perceptible degree. Consequently, it is not possible to give the chemical formula, which might, and possibly would, be found but seldom, even in analyses of many specimens. It will therefore be sufficient to state the average composition, which is:—ferrous oxide, manganous oxide, potash, lime, boracic acid, magnesia, soda, lithia, and water. ”

“ Turpentine, tur′pen-tīn, n. a semi-solid resinous substance secreted by various coniferous trees (the name turpentine is commonly understood to mean the product of the Scotch pine, the swamp pine of America, and the Pinus maritima of France; Venice turpentine is obtained from the larch, and Chian turpentine from the 'Turpentine-tree'—see Pistachio) : the oil or spirit of turpentine.—ns. Tur′pentine-moth, a moth whose larvæ bore into the twigs of pine and fir, causing exudation of resin and destroying the twig; Tur′pentine-tree, the terebinth-tree—Pistachia terebinthus.—adj. ”

“ He adds, that he destroyed the fleas of his puppies by once bathing them in warm water impregnated with oil of turpentine. Mem. d'Agriculture, An. 1787, Trimest. Printemp. p. 109. I sprinkled some oil of turpentine, by means of a brush, on some branches of a nectarine-tree, which was covered with the aphis; but it killed both the insect and the branches: a solution of arsenic much diluted did the same. The shops of medicine are supplied with resins, balsams, and essential oils; and the tar and pitch, for mechanical purposes, arc produced from these vegetable secretions. ”

“ When the crystals are perfect, that is free from impurities and without tiny cracks, tourmaline becomes a gem of popularity and value.
Tourmaline is very complex in composition and may vary considerably, the sodium, potassium, lithium, magnesium, and iron being either more or less abundant or even lacking. The color is to some extent dependent on the proportions of these elements present, the dark varieties having more iron, and the light colored tourmalines lacking it. This mineral is one of those which form from superheated vapors, escaping from molten magmas. ”

“ Common Turpentine is the resinous juice chiefly of the Scots fir, obtained by boring holes into the trunks of the trees, early in spring, and placing vessels beneath for its reception. It is of brown colour; and has a strong odour, and disagreeable taste. In the distillation of turpentine an essential oil is produced, called oil of turpentine, which is extremely pungent. When the distillation is continued to dryness, the substance which remains is known by the name of common resin or rosin ”

“ Venice turpentine, or oil of turpentine, various essential oils, sulphur, the saliva of a person fasting, and rancid fat were among the earlier expedients adopted and subsequently discarded. The turpentines made the ointment irritating, the sulphur formed a compound, and the rancid fat was found to be worse than the turpentines. Nitrate of potash, sulphate of potash, stearic acid, oil of almonds and balsam of Peru, the precipitation of the mercury from its solution in nitric acid, spermaceti, glycerin, and oleate of mercury have been more modern aids. ”