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Show om donee—— 4 FoR Fe ate a4 ; 14 EUROPEAN OLIVE. but they are only eaten when pickled. EUROPEAN OLIVE. Theyarefirst steeped for several days in a ley of wood-ashes, and then pickled in a strong solution of muriate of soda. They are principally valued for the oil they afford by expres. sion. For this purpose they are gathered when fu ly ripe, and im. mediately bruised and subjected to the press. The finest oil flows first, and a very bad oil is ebtained byboiling the magma, which remains after expression, in water, According to Baumé, they are gathered when sufficiently ripe: they are then dried, to deprive the mucilage, of which they contain a large quantity, of its water, and are expressedafter being bruised, and moist. ened with a little water, to render the oil more fluid. By rest, the mucilage and water which may have passed withit separate. Olive oil is sometimes mixed with oil of poppyseeds; but, by if exposing the mixture to the freezing temperatur e, the olive oil freezes, while that of the poppies remains fluid ; and as oils which freeze with most difficulty are most apt to become rancid, olive oil is deteriorated by the admixture of poppy oil. Goodolive oil should have a pale yellow colour, somewhat inclining to green, a bland taste, witho ut smell, and should songeal at 38° Fahrenheit. In this country it is frequently rancid and sometimes adulterated. MEDICINAL USE, Taken internally, it Operates as a gentle laxative, and is given in cases of worms. It is also given in large quantities to mitigate the action of acrid substances taken into the stomach. It is used externally in frictions, in gargles, and in clysters; but ifs principal employment is for the composition of ointments and plasters. By wocful mistake I once teok the whole contents of a two. ounce phial of Eau de Luce: but bypresence of mind, orin stinct, | immediately flew to the aid of butter; and this, every one knows, melting in the heat of the stomach acts as oil. I mention this, as upon such occa sions t ime is pressing, and danger urgent, and often there may be found immediately this not the other kinds of emetics. one and Taken largely it will act as a vomit, from its sticking to the fauces, and, irritating them, pro ducing sympathetic actions of the stomach andintercostal] muscle s, 15 Oil is supposed destructive to worms, from the fact, that if a wasp be touched with an oiled feather it will instantly die, through the effect of oil in stopping the spiracule of insects. But from experiments it is found, that, though oil be poured upon them, worms will continue seemingly uninjured. The above supposition, therefore, seems to be unfounded, and to arise from a mistaken analogy. But the most remarkable property attributed to oil, is the cure it is thought to perform on persons bit by a viper, it being esteemed the sovereign antidote. In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xxxiv. p. 310, are related the experiments made by one William Oliver, who suffered his armto be bit bya viper and waited till the most violent symptoms ensued, when these were soon removed by the applying warmoil of olives to the affected part*. Mead, in his Treatise on Poisons, speaks of a remedy which was reckoned in his time a real specific against the bite ofthe viper +. He says that the viper-catchers in Englandused it with so much confidence, that they were no more afraid of the bite of a viper than a common prick of a pin. Mead purchased this secret, and found it to be nothing more than the fat of the viperitself, which they rubbed onthe bitten part. The Academyof Sciences in Paris, struck with the importance of this seeming discovery, deputed twoof their members, Messrs, Geoffroiand Hanauld, to inquire into the subject; and they de. termined that oil is no specific against the bite of the viper t. Vide Mem. de l’Academ. 1737. Linneus (Ameen. Acad. vol. vi. p- 212) mentions that he was disappointed in the use of oil, and says that the woman bitten by * Thefact is not to be disputed, but it arose fromthe poisonof one viper not being destructive; for Fonta na, who wrote on Poisons, doubt s whether aman waseverkilled bythe bite of one viper. t This illustrious physician tried an experiment first with a dog, whic h he caused to bebitten in the nose, It recovered bytheoil. But, says Fontana, had nothing been employed, recovery would have’ taken place : for one viper, as with the human subje ct, is incapable of producing death , Lunar caustic is found to bethe Specific for the bite of the viper . Vide our Philosophy of Medicine, vol. iii, ¢ Experiments were made by these gentlemen on rabbits, pigéons, and mice; and these were quickly destroyed, although the oil was employed, and the viper’s fat, |