Lexic.us

Definition of Cantharidin

1. n. The active principle of the cantharis, or Spanish fly, a volatile, acrid, bitter solid, crystallizing in four-sided prisms.

Definition of Cantharidin

1. Noun. (organic compound) A volatile organic compound in cantharis, or Spanish fly. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Cantharidin

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Cantharidin

1. Toxic compound from the spanish fly or blistering beetle (lytta (cantharis) vesicatoria) and other insects. It was formerly an irritant, vesicant, and rubefacient paste of whole insects called cantharides. It is now used to produce skin inflammation. It causes gastroenteritis, nephritis, and circulatory failure if absorbed. Pharmacological action: irritants. Chemical name: 4,7-Epoxyisobenzofuran-1,3-dione, hexahydro-3a,7a-dimethyl-, (3aalpha,4beta,7beta,7aalpha)- (12 Dec 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cantharidin

Literary usage of Cantharidin

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Practitioner by Gale Group, ProQuest Information and Learning Company (1891)
"The solution of cantharidin for hypodermic use is made by the addition of some alkali which renders it soluble. The most convenient is potassium or sodium ..."

2. Laboratory manual for the detection of poisons and powerful drugs by Wilhelm Autenrieth (1921)
"Estimation of cantharidin in Spanish Flies (German Pharmacopoeia) Place 25 grams of ... Additional information about cantharidin is given on page 203. ..."

3. Commercial Organic Analysis: A Treatise on the Properties, Proximate by Alfred Henry Allen (1886)
"If desired, the cantharidin may be further purified by treatment with carbon ... O-00l gramme of cantharidin dissolved in a drop of alcohol will produce ..."

4. Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association at the Annual Meeting by American Pharmaceutical Association, National Pharmaceutical Convention, American Pharmaceutical Association Meeting (1889)
"The use of cantharidin in pharmacy has been very limited, so far as I have been able to determine, although quite a number of methods have been recommended ..."

5. A Textbook of the pharmacology and therapeutics, or the Action of drugs in by Arthur Robertson Cushny (1901)
"cantharidin Series. Another series of local irritants comprises non-volatile substances, <>( wliich cantharidin is the best known. ..."

6. American Druggist (1889)
"That the former preparation contained sufficient cantharidin there could be no ... I found the entire surface thickly studded with cantharidin crystals. ..."

7. Journal of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy by Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (1832)
"Remarks upon " Oil of cantharidin" fyc. fyc. By Jos. Scattergood. [Read before the College, Sept. 27,1831.] Public attention has recently been called to a ..."

Other Resources: