| phenobarbital elixir | A palatable, coloured hydroalcoholic (12-15% alcohol) mixture containing 20 mg of phenobarbital per 5 ml (teaspoonful); useful in administering the drug to persons who have difficulty swallowing tablets; used as an anticonvulsant and sedative. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| elixir | 1. <medicine> A tincture with more than one base; a compound tincture or medicine, composed of various substances, held in solution by alcohol in some form. 2. <chemistry> An imaginary liquor capable of transmuting metals into gold; also, one for producing life indefinitely; as, elixir vitae, or the elixir of life. 3. The refined spirit; the quintessence. "The . . . Elixir of worldly delights." (South) 4. Any cordial or substance which invigorates. "The grand elixir, to support the spirits of human nature." (Addison) Origin: F. Elixir, Sp. Elixir, Ar. Eliksir the philosopher's stone, prob. From Gr. Dry, (hence probably) a dry powder; cf. Skr. Ksha to burn. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| antirachitic vitamins | Ergocalciferol (v. D2) and cholecalciferol (v. D3). (05 Mar 2000) |
| vitamins | For the various vitamins see Vitamins. The word vitamin was coined in 1911 by the warsaw-born biochemist casimir funk (1884-1967). at the lister institute in london, funk isolated a substance that prevented nerve inflammation (neuritis) in chickens raised on a diet deficient in that substance. He named the substance vitamine because he believed it was necessary to life and it was a chemical amine. The e at the end was later removed when it was recognised that vitamins need not be amines. The letters (a, b, c and so on) were assigned to the vitamins in the order of their discovery. The one exception was vitamin k which was assigned its k from koagulation by the danish researcher henrik dam. (12 Dec 1998) |
| fat-soluble vitamins | Those vitamin's, soluble in fat solvents (nonpolar solvents) and relatively insoluble in water, marked in chemical structure by the presence of large hydrocarbon moieties in the molecule; e.g., vitamin's A, D, E, K. (05 Mar 2000) |