Carminative

[From Lat. carmen, a song, an incantation, a charm.) ( Med. ) A medicine of a warm, stimulating character, chiefly given to prevent pain or griping in the stomach or bowels, or to allay such when existing, and to dispel flatulence. The list of carminatives is very numerous, and comprises all the aromatic herbs and plants-such as all the mints, thyme, dill, .; all the aromatic seeds, from cardamoms to carraway; the whole range of spices, all the e ential oils, many of the barks, all the natural balsams, some of the resins and gum-resins-as camphor, galbanum, and a afœtid a; and alcohol and opium. -a. Anti-spasmodic; dispelling flatulency. Car'mine, CARMINE-LAKE, n. [Fr. carmin.] (Chem.) The coloring-matter of the Coccus cacti , or cochineal insect; it consists of carminic acid united with alumina or oxide of tin, according to the mode of manufacture. There are various receipts for the preparation of carmine, but the succe of the proce depends much on the care with which it is conducted. - Twenty ounces of cochineal and 115 grains of carbonate of soda are boiled in distilled water for twenty minutes; when removed from the fire, three-quarters of an ounce of alum and one-eighth of an ounce of bitartrate of potash are added. The whites of two eggs are now added; and on treating the liquid, the carmine rises to the surface. The carmine is collected in a strainer, washed, and dried at 82° Fahr.