The dispensatory of the United States of America / by George B. Wood and Franklin Bache.

Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The dispensatory of the United States of America / by George B. Wood and Franklin Bache. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    57/1724
    ACIDUM MURIATICUM. U.S. Muriatic Acid. An aqueous solution of chlorohydric acid gas, of the sp.gr. 1*16. U. S. Off Syn. ACIDUM HYDROCHLORICUM. Br. Spirit of sea-salt, Marine acid, Hydrochloric acid, Chlorohydric acid; Acide hydro- chlorique, Fr.; Salzsaure, Kochsalzsaure, Germ.; Acido muriatico, Ital., Span. The muriatic acid of pharmacy and the arts is a solution of muriatic acid gas in water. It is sometimes called liquid muriatic acid, but more properly aqueous muriatic acid. The acid is placed in the Materia Medica Catalogue of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; but among the Preparations in the British, which gives the following process for preparing it. Take of Chloride of Sodium, dried, three pounds [avoirdupois]; Sulphuric Acid forty-four fluidounces; Water thirty-six fluidounces; Distilled Water fifty fluidounces. Dilute the Sulphuric Acid with thirty-two [fluid]ounces of the Water, and when the mixture has cooled, pour it upon the Chloride of Sodium previously introduced into a flask having the capacity of at least one gallon [Imp. meas.]. Connect the flask by corks and a bent glass tube with a three- necked bottle, furnished with a safety tube, and containing the remaining four [fluidjounces of the Water; and from this conduct the gas into a second bottle containing the Distilled Water, by means of a bent tube dipping about half an inch below its surface; and let the process be continued until the product mea- sures sixty-eight [fluid]ounces. The bottle containing the distilled water must be carefully kept cool during the whole operation. Br. Preparation. Muriatic acid is obtained by the action of sulphuric acid on chloride of sodium or common salt. The commercial acid is procured, on a large scale, by distilling the salt with an equal weight of sulphuric acid, some- what diluted with water, from iron stills, furnished with earthen heads, into earthenware receivers containing water. When thus obtained, it is contami- nated with iron and other impurities, and is not fit for medicinal purposes. Commercial muriatic acid is now procured in large quantities in England, during the decomposition of common salt for the purpose of making sulphate of soda, from which soda-ash and carbonate of soda are afterwards manufac- tured in immense quantities. When the object is to obtain sulphate of soda, the decomposition of the sea-salt is performed in semi-cylindrical vessels, the curved part, next the fire, being made of iron, and the upper or flat surface, of stone. If the acid is to be saved, it is conveyed by a pipe to a double-necked stoneware receiver, half filled with water, and connected with a row of similar receivers, likewise containing water. The acid, when required to be pure, is generally prepared by saturating dis- tilled water with the gas in a Woulfe's apparatus' A quantity of pure fused common salt is introduced into a retort or matrass, placed on a sand-bath. The vessel is then furnished with an S tube, and connected with a series of bottles, each two-thirds full of water. A quantity of sulphuric acid is then gradually added, equal in weight to the common salt employed, and diluted with one-third of its weight of water. The materials ought riot to occupy more than half the body of the retort. When the extrication of the gas slackens, heat is applied, and gradually increased until the water in the bottles refuses to absorb any more, or until no more gas is found to come over. As soon as the process is completed, boiling water should be added to the contents of the retort or ma- trass, in order to facilitate the removal of the residue. During the progress of the saturation, the water in the several bottles increases in temperature, which lessens its power of absorption. It is, therefore, expedient, in order to obtain a strong acid, to keep the bottles cool by means of water or ice. The connect- ing tubes need not plunge deeply into the acid.