A translation of the pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1836. With notes and illustrations / By Richard Phillips.

  • Royal College of Physicians, London
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A translation of the pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1836. With notes and illustrations / By Richard Phillips. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ACIDUM TARTARICUM. Tartaric Acid. Acidum Tartaricum, P.W. 1824. Take of Bitartrate of Potash four pounds, Boiling distilled Water two gallons and a half, Prepared Chalk twenty five ounces and six drachms, Diluted Sulphuric Acid seven pints and seven- teen fluidounces, Hydrochloric Acid twenty six fluidounces and a half, or as much as may be sufficient. Boil the Bitartrate of Potash with two gallons of distilled water, and add gradually half the prepared Chalk; after- wards, the effervescence having ceased, add the remainder of the Chalk first dissolved in the Hydrochloric Acid with four pints of distilled water. Lastly, set by [the mix- ture] that the Tartrate of Lime may subside; pour off the liquor, and wash the Tartrate of Lime frequently with distilled water, till it is free from taste. Then pour on it the diluted Sulphuric Acid, and boil them for a quarter of an hour. Evaporate the strained liquor with a gentle heat, that crystals may be formed. Dissolve the crystals, that they may be pure, again and a third time in water, and strain it as often, boil down, and set it aside. Remarks.—Bitartrate of Potash, sometimes called Supertar- trate of Potash, Tartar or Cream of Tartar, is a well-known aci- dulous salt deposited from wine; it occurs in the state of small colourless hard crystals, which are very sparingly soluble in water. In its original impure state it is called argol, and is of a yellowish or red colour, according to that of the wine which yields it. It contains tartrate of lime, colouring matter and other impurities, from which it is freed by solution in boiling water, and crystallization as the solution cools. Properties. —Bitartrate of Potash is inodorous, has a sour G2
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