Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan.
- John Neligan
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Medicines, their uses and mode of administration : including a complete conspectus of the three British pharmacopoeias, an account of all the new remedies, and an appendix of formulae / by J. Moore Neligan. 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.)
141/504
![water, Oij.; dissolve the mercury, with a gentle heat, in the acid and water previously mixed together, and evaporate to dryness. Rub the dry mass into powder, and heat it in a very shallow vessel till red vapours cease to rise.] Physical Properties.—In brilliant, micaceous masses, varying in colour from orange-yellow to bright scarlet; inodorous, with a taste at first faintly, then strongly, caustic and metallic. Sp. gr. 1T074. In fine powder its colour is yellow. Chemical Properties.—It is composed of 1 eq. of mercury, and 1 of oxygen, generally containing a little undecomposed nitrate of mer- cury ; exposed to a red heat, the oxide of mercury is entirely vola- tilized in the form of oxygen and metallic mercury. It is very sparingly soluble in water, boiling water dissolving about a 7000th of its weight. It is very soluble in muriatic, acetic, and hydrocyanic acids ; but is insoluble in alcohol. Adulterations.—The nitric-oxide of mercury sometimes contains nitric acid, which is looked upon by the London and Edinburgh Col- leges as an impurity ; its presence is indicated by the ruddy fumes evolved when the salt is heated ; it is often adulterated with red-oxide of iron, red-oxide of lead, or brick dust, they may be all detected by exposing the salt to a red heat, if pure it is entirely sublimed. Therapeutical Effects.—As a mild caustic, this preparation is applied to indolent ulcers, to spongy granulations, to venereal warts, to the eyelids in chronic inflammation of their edges, &c. It may be used in powder, or in ointment as follows :—Unguentum hydrargyri oxy- dinitrici, D.—Nitrico-oxydi, L. (Nitric-oxide of mercury, §i. ; white wax, §ij, ; prepared lard, §vj. ; add the oxide in very fine powder to the wax and the lard melted together, and mix intimately).—Unguen- tum oxydi hydrargyri, E. (Red-oxide of mercury, §i. ; axunge, §viij.; triturate them into an uniform mass). [U. S. Unguentum Hydrar- gyri Oxydium Ruori. Red oxyde of mercury, in very fine powders, 3i. ; simple ointment, §viij. ; add the oxyde of mercury to the oint- ment previously softened over a gentle fire, and mix them.] POTASSA CAUSTICA, D. PotASS^E HYDRAS, L. PoTASSA, [U. S.] E. Caustic Potash; Hydrate of Potash ; Potash. Preparation.—Dub.—Take of solution of caustic potash, any quantify. Evaporate it in a very clean iron or silver vessel, until the ebullition having ceased, the saline matter on increasing the heat remains at rest. Pour the liquid potash on a silver or iron plate, and as sood as it becomes solid, divide it into convenient pieces, which are to be kept in well-closed bottles. The operator must avoid the drops spurted up during the evaporation. Lorid.— Take of solution of potash, cong. j. ; evaporate the water in a clean iron vessel over the fire, until the ebullition being finished the hydrate of potash liquefies. Pour this into proper moulds. Edin.— Take any convenient quantity of Aqua Potassae, evaporate it in a clean and covered iron vessel, increasing gradually the heat, till there remains an oily-looking fluid, a drop of which when removed on a glass-rod becomes hard on cooling; then pour out the liquid on a bright iron plate, and as soon as it solidifies, break it quickly and put it into glass bottles secured with glass stoppers. Physical Properties.—In flat irregular pieces, or more generally in pencils or sticks of various lengths and about the thickness of a writing pen ; grayish or bluish ; inodorous ; having a very acrid alka- line taste. Sp. gr. I'd.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21143602_0141.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
