*S.i KORTUa- JAxMAICEN.-lIS. urni 



The juice of ]ime3 and lemons being m arlitlf not of luxury but of so tr.uch medical 

 i. iise, a good mode of puril'yinL; and preserving it iiiu.^t be a very desiiable object, 

 "By a late chendcal expciinient of fsclieele's the citric acid was obtained in a state of pu- 

 ricy in chrjstals. He saturated lemon-juice with iinic, edulcorated the precipiiate, 

 Vhicn consisted of citvicacid and lime, seperated the hnie from it by diluted suipluiric. 

 acid, cleared, it from the sulphate of lime by rci)eated liltrations and evaporation ; then 

 evaporated it to the consistence of a syruii, an! set it b3' in a coul place : a quantity of 

 orjstais tcjrmed, winch were pure citric acid. In this stale it sulFers no alteration IVoni 

 t^xposure to air ; !nit an ounce of the 'disiilied water, at tlie tenijierature of the atnios- 

 j?!iere, dissOives one ounce and two drachms of it, Boilinjjj water dissolves twice its 

 MCigut. It lias a very acid taste, and turns vegetable blues red. ^V'itilln a few ycara 

 an important use has be.-n made of this powerful acid. It is said, in Di: Wiliich's 

 TrcrJu<; on Diet, p. 339, that the largest dose of opium may be checked in its narcoti-i 

 effects, if a proper quantity of citric aciil be taken with it ; and that, with this adjtuict, 

 it induces cheariulness instead of stupefaction, succeeded by gentle and refreshing- 

 sleep. It has also been found very useful to our manufacturers 



We are enaiiied to preserve this juice in a more simple manner, for ordinary uses, 

 h) M. Bvugnateih, wiio, in the 2d volume of h\s ^-Innals of Chemistry, informs us, 

 tiiat he e.N pressed, in the common manner, the juice of perfectly rij)e lemons, ami 

 strained it liirongh a piece of linen. In half an hour he strained Jt again, to free 

 it Irom a little slimy matter which had settled at the bottom of the vessel. He then 

 added to the juice a certain (piantitv of the strongest spirit of wine (for which pure un- 

 adultertited rum is a good substitute), and preserved the mixture some da}s in a well 

 coiked bottle. During that tune there was a considerable deposit, which, to all ap- 

 pearance, was of a slimy nature, and which he seperated by filtering paper. If the 

 tlui was too thick to pass through the filter, he diluted it again with spirit of winei 

 After this operation the deposit remained on ihe paper, which was entirely covered 

 witliit; and he obtained, in the vessel placed helow, the purest acid of lemons, com- 

 bined with spirit of wine. If it be required to obtain the acid perfectly pure, notiiingf 

 is uecessarv but to seperaie from it the spirit of wine, which is best elVected by evapora- 

 tion. The acid of lemons assumes, after it has been freed from the spirit of wine, ant? 

 the moisture combinOil with it, a yellowish colour, and becomes so strong, that by its 

 taste it might be considered as a mineral acid. It is not necessary to evaporate the 

 s])irit of wine in a close vessel, if the experiment is made only on a small scale ; p.or is 

 there any danger that in open vessels any of the acid will be lost, as it is too fixed to be 

 volatilised by the same degree of heat at which spirit of wine evaporates. This aci<.l haS' 

 peculiarly valuable properties, well worthy of farther examination. 



See Citron Orange S]i.4DDOck. 



L[on's-Ta!L See Dandeuo.v 



No English Name. LIPPIA, 



Cl. 14, OR. 1. Didymmia gy7n'nospermia. Nat. or. Siellatte. 

 ^0 named from Augustine Lippi, who travelled in Egypt, and.died in Abyssinia, 



