BP oh ce 
aS 
to th living Cxacliemeit neous “ shortens it ; it therefore 
OSst astringent powers. ~ It is also a very powerful antacid ; or 
oe ge it combines with and neutralizes acids when it comes in con- 
tact 2m. It dissolvesmucus, and kills internal worms. From 
ses these properties, it is used as medicine, in diseases sup~ 
ee gana tenis or debility of the solids, as diarrhoea, dia- 
_ betes, fluor albus, asthma, scrofula, and scurvy ; ; in affections of the 
‘stomach accompanied with acidity and flatulence, when the intestines 
are loaded with mucus; and in worms. Lime water is scarcely ca- 
pable of dissolving, even out of the body, any of the substances of 
which urinary calculi consists ; it has therefore no pretensions to the 
character of a lithontriptic. Tt has also been recommended in the 
scabby crust on the faces of children, in cancer, and chronic cuta- 
neous diseases. Externally it is applied to ill conditioned ulcers, gan- 
_ -grenous sores, as a wash in scald head, and itch ; and as an injection in 
_ Sonorrheea, fistulas and ulcers of the bladder. When taken inter- 
all fy its “taste i is said to be best covered by luke warm milk. Its 
eis commonly —_— two to four ounces, frequently careeanhs - 
nu 3 of digestion. 
Luyar Caustic. Nitrate of Silver. ~ 
To form this substance, silver is oxydized and dissolved by nitrous 
acid. Itisa strong caustic, and possesses the advantage of being 
easily applied. It is therefore the one in most general use, for con- 
suming fungous excrescences, callous edges, warts, strictures in the 
urethrea, and the like. It is also employed to destroy the venereal 
poison in chancres, before it has operated on the system. A weak. 
_ solution of it may be applied as a stimulus to indolent ulcers, or in- 
* Seated’ into fistulous sores. 
Maenesta Aupa. Carbonate of Magnesia.. 
The carbonate of magnesia, is a very light, white, opake substance, 
without smell or taste, effervescing with acids. It is principally 
given to correct acidity of the stomach, and in these’cases to. act as a 
purgative 5 ‘for solutions of magnesia in all acids are bitter and pur- 
ve. A large dose of magnesia, if the stomach contain no acid 
to dissolve it, neither purges, nor produces any sensible effect; @ 
‘moderate one, if an acid be lodged there, or if acid liquors be taken 
__ after it, procures several stools ; whereas the common absorbents, 
under the same circumstances, instead of loosening, bind the belly. 
When the carbonate of magnesia meets with an acid in the sto-. 
mach, there is extricated a considerable quantity of carbonic acid 
gas, which sometimes causes uneasy distension of the stomach, and 
the symptoms of flatulence. In such cases, therefore, magnesia is 
preferable to its carbonate ; but on other occasions, good effects arise 
from the action of the gas evolved, as in nausea and vomiting. - It is, © 
given as an antacid, in a dose of from a scruple to a drachm. 
