CITRIC ACID 345 



syrupy liquid, which the B.P. states contains 75 per cent, 

 of hydrogen lactate, with 25 per cent, of water. Specific 

 gravity 1*21. It is miscible in all proportions with water, 

 alcohol and ether. 



It is present in the gastric juice, while sarcolactic acid, 

 which is isomeric with it, is found in the juice of flesh and in 

 the bile. It has a special power of dissolving false mem- 

 branes, and in human patients has accordingly been used 

 as spray or vapour in the treatment of croup and diphtheria. 

 Diluted and sweetened, it is occasionally substituted for 

 hydrochloric acid in dyspepsia. It is a good intestinal 

 antiseptic, and is prescribed for diarrhoea following distemper 

 of the dog, and, with bismuth subnitrate, for muco-enteritis 

 in calves. Doses, horses and cattle, 3^3 to 3J V - > dogs, 

 lT\xx. to 3J- 



Lactic acid, as a remedy for disease arising within the in- 

 testine, has received considerable attention since Metchnikoff 

 attributed the remarkable longevity of the inhabitants of 

 Bulgaria (where deaths at ages of 110 to 120 are fairly 

 common) to their habit of drinking sour milk. Soured milk, 

 containing active lactic acid bacilli, and lactic acid derived 

 from the lactose of the milk, by inhibiting the growth of in- 

 testinal bacteria and arresting putrefaction, is believed to 

 prevent those diseases which are due to absorption of toxins 

 from the bowel. Various proprietary preparations, Lactillin, 

 Lactone, Trilactine, Lactobacilline, etc., containing lactic 

 acid bacilli are now supplied for souring sterilised milk 

 prior to its administration. 



CITRIC ACID, C 3 H 4 .OH.(COOH) 3 .H 2 0. 



Acidum citricum, or hydrogen citrate, obtained from the 

 juice of the fruit of various species of citrus, occurs in large, 

 colourless, trimetric prisms. Soluble in water, glycerin, 

 alcohol, and ether. A solution of citric acid, thirty-five 

 grains in an ounce of water, forms a convenient substitute 

 for lemon- juice, which has been used as a refrigerant in 

 canine distemper. Citric acid is employed in the prepara- 

 tion of the granular effervescing citrates. Doses, horses and 

 cattle, 3ij- to 3J V - \ dogs, grs. x. to grs. xx. 



