MEDICINES.] 



MODERN VETEllINAKT PlJArxiCE. 



[medicines. 



remedios ; one to two onncoa being dissolved in 

 about :i pint and a-half of water. 



AciDUM AcETicuM— yic<'/i<j Acid—Vinejar. 

 Vinegar is a liquid of a reddish or yellowish 

 colour, haviniij a pleasant sour taste, and an 

 agreeable odour. Its specific gravity varies 

 from 10135 to 10-251 ; aud it ditlers also in its 

 other properties, according to tho liquid form 

 in which it has been procured. It is very sub- 

 ject to decomposition ; but Scheclo discovered, 

 that if it is made to boil for a few moments, it 

 may be kept afterwards for a long time without 

 alteration. Besides acetic acid and water, 

 vinegar contains several other ingredients, such 

 as mucilage, tartar, a colouring matter, and 

 often also two or more vegetable acids. "When 



' commonly called muriatic acid gas, or, in con- 

 j formity to more modern nomenclature, hy- 

 I droehloric aciil gas. ^luriatic acid may also 

 readily bo procured by acting upon common 

 salt with sulphuric acid ; the evolved gas must 

 be received over mercury. It was iirnt ob- 

 tained pure by Dr. Priestley, but its com- 

 position was discovered by Scheele, and after- 

 wards most ably investigated by Davy. Mu- 

 riatic acid gas extinguishes flame ; is readily 

 absorbed by water, which takes up iSO times its 

 bulk, and has a specidc gravity increase from 

 1* to 1'210. Thus dissolved in water, it forms 

 the liquid muriatic acid or spirits of salts ; 

 and may easily be procured by distilling a 

 mixture of dilute sulphuric acid and common 

 salt, as directed in the London Pharmacopoeia. 



distilled at a temperature not exceeding that of I The marine acid in commerce has a straw 



colour; but this is owing to accidental im- 

 purity ; for it does not obtain in the acid 

 produced by the impregnation of water with 

 the aeriform acid. The muriatic acid is one of 

 those longest known, and some of its com- 

 pounds are among those salts with which we are 

 most familiar. It should be kept in stoppered 

 bottles, and the proof of its goodness is in its 

 weight. 



Medicinal Uses. — Caustic applied externally, 

 and the best -we have in every case where a 

 caustic is required. It is most commonly used 

 as a solvent for oxymuriate of mercury, in th* 

 liquor hydrargijris oxymuriates. 



boiling-water, till about two-thirds of it have 

 passed over, all these impurities are left be- 

 hind, and the product is pure acid diluted with 

 vrater. 



Medicinal Uses. — Very useful in sprains or 

 bruises. Equal parts of boiling-water and cold 

 vinegar form a good fomentation. Extract of 

 lead or baysalt may be added with advantage. 

 As an inward remedial agent vinegar is rarely 

 used, except in large doses, and even then it 

 Las very little power. 



AciDUM Aeseniosum — Arsenic. 



As some veterinarians still continue to use 

 this mineral as a tonic, we introduce it here. 

 In the metallic state it is of a bluish-white 

 colour, subject to tarnish, and to become first 

 yellowish, then black, by exposure to air. It is 

 brittle, and, when broken, exhibits a laminated 

 texture. Its specific gravity is 5'7G3. In close 

 vessels it sublimes entire at 356° Fahr., but 

 burns with a small flame, if respirable air be 

 present. 



Medicinal Uses. — As a tonic, of from ten to 

 twenty grains daily ; but it is not a safe medi- 

 cine. It is used also to cure ulcers. But there 

 are both better tonics and safer caustics to be 

 found. 



AciDUM MuEiATicuM — Muriatic Acid — 

 Spirit of Salts. 



"When equa. volumes of hydrogen and 

 chlorine gases are mixed and exposed to light, 

 they combine and produce a sour compound, 



AciDUM NiTnicuM — Nitric Acid — Aqua 

 Fortis 



The two principal constituent parts of our 

 atmosphere — oxygen and nitrogen gases — when 

 in certain proportions, are capable, under 

 particular circumstances, of combining che- 

 mically into one of the most powerful acids — 

 the nitric. If these gases be mixed in a proper 

 proportion in a glass tube about a line in 

 diameter, over mercury, and a series of electric 

 shocks be passed through them for some hours, 

 they will form nitric acid; or, if a solution of 

 potash be present with them, nitrate of potash 

 will be obtained. The constitution of this 

 acid may be further proved, analytically, by 

 driving it through a red-hot porcelain tube, as 

 thus it will be decomposed into oxygen and 

 nitrogen gases. Eor all practical purposes, 

 however, the nitric acid is obtained from nitrate 



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