BISMUTH UM. 107 



Impurities. As of the subnitrate. 

 Dose. 5 to 15 gr. 



/3. Liquor Bisnmthi et Ammonia Citratis. 



Source. Made by dissolving Purified Bismuth 

 in Diluted Nitric Acid, adding Citric Acid, and re- 

 dissolving the precipitate with Ammonia, as it forms. 



Characters. A colourless solution, with a sa- 

 line and slightly metallic taste ; neutral or slightly 

 alkaline to test-paper ; mixes with water without 

 change. 1 fl.dr. contains 3 gr. of oxide of bismuth. 

 1 fl.dr. 



y. Bismuth! Carbonas. Carbonate of Bismuth. 

 2(Bi 2 C0 5 )H 2 ; an oxycarbonate. 



Source. Made by (1) dissolving Purified Bis- 

 muth in Nitric Acid and Water; and (2) precipitating 

 by a solution of Carbonate of Ammonia. (1) Bi 2 -}- 

 8HNO, = 2(Bi3N0 3 ) + 2NO + 4H 2 0. (2) 

 4(Bi3N0 3 ) + 3(N 4 H 16 C 3 8 ) = 2Bi 2 C0 5 + 7C0 2 + 

 I L JN JdL JN (Jo. 



Characters. A white powder, insoluble in 

 water ; soluble with effervescence in nitric acid. 



Impurities. The subnitrate, and its impurities. 



Dose. 5 to 20 gr. 



ACTION AND USES. 

 1. IMMEDIATE LOCAL ACTION AND USES. 



Externally applied in the form of powder or ointment, 

 bismuth acts only physically on the unbroken skin, protecting 

 it from the irritation of cold and dirt. If the surface 

 be inflamed, as in chapped hands, chapped nipples, irritable 

 ulcers, and eczema, it is a mild sedative and astringent, sooth- 

 ing and drying up the part. Accessible mucous membranes are 

 similarly affected by bismuth, when in a condition of catarrh : 

 thus it is used with success as a "snuff" for nasal catarrh; as an 

 injection in gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea ; and in irritability of 

 the cervix uteri as a pessary. Bismuth is not known to be 

 absorbed from the surface. 



Internally, the local action and uses of the subnitrate of 

 bismuth constitute all, or nearly all, that is definitely known 

 ing it as a remedy. In the stom.-irh it is insoluble, and 

 exerts the same sedative and astringent action as on the skin, 

 whether by affecting the nerves and local circulation, or by its 

 mechanical properties, that is, by coating and protecting the 



