ACID A. 129 



success ; and in rheumatism, with equally questionable results, 

 beyond their action on the mouth, skin, and kidneys. 



3. SPECIFIC ACTIONS AND USES. 



In the tissues and organs each of the acids exhibits a specific 

 action of its own. Sulphuric Acid is an astringent to the bowels, 

 skin, and blood-vessels, and is a valuable remedj r for diarrhoea, 

 profuse sweating, and haemorrhage. Nitric and Nitrohydrochloric 

 Acids are cholagogue, specifically as well as locally ; e.g. when 

 administered by means of a foot-bath (8 fl.oz. to one gallon of 

 water), or of a compress wrung out of the solution and worn 

 over the hepatic region. Tropical enlargements of the liver 

 may thus be reduced. The tonic influence of these acids is 

 probably referable to their stimulating effect upon the gastric 

 and biliary functions. Hydrochloric Acid enters the tissues as 

 chlorides, and no specific action or use can therefore be credited 

 to the small doses which can be given of it. Phosphoric Acid 

 also poss-sses no further influence on the tissues than that of 

 increasing pro tanto the amount of phosphates, and possibly 

 the growth of bones ; and its value in constitutional diseases 

 is probably due to its action on the red corpuscles, and to the 

 bases with which it is combined (iron, lime, etc.). As we have 

 seen, Acetic, Citric, and Tartaric Acids never reach the tissues, 

 being decomposed in the blood, unless given in large doses. 



4. REMOTE LOCAL ACTIONS AND USES. 



The acids, having chiefly entered into combination as 

 neutral salts, or having been decomposed in the blood, produce 

 remarkably little local action when they are escaping from the 

 body in the secretions. Sulphuric acid is excreted chiefly by 

 the kidneys, increasing very slightly the normal amount of 

 sulphates ; part escapes by the bowels as sulphates ; part by the 

 skin, this acid being anhidrotic. Phosphoric and Hydrochloric 

 acids behave similarly. Nitric acid is believed to be partly de- 

 composed into ammonia, and thus actually to diminish, to a 

 slight degree, the acidity of the urine. Acetic, Tartaric, and 

 Citric acids pass out of the body as carbonates, unless in excess, 

 when they escape unchanged by the kidneys. The important 

 point to be noted about all these acids, therefore, is, that they 

 do not, to any considerable or useful extent, increase the 

 acidity of the urine. It must be observed, however, that all 

 the acids probably stimulate the kidneys and skin i 

 by increasing the total amount of salts excreted by them. 



Ac i till ill Boriciim. Boric Acid. Boracic Acid. 

 B0 3 H 3 . (Not Officinal, except as a test.} 

 JS 



