L I'M 



L I M 



makinfr fix hundred pounds of good lime-water ; and that 

 thofe who with Charas have fuppofed, that the fecond and 

 third hrae-watcr is weaker than the tiilt, liave been led into 

 an error by the fmall quantity of water they ufed. And 

 it has been generally believed^ that in order to obtain good 

 lime-water, the quick-lime muft. not only be recent and 

 fully calcined, but alfo for one part of quick-lime only 

 eight, ten, or, at mod, twelve parts ol water taken ; as 

 if it could iaipregnate no more. But the doftor fays he 

 has found, by many experiments, that it is altogether indif- 

 ferent wheiher the waier be hot or cold, poured on gra- 

 dually, or at once, tlie water poured on the lime, or the 

 lime thrown into the water; whether the quick-hme be in 

 flieils or (hiked ; or even expofed to the air for fcveral 

 months, fcr fucii quantities cf the water as are commonly 

 iifjd ; and if tjic auick-lime be frefh, whether for one pound 

 of it, eight, ten, twci;ty, fifty, or five hundred pounds of 

 water be taken. Only it is neceffary, even for tlie firil 

 water after the ebullition is over, to ilir and mix the lime 

 with the water,- and allow it time to impregnate itielf; 

 which is bcif known by the cruil formed on its lurface. 

 Filtration indeed is not neceffiiry, if it be not to prevent 

 any undifFolved lime being mixed with it ; or cruils diuiinifh- 

 ing its traiifpavency. 



The doftor, for his own ufe, poured about eiglit pounds 

 of boiling water upon a pound of Hone quick-lime in a 

 glazed earthen velfel. He drank about a pint and a h;ilf 

 ot this lime-water daily for about iixteen months; liiling 

 lip the veflel, when neceffary, with freih water, fiimetimes 

 hot and lometimes cold, without obferving any difference 

 in the lime-water, which he conltantly filtered through grey 

 paper before he drank it. He obferved, that the lime was 

 not exhaulled afrer two years and two months, nor was the 

 water fenfibly weaker, when it flood a fufficient time on 

 the lime, which he knew by the crufls that were formed. 

 But the lime becoming confiderably lighter, after ;t is long 

 thus ufed, it at length requires feveral days to fubfide, and 

 form the crufls, and after the crufts are formed, it does not 

 leave half the water clear as it did at firll. On the whole, 

 this fihgle pound of lime afforded the doftor about fix 

 hundred pounds of lime-water. He adds, tliat having taken 

 lime-water made indifferently of fime-flone, or of chalk, or 

 of fhelis, and tometinics made of all the three together, he 

 was never able to difcover any diflerence in their effects. 

 But fo much lime-water is not to be obtained from quick- 

 lime, unlefs it be frefh, completely calcined, and free from 

 heterogeneous fubuances ; for if defe&ive in any of thefe, it 

 will yield proporticnably lels lime-water. Liewis's Mat. 

 Med. and Macquer's Chcm. Didt. 



Mr. Burlet has given an ample account of its efTcfts in 

 the French Memoirs, chiefly from his own experience. 

 But he obferves, it fucceeded much better in Holland, &e. 

 than in France. It is a powerful alterant, and, like a pure 

 a'ikaline water, fitted to blunt and deltroy acid ferments, 

 which are the principles of al" obftruftions, and the caufe 

 of oioil clironic difeales. Its principal ufe- is in cache.\ies, 

 green- ficknefs, dropfy, fcurvy, obUiuftions on the liver, 

 fpleen, &c. 



Experience has fhewp. lime-water to be an exceUent me- 

 dicine in many cafes ; in the gravel and Itone particularly. 

 And it has alfo been found very ferviceable in the gout, 

 in habitual relaxations of the bowels, and in other cafes 

 of relaxation. In iome kinds of the fcurvy likewife it is 

 of ufe ; and is often applied with fuccefs externally to 

 ulcers, &c. 



Fabricius ab Aqwapeudente affures us, he cured a fcir- 

 rhous fpleen, and the dropfy, by a continued ufe of fpon^je* 



dipped in common lime-water, and placed near the part 

 alTefted. Boyle's Works, Abr. vol. i. p. 80. 



Lime-water, which was long looked on as a caiillic, was, 

 in the lail century, found to be a very fafe and valuable re- 

 medy. It is uncertain who firft ventured to give it inward- 

 ly, but Willis, Bates, and Moreton, ieem to have ufed it 

 much. 



Lime-water kills worms, and many other, if not all, in- 

 fetls. Kence Dr. Alllon concludes, it might prove a gc<<d 

 anthelmintic for children ; and ei;perience has confirmed this 

 notion. 



It is probable, that lime-water may be of great i;fe in 

 long fea-voyages, preventing tiie corruption cf water, or 

 iiifefls breeding iu it, as well as curing the dilVafes to 

 which fea-faring people are moil fubjeft. The experi- 

 ment is certainly fafe, eafy, and attended with no expence ; 

 one pound of frefh well-burnt q-.iick-hme of any kind 

 being enough for a hogfiicad of water, which may not 

 only be ufed for common drink by the difeafed, of for 

 prevention by the healthy ; but alio by boiling and ex- 

 pofing it to the air for a ihort time, it may be reduced to 

 fweet water, and ufed in drcirmg the victuals of the moft ' 

 delicate. 



The virtues of lime-water do not depend on its abforb- 

 cncy ; and it may as julUy be called antalkahne, as ant- 

 acid. 



Lime-water prevents, or long protrafts, the putrefaftion 

 of animal fabilances. Dr. Alllon alio thinks that quick- 

 lime in a fliip's well would effectually prevent the cor- 

 ruption of tlie water, and confequently the putrid fteams, 

 or foul air, thence arifing, which fonietimes prove fatal to 

 the crew. 



The vu-tucs of lime-water outwardly applied in many 

 difeafes of the (Iciii, in excoriations, ulcers, gangrenes, &c. 

 are well known. Perhaps there is not a better gargarifm 

 for feveral forts of fores in the mouth and throat than lime- 

 water. It has alfo been known to be of great ufe in the 

 tooth-ache. Inwardly taken, lime-water has all tlie virtue* 

 of pure element, which are not a few ; and on wliich pro- 

 bably depend the good effedls of mineral waters, more than 

 on the minerals they contain. Dr. Alflon never found 

 it cauftd thirll ; on the contrary, he found it quenched 

 thirll as well as fi-.npie water, and culfom rendered it 

 agreeable. Lime-water is notably detergent and attenuat- 

 ing, even more fo than foap itfelf, of mucous, vifcid, and 1 

 other animal fordef, wliicli makes it preferable, in many 

 cafes, to the purefl, as well as to mineral waters. In 

 a word, lime-water may be faid, in general, to purify the 

 blood, with as good reafon, as any other medicine whatever, 

 efpecially from any putrid, purulent, or fcorbutic foul- 

 neffes. 



Dr. Lewis obferves, that lime-water, drank to the quan- 

 tity of a quarter of a pint three or four times a day, ha» 

 been found ferviceable in fcrofulous complaints, fluxes, fe- 

 miiral weaknefTes, and other dilorders proceeding from aa 

 impurity of the fluids, or laxity and debility of the folids. 

 It generally promotes urine ; oftentimes tlie cuticular dil- 

 charge ; and, where the ftomach is opprefled witli vifcid 

 phlegm, expeCioration. It for the nviil part biniis tlie 

 belly, and fonietimes occafioiis a troiibl ■ionie coflivcnels, 

 unlefs this effetl be occafionaily provided againfV by the 

 iuterpofition of proper laxative.-. It auf.vers bell in cold, 

 fluggiih, phlegmatic, and corpulent habits ; and is to he 

 ufed more cautioufly in hot, bilious diipoiitions, and wher# 

 the patient is much en.aciated, or the appetite weak, aid 

 at the time of any critical or periodical evacuation. It 

 has been cullomary to i.-npregnate lime-water' with different 

 I 2 matcritd^i 



