L I T 



L I T 



to refifl the influence of the medicine, in a great many 

 others. 



Mrs. Stephens's medicine confiftcd principally of foap, 

 and }\mc, prepared from fhcUs ; /. c of lime, a lixcd alkali, 

 and a little oil. From theoretical notions, the celebrated 

 Dr. Mead pronounced that a medicine containing fiich 

 cauftic materials as I'me, mull injure the bladder by its cor- 

 rofi-vc powers, and therefore condemned the internnl admi- 

 niftration of it. Yet he did not know whether the lime 

 could aftually reach the bladder through the r.iediiim of the 

 •circulation with its caiillic powers unchanged ; a circum- 

 ilance wiiich the inveftigations of modern cliemiftry render 

 improbable. And as for the fubftitute, foap-lees, which 

 had been propofed for the lime, he thought it fcarcely lefs 

 fife than the former. Dr. Whytt, of Edinburgh, after con- 

 fidering the inconveniences of this celebrated fpecific, re- 

 folved to omit the foap, and to try what virtues lime-water 

 might have in diflblving calculus; and he made many experi- 

 ments on the qualities of the varieties of l!i>^.':-water, made 

 with the lime from lime-done, and that from oyfter fliells, 

 upon fragments of urinary calculi immerfed in it. He con- 

 cluded by recommendincr the copious potation of hme-water 

 from fliells, and adduced feveral inliances of the beneficial 

 efFeSa of this remedy. 



Now the truth appears to be, according to the refult of 

 more accurate obfervation, that all the alkaline and abforb- 

 ent medicines, pota(h, foda, lime, magnefia, &c. and efpe- 

 cially the alkalies, are capable of affording very material 

 telief to the diftrefiing feehngs, connected with the prefence 

 of calculi in the urinary paflages ; that they operate as pre- 

 ventives of a farther increafe of the bulk and quantity of 

 tbefe concretions ; but that they do not reach the urinary 

 organs (after having paffed the organs of the digettion, 

 been taken up by the lafteals, and mixed and circulated with 

 the blood) unchanged in their chemical quahties, or in a 

 furfieient quantity to produce any diminution of the calculi 

 already exiding there. 



They fecm to pofTefs this preventive power, however, by 

 their operation in the firft paflages. It is now known, that 

 the ordinai-y calculus of the bladder and kidnies confilts of 

 a peculiar animal acid, which lias been called the urk ox Mnc 

 acid, from its abundant exiftence in the urine and its calculi. 

 Now, although this acid is not formed in the chyle, or any 

 of the fluids in the firlf paflages ; yet its rudiments appear 

 to exill; there ; and experience has determined, that what- 

 ever diminifties the formation of acidity in the organs of 

 digeftion, diminiflies alio the quantity of the urk acid which 

 fhews itfelf in the urine, and 'vice ■verfd. But it is the pecu- 

 liar property of the alkalies and abforbent earths, to neutra- 

 lize acidity of every defcription ; and the alkalies are poflefled 

 of this property in a greater degree than the earths. Whence 

 we may readily perceive how the ufe of thefe medicines, by 

 neutralizing the acids, which are produced by a morbid or 

 imperfeft digeftion of the food, and preventing the forma- 

 tion of that matter, which concretes in the urine into cal- 

 f:tili, fliould give material relief to the patient. It is not, 

 however, very eafy to underitand how the prevention of this 

 Kirmation fliould give fo much relief, while the original con- 

 cretion remains in the .bladder, undiminiflied in weight and 

 fize. Whether its furface becomes more uniformly fniooth 

 and lefs irritating, therefore, to the internal coat of the blad- 

 der, under the ufe of thefe medicines, it would be very diffi- 

 cult to afcertain, fince we have no opportunity of comparing 

 its previous condition. 



It is farther to be obferved, however, that there is one 

 variety of calculus found in the urinary paflages, for wliich 

 tlie alkalies and ablerbents are iucapable of affording any 



relief; as, from its chemical compofition, it is altogether 

 infoluble in thefe fubftances, even when direflly immerfed 

 in them. It is a triple fait formed by combination with the 

 phofphoric acid, and is, therefore, only to be diflblved or 

 decompoted by an agent of a direftiy oppofite quality to 

 that of the alkalies; namely, by a mineral acid, which unites 

 with the earthy and alkaline bafe. See Nephralc.ja and 

 Stone. 



Dr. Hartley has publiflicd, in the London Gazette, the 

 following receipt for making a lithontriptic eledtuary. Take 

 five pounds of Alicant foap, fliavcd, and one pound of 

 oyfter-fliell-lime : put them into a tin veflel, and pour upon 

 them five quarts of water ; make tiie water boil, till the 

 foap be perfe6\ly diflblved in it, and then ftrain all into a 

 glazed earthen veflel. Expofe the mafs to the air, ftining 

 it every day till it becomes both mild to the talte, and of a 

 proper confiftence to be formed into pills, or long pellets, 

 without flicking to the lingers. This may be expefled to 

 happen in two or three months. If it becomes fufficiently 

 mild before it has acquired a due confiftence, it may be 

 brought to this, by being heated over the fire, in a tin veflel : 

 if it acquires a too hard confiftence, before it is fufficiently 

 mild, it niuil be foftened with water. This is what the 

 dodlor calls the lithontriptic mafs or eleAiiary ; which he or- 

 ders to be made in a tin veflel, becaufc a brals or copper one 

 would make it emetic. 



He gives another more expeditious way of making it, 

 which is this : pour two g:illons of water upon a pound of 

 oyfter-fhell-lime ; llir it two or three times, and when it has 

 fallen to the bottom, pour off the clear part of the water. 

 Repeat this fifteen or twenty times, or till the clear water, 

 which is poured off, be almoft taftelefs ; leaving about five 

 pints of water upon the lime, after the laft ablution. Then 

 pour this mixture of water and dulcified hme upon five 

 pounds of Alicant foap, fliaved ; and proceed as diredted in 

 the firft receipt. The mafs, prepared in this manner, will 

 be fit for ufe in a few days, or even immediately ; but then 

 the doflor prefers the foregoing receipt, where time can be 

 allowed for it. 



If the mafs of foap, and oyfter-fliell-lime, dulcified in 

 either of the above-mentioned ways, be made of the con- 

 fiftence of an elealuary, it is then called the lithontriptic elec- 

 tuary ; which for cure is more convenient than the mafs, for 

 thofe who defire to take the medicine diflblved in a hquid 

 vehicle, as m.ilk, water fweetened with honey or fugar, 

 water flavoured with brandy or rum, and fmall beer. 



Where a perfon is fuppofed to have a large ftone in the 

 kidnies or bladder, he ought to take every day as much of 

 the mafs or eledluary as contains two ounces of the foap, 

 unlefs his pain and provocation to make water be violent ; 

 in which cafe it will be proper to begin with about half this 

 quantity, and to increafe it as he can bear. The medicine 

 ought alfo in this cafe to be dulcified in an extraordinary 

 degree. _ , • 



By this medicine, the doftor thinks the generation of 

 gravel, and gravel-ftones, may be entirely prevented. See 

 Stoxe. 



It is likewife recommended in diforders of the ftamach 

 and bowels, arifing from, or attended with, acidities' there ; 

 and in gouty habits. The patient' may, in many of thefe 

 cafes, begin whh fuch a quantity every day as contains an 

 ounce of foap, and afterwards increafe or lelfen this quantityj 

 as he finds occalion. 



LITHOPHAGI, o{ ?d5o;,Jlotie, and Caf^:, to eat, a name 

 given to thofe who are capable of eating and digefting ftones : 

 inftanees of which are given by Boyle, Exp. Phil. p. : 



eff. 



