ANTIMONY. 277 



hot, and before any kermes is precipitated, a compound is thrown 

 down, which is the SulpJu/retum Antimonii precipitation of the 

 pharmacopoeias. It is of a brown colour, and consists of protoxide 

 of antimony, sulphuretted hydrogen, and sulphur, the quantity of 

 the latter ingredient being intermediate between that in the kermes 

 and the golden sulphuret. These preparations of antimony possess 

 the same medicinal qualities, and are used in the same cases as the 

 crude sulphuret. They have been used principally as a diaphoretic 

 and sudorific ; but they are liable to the same uncertainty in their 

 operation as the other oxides, and are therefore seldom prescribed. 

 Combined with calomel, the yellow hydro-sulphuret has been em- 

 ployed as a useful alterative in porrigo, herpetic and other cuta- 

 neous eruptions, in obstinate ulcers, in many anomalous diseases, 

 in glandular affections, and morbid enlargements of the breast and 

 testicle. It is given in a dose of from gr. i. to gr. iv., twice a-day, 

 usually under the form of a pill. 



Antimonial Powder. Pulnis Antimonialis, Ph. L. — This is a 

 peroxide of antimony, combined with phosphate of lime, and is 

 intended as a substitute for an emperical remedy called James's 

 Powder, which still maintains a deserved celebrity as an antimonial. 

 It is prepared by exposing equal weights of the sulphuret of anti- 

 mony and hartshorn shavings to a red heat in an iron pot, stirring 

 it till it becomes of an ash-grey colour ; it is then exposed, under 

 cover, to a white heat for two hours, a small aperture being left to 

 allow the escape of any gas. In this process the sulphur of the 

 sulphuret is expelled, and also the gelatin of the hartshorn, the 

 phosphate of lime remaining, either mechanically mixed or che- 

 mically combined with the antimony in the state of protoxide. 

 The antimonial powder, however, when prepared in this manner, 

 is far less uniform in its operation than James's powder, the 

 antimony being either volatalized during the operation, or a 

 mixture of the peroxide of antimony and lime is obtained, which 

 is nearly, if not altogether inert. Antimonial powder has been 

 civen as a sudorific in the commencement of fevers and inflam- 

 matory affections. Its dose is from grs. iii. to grs. viii., repeated 

 every four or six hours, till its effects are obtained. In large doses 

 it operates as an emetic and cathartic. It is sometimes prescribed 

 in acute rheumatism, combined with camphor, calomel, and 



