Langenhan—The Arsenical Solutions. 
149 
prepared was used up quickly, it did not suffice for private prac¬ 
tice because precipitation took place upon standing. In order to 
overcome this, Mr. Baley, the apothecary of Birmingham, added 
“nitre” to the solution “by the direction of Mr. Hughes”. 35 
Fowler, in his report states that he used “fixed vegetable alkali”. 36 
At the same time he points out that the “fixed vegetable alkali” is 
not “perfectly pure; for that which is of the Druggists is fre¬ 
quently so impure, a double Proportion of purified nitre may be 
substituted” instead of going to the trouble of purifying the al¬ 
kali. 37 
We have, therefore, at the very beginning, when arsenical ther¬ 
apy was transferred from the secret practices of nostrum venders 
to the above board practice of the regular physician, three differ¬ 
ent pharmaceutical preparations: 
1. ) The simple solution of arsenic trioxide in water; 
2. ) The solution of arsenic trioxide in water with the aid of 
potassium carbonate, a chemical solution socalled with the 
formation presumably of a potassium arsenite; 
3. ) The solution of arsenic trioxide in water with the aid of 
potassium nitrate whereby presumably a potassium arsen¬ 
ate is formed. 
All three solutions have found their way into pharmacopoeias 
or similar standards. Thus the simple solution of arsenic trioxide 
was official in the French Codex. That of the ratio of 1:1000 as 
Solute Arsenical ou Mineral (Boudin) in 1884. A Solute Arseni¬ 
cal Isnard, ratio 1:10000, is likewise mentioned by Dorvault in his 
L’Officine (1910), p. 1289. The solution of arsenic trioxide in 
aqueous potassium carbonate is the one that became official in most 
pharmacopoeias, with “Fowler’s Solution” either as title or syn¬ 
onym. The third solution has become official as Liquor Arsenicalis 
Clemens, N. F., IV, though the oxidation is effected not by the 
nitric acid set free from the nitre, but by bromine. Similar sodium 
compounds are official as Liquor Sodii Arsenatis, U. S. P. and 
Liquor Sodii Arsenatis, Pearson, N. F., IV. 
Names and Synonyms. The compound resulting upon the union 
of “white arsenic” (As 2 0 3 ) and alkali in aqueous solution was 
named fois d’arsenic, liver of arsenic, by Macquer in 1776 because 
of the similarity of arsenic to sulphur which produced the socalled 
35 Ibidem, p. 125. 
36 Ibidem, Preface p. viii; also p. 79. 
37 Ibidem, pp. 82 and 83. 
