L I M E-W A T E R. 
V 
720 
is wanted for ufe. Lime is foluble in about 450 times its 
weight of water, or little more than one grain in one fluid- 
ounce, forming a tranfparent folution j hence the propor¬ 
tion here direfled, is in fact more than i$ required for the 
faturation of the water; but the larger quantity allows, 
moreover, for any impurity contained in the lime, and, as 
it is a cheap article, the quantity ufed is fcarcely of any 
importance. The procefs here adopted is Ample, efficaci¬ 
ous, and convenient; and, by keeping the folution ftand- 
ing upon the lime, it will always be faturated ; and the 
place of any cruft of carbonat of lime which forms upon 
the furface, if expofed, will be fupplied from the lime, 
which remains in a ftate ready for folution. Land. Pharm. 
1809. 
The general opinion of lime aCling as a cauftic, and 
confuming the bodies it was made to aft upon, by means 
of the great quantity of particles of Are it contained, 
long denied any preparation of it a place among in¬ 
ternal medicines; at length, water poured upon it was 
found to take in a part of its virtues, and to be a valuable 
medicine, and very fafely to be given internally in large 
quantities. For this purpofe, a gallon and a half or two 
gallons of water were poured by degrees upon a pound 
of frefh-burnt quick-lime; the veffel fliaken when the 
ebullition ceafed, and then fet by, till the undiffolved 
lime had fettled; after which, the liquor was’ poured oft', 
and paffed through a ftltre. Only a fmall portion of the 
lime is diflolved by the water, and the remainder gives a 
ftrong impregnation to large quantities of frefli water, 
though not lb ftrong as the flrft; great part remaining at 
laft undiffolved : this reflduum, calcined again, becomes 
quick-lime, as before; and by repetitions of this procefs, 
nearly the whole may be diflolved. The folution has a 
ftrong ftyptic tafte; and its effeffs in chemical mixtures 
are ftmilar to thofe produced by quick-lime. In veflels 
quite Ailed with lime-water, and exaflly doled, it niay be 
kept unchanged for many months. All lime is not equally 
good for the making of this water; but the feveral kinds 
differ, according to the fubftances they are made from. 
In Holland they make lime of fea-fhells, which they And 
in valt abundance on their fea-lhores. This was alfo a 
practice in the time of Diofcorides; but < ife lime thus 
made, it has been faid, is not At for making libitl-water. 
The water made from it does not keep long, and is'I eTs 
ftyptic, and fweetiffi to the tafte, and is greatly inferior to 
the water made with lime burnt from Hones. The newer 
the lime is, the lefs it has been expofed to the air, and 
the drier it has been kept, and Anally, the more it has 
held together without crumbling, or mouldering to pow¬ 
der, the better it is for making lime-water. Mem. Acad. 
Par. 1700. 
It appears now, from the experiments of the ingenious 
Dr. Alfton, that one part of quick-lime is fu flic lent for 
fix hundred parts of water. Water will dilfolve but a 
certain portion of quick-lime; and how much that is can¬ 
not be eaflly afcertained. So far fee iris certain from Dr. 
Alfton’s experiments, that one pound of quick-lime is 
fufficient for making Ax hundred pounds of good lime- 
water; and that thofe who with Charas have fuppbfed, 
that the fecond and third lime-water is weaker than the 
flrft, have been led into an error by the fmall quantity of 
water they ufed. It has been generally believed, that, in 
order to obtain good lime-water, the quick-lime muff: not 
only be recent and fully calcined, but alfo that for one part 
of quick-lime only eight, ten, or at molt twelve, parts 
of water fhould be taken; as if it could impregnate no 
more. But the doctor found, by many experiments, that 
it is altogether indifferent whether the water be hot or 
cold, poured on gradually, or at once, the water poured 
on the lime, or the lime thrown into the water; whe¬ 
ther the quick lime be in (hells or flaked; or even ex¬ 
pofed to the air for feveral months, for fuch quantities 
of the water as are commonly ufed ; and, if the quick¬ 
lime be frefli, whether for one pound of it, eight, ten, 
twenty, flfty, -or flve hundred, pounds of water be taken. 
Only it is neceflary, even for the flrft water after the ebul¬ 
lition is over, to ltir and mix the lime with the water, 
and allow it time to impregnate itfelf; which is belt known 
by the cruft formed on its furface. Filtration indeed is 
not neceflary, if it be not to prevent any undiffolved lime 
being mixed with it; or crufts diminifhing its tranfpa- 
rency. The doftor, for his own ufe, pbured about eight 
pounds of boiling water upon a pound of ftone quick¬ 
lime in a glazed earthen veffel. He drank about a pint 
and a half of this lime-water daily for about fixteen months; 
filling up the veffel, when neceflary, with frefli water, 
fometimes hot and fometimes cold, without obferving any 
difference in the lime-water, which he conllantly Altered 
through grey paper before he drank it. He oblerved, that 
the lime was not exhaufted after two years and two months, 
nor was the water fenfibly weaker, when it flood a fuffi- 
cient time on the lime, which he knew by the crufts that 
Were formed. But, the lime becoming conliderably lighter 
after it is long thus ufed, it at length requires feveral days 
to fubfide, and form the crufts; and, after the crufts are 
formed, it does not leave half the water clear as it did at 
flrft. On the whole, this Angle pound of lime afforded 
the doctor about Ax hundred pounds of lime-water. He 
adds, that, having taken lime-water made indifferently of 
lime-ftone, or of chalk, or of (hells, and fometimes made 
of all the three together, he was never able to difcover any 
difference in their effects. But fo much lime-water is not 
to be obtained from quick-lime, unlefs it be frefh, com¬ 
pletely calcined, and free from heterogeneous fubftances; 
for, if defective in any of thefe, it will yield proportionably 
lei's lime-water. Lewis's Mat. Med. Macquer's C/iem. Did. 
Experience has fhown lime-water to be an excellent 
medicine in many cafes; in the gravel and ftone particu¬ 
larly. And it has alfo been found very ferviceable in the 
gout, in habitual relaxations of the bowels, and in other 
cafes of relaxation. In fome kinds of the fcurvy likewife 
it is of ufe; and is often applied with fuccefs externally 
to ulcers,. See. 
Fabricius ab Aquapendente affures us, he cured a feir- 
rhous fpleen, and the dropfy, by a continued ufe of fponges 
dipped in common lime-water, and placed near the part 
affe&ed. Boyle's Worksy Abr. vol. i. p. 8 d. 
Lime-water, which was long looked on as a cauftic, 
was, in the laft century, found to be a very fafe and va¬ 
luable remedy. It is uncertain who firfl ventured to give 
it inwardly ; but Willis, Bates, and Moreton, feem to have 
ufed it much. Lime-water kills worms, and many other, 
if not all, infeCts. Hence Dr. Alfton concluded that it 
might prove a good anthelmintic for children; and expe¬ 
rience has confirmed this notion. It is probable, that 
lime-water may be of great ufe in long fea-voyages, pre¬ 
venting the corruption of water, or infedls breeding in it, 
as well as curing the difeafes to which fea-faring people 
are moft fubjeft. The experiment is certainly fafe, eafy, 
and attended with no expenfe; one pound of frefh well- 
burnt quick-lime of any kind being enough for a hogf- 
head of water, which may not only be ufed for common 
drink by the difeafed, or for prevention by the healthy; 
but alfo, by boiling and expofing it to the air for a lliort 
time, it may be reduced to liveet water, and ufed in dreff, 
ing the victuals of the moft delicate. Dr. Alfton alfo 
thinks that quick-lime in a (hip’s well would effectually 
prevent the corruption of the water, and confequently 
the putrid fleams, or foul air, thence arifing, which fome¬ 
times prove fatal to the crew. 
The virtues of lime-water outwardly applied in many 
difeafes of the (kin, in excoriations, ulcers, gangrenes, See. 
are well known. Perhaps there is not a better gargarifln 
for feveral forts of fores in the mouth a/id throat than 
lime-water. It has alfo been known to be of great ufe in 
the tooth-ache. Inwardly taken, lime-water has all the 
virtues of pure element, which are not a few ; and on 
which probably depend the good effeits of mineral wa¬ 
ters, more than on the minerals they contain. Dr. Alfton 
never found it caufed third; on the contrary, he found 
3 ^ 
