NITRO-M URI ATIC ACID. 
as this is unneceflary. The time, too, of remaining in the 
bath, in order to produce the greateft effect, is a matter 
of doubt; I have kept the legs and feet expofed to it for 
half an hour or more ; but with more delicate people not 
above one-half, or one-third, of that time. I have re¬ 
peated thefe baths daily, or even twice or thrice a-day. 
“ I mud now obferve that the mere fponging the Ikin 
with nitro-muriatic acid, fufficiently diluted with water, 
gives rife to the very fame effedts with bathing, and is 
more eaiily applied. Fifteen or twenty minutes may be 
employed in the fponging, though I have found that a 
much lefs time does produce very material effects. When 
the bathing or fponging is carried to a coniiderable extent, 
and when the fyftem is much under its influence, a fenfe 
of weaknefs comes on occafionally, fome nervous irrita¬ 
tion and reftleflnefs are felt, a tafte of metal (generally 
compared to that of copper) becomes fenfible ; a fenfe of 
pain occurs in fome part of the palate or mouth, which is 
not permanent, but comes and foon goes off again. At 
length little fpecks or fmall ulcerations, extending no 
deeper than the cuticle, are feen on the interior furface 
of the mouth, and over the tongue, fo that fome degree 
of excoriation, or rawnefs, is at laft produced. This is 
attended by a confiderable difcharge of faliva, with an in- 
creafe of the feeling or lownefs of depreffion. Thefe ef¬ 
fects refemble thole of mercury, but they are not the 
fame. The excoriation from the nitro-muriatic acid 
never reaches deeper than the cuticle : it never gives rife 
to fcetid ulceration of any kind ; nor does it produce the 
leaft offenfivefmell of the breath nor in the mouth. The 
effedts of it in this way are furprifingly fugitive. Atone 
hour the difcharge of faliva may be exceflive 5 the next 
it will flop, and perhaps fuddenly come on again. The 
excoriations in the mouth generally go away in a day or 
two, if the remedy be difcontinued, and appear no more. 
While the mouth in this way is affedted by the acid, the 
teeth partake of uneafinefs ; but I never faw this in a con¬ 
fiderable degree, nor have I known any injury done to 
the teeth or their fockets. Thefe laft-mentioned effedts 
are feldom met with to the extent that I have defcribed, 
and need not be excited unlefs fome peculiar circumftances 
require an unufual power, fuch as the fymptoms of fy- 
philis. I have lately added more and more of the mu¬ 
riatic acid in proportion to the nitric, and the effedts have 
proportionally increafed. I now make ufe of equal parts 
of the acids. Would not the greateft power of the remedy 
be obtained by thofe proportions that produce the greateft 
quantity of chlorine ? for from that element I believe all 
its effedts arife. 
“ The nitro-muriatic acid appears in a particular man¬ 
ner to affedt the glands, and to alter their Accretions; and 
on this power a great part of its value in derangements of 
the liver feems to depend. It fometimes very fuddenly 
increafes the fecretion of bile ; and this effect may be kept 
up for a length of time. It increafes the perfpiration, 
and often to a great extent. Whether the nitro-muriatic 
acid be applied to the inner furface of the ftornach, or to 
the external furface of the body, the effedt is the fame in 
kind, though not in degree. As a very general rule for 
its employment, it may be obferved, that, whenever the 
mercurial preparations are indicated, the nitro-muriatic 
acid will be found ufeful; with this difference, that, in 
cafes where mercury is highly injurious from delicacy or 
peculiarity of conftitution, or from other caufes, the nitro- 
muriatic acid may be employed with fafety and advantage. 
On the other hand, I fhould not at prefen t recommend it 
in acute difeafes, with the exception of fome kinds of 
fever, and of hepatitis of every character. Where the 
pulfe is quick, and where there is an inflammatory ten¬ 
dency, I think it would be injurious. 
“ I wasfirft led to the ufe of the nitro-muriatic acid from 
an attention to the difeafes of the liver, fo common in India. 
The derangements of that organ, and of its fecretion, 
open a vaft field for inquiry, which has been but imper- 
fedtly explored. With regard to acute hepatitis, if pure 
Vol. XVII. No. 1164. 
105 
and unmixed, the propriety of employing the nitro-mu¬ 
riatic acid might admit of a doubt; but the fame obfer- 
vation may be applied to mercury. I think, however, 
that I never met with a cafe of acute hepatitis that did not 
partake of the chronic affedtion, either at its commence¬ 
ment or foon afterwards. I know, from experience, that, 
within the tropics, where I lived fo long, a proper ufe of 
mercury is never to be negledted in either affedtion of 
that organ. I have not trufted to the acid where I 
thought the rifle of abfeefs confiderable; but without 
delay have employed mercurials, and every other means 
in my power, to prevent, if poflible, a termination fo la¬ 
mentable. I fliould now not hefitate to add this new 
power to the other means ; and have no doubt, if really 
infufficient of itfelf, it would greatly aid us in affording 
fecurity and relief. 
“ Chronic hepatitis is a far more common difeafe than 
the acute ; but it may be confidered as always partaking 
of the nature of both. One portion of the lame liver is 
often infenfible, enlarged, and inadtive, while another 
part of it is fuffering from all the fymptoms of acute he¬ 
patitis, and going on to the formation of pus. It is this 
mixed difeafe that we meet with fo generally in India, as 
well as in this country; and it is this ftate of the liver 
which gives rife to fo great a variety of anomalous fymp- 
toins. For this chronic affedtion, it appears to me, that 
the nitro-muriatic acid applied to the Ikin is the moft ef¬ 
fectual and the fafeft remedy. A few hours, or even a 
fingle hour, will fometimes bring relief; but it is necef- 
fary to continue the remedy till the fyltem be fufficiently 
affedted by it, and to repeat it occafionally till the patient 
has recovered Ms ufual degree of Jlrength. This is a rule, 
in affedtions of the liver, of the utmoft importance. A 
ftate of weaknefs, however produced, is the great remote 
caufe of thofe chronic affedtions ; fo that we may remove 
the difeafe, but, till the ftrength and vigour of the cir¬ 
culation be reftored, we have no fecurity againft a return 
of it. 
“ A difeafed ftate of the bile has a wonderful influence 
on the whole nervous fyftem ; it gives rife to pain and 
giddinefs of the head ; a great diflike to motion, and a 
fenfe of weaknefs, rather than adtual weaknefs ; cramps 
come on in the legs while afleep ; the foies of the feet are 
tender and painful, and at times the fick rather drag 
them than raife them when they walk. A moft able and 
intelligent friend, who was lately relieved very fuddenly 
by the nitro-muriatic acid bath from a ftate of long-con¬ 
tinued nervous irritation, is of opinion, that all the mi- 
fery he had fuffered for years, arofe from a depraved ftate 
of the biliary fecretion. His obfervations on himfelf are 
curious, and very important. He had long taken notice 
that the bile, though at times ample in quantity, was in- 
foluble in water; and that the faeces had loft entirely the 
faecal odour. The folubility in water, with this peculiar 
odour, gradually returned from the ufe of the remedy, 
while at the fame time the irritability of the nervous 
fyftem was fuddenly corredted. But I think there is 
fufficient evidence that this acid, in fome cafes, adfs di- 
redtly on the nervous fyftem ; for in fome people I have 
feen it very fuddenly produce a fenfe of compofure, of 
quiet, and of happinefs, and for days together they have 
been fenfible of a degree of an agreeable intoxication. I 
need hardly fay that melancholy and defpondency of mind 
are often connedted with a peculiar ftate of the bile, for 
this has been obferved in all ages. This ftate of mind I 
have often feen removed by a proper ufe of the nitro-mu¬ 
riatic bath ; and people of both fexes have aflured me, that 
they think it had preferved them from the crime of fui- 
cide, to which, during the horrors of their feelings, they 
had an alarming tendency. 
“ That ftate of the bile already mentioned, in which it 
feems to be deficient in quantity, and probably at the 
fame time unhealthy in its nature, is very common. Of 
all hepatic affedtions, I think this attended with the moft 
pain and diftrefs of the bowels. This diforder of the bi- 
E e liary 
