COMMERCIAL  HYDRARGYRUM  CUM  CRETA.  43 
ON  COMMERCIAL  HYDRARGYRUM  CUM  CRETA 
By  Joseph  P.  Remington,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Query  1st. — What  is  the  quality,  proportion  of  oxide  of  mercury  &c.  in 
Hydrargyrum  cum  Creta  of  commerce,  selecting  -samples  recently  pre- 
pared by  manufacturers  and  others  from  the  dispensing  bottles  of  phar- 
macists ? 
Mercury  with  chalk  has  lately  fallen  into  disfavor  with  the 
medical  profession,  on  account  of  its  variable  quality  as  met  with 
in  commerce;  and  it  follows  as  a  natural  sequence  that  the 
preparation  must  have  a  variable  action  on  the  economy.  Many 
physicians  indeed  have  given  up  its  use  entirely,  because  vomit- 
ing and  gastric  irritation  have  been  produced,  rather  than  its 
characteristic  mild  effects ;  this  is  attributed  to  the  oxidation  of 
the  mercury. 
Several  processes  have  been  proposed  for  its  preparation,  the 
oldest  one  being  that  of  simple  trituration.  Then  came  a  process 
for  trituration  with  resin  ;  after  the  mercury  was  finely  divided 
the  resin  was  dissolved  out  with  alcohol ;  this  process  originated 
with  Dr.  Stewart,  of  Baltimore.  Then  one  in  which  the  material 
used  to  facilitate  the  divisi(^n  of  the  mercury  was  starch  moist- 
ened with  water ;  this  process  was  used  by  Dr.  Mettauer,  of  Vir- 
ginia ;  and  lastly,  the  process  of  succussion  or  shaking,  first  sug- 
gested by  Mr.  W.  Hewson,  of  Augusta,  Ga. 
The  processes  most  used  by  manufacturers  are  the  simple 
trituration  and  the  succussion  processes.  The  first  is  believed  to 
be  most  in  vogue,  and  is  objectionable  principally  on  account  of 
the  time  required  to  thoroughly  divide  the  mercury,  and  the 
oxidation  caused  by  its  prolonged  exposure  to  the  atmosphere. 
The  last  process  has  been  successfully  carried  out  on  the  large 
scale  by  the  aid  of  a  machine  contrived  for  the  purpose  by  Dr. 
E.,R.  Squibb. 
This  machine  consists  of  two  frames,  each  capable  of  hold- 
ing securely  a  bottle  of  the  capacity  of  one  gallon,  moved  up 
and  down  in  guides  by  means  of  connecting  rods  and  a  crank 
shaft  and  pulley. 
A  full  description,  with  a  drawing  of  the  machine,  may  be 
found  in  the  published. Proceedings  of  tliis  Association  for  1859. 
Ten  pounds  of  mercury  and  two  pounds  of  honey  are  intro- 
