318 
Oleaies  of  Mercury  and  Morphia. 
1  Am.  Jocr.  Pharm. 
I     July  1, 1872. 
the  amount  of  oleic  acid  ;  but  found  that  this  combination  freely  used 
on  the  skin  produced  much  irritation,  unless  it  was  employed  in  too 
dilute  a  form  to  be  of  service  as  an  absorbent.  In  Gmelin's  Chem- 
istry there  is  a  short  account  of  certain  metallic  oleates  formed  by 
double  decomposition  ;  but  with  this  as  a  guide,  he  failed  to  obtain 
any  satisfactory  oleate  of  mercury.  Mr.  Frank  Clowes,  to  whom  he 
then  referred  the  chemical  question,  soon  discovered  that,  although 
the  ordinary  sublimed  scales  of  red  oxide  of  mercury  were  with  diffi- 
culty dissolved  in  oleic  acid,  the  oxide,  precipitated  by  caustic  potash 
or  soda  from  a  solution  of  the  metal  in  nitric  acid  (which  is  a  yellow 
impalpable  powder)  is,  when  recently  made  and  well  dried,  readily 
soluble  in  oleic  acid,  especially  when  aided  by  a  temperature  of  about 
300°  F.  At  Professor  Marshall's  request  Messrs.  Hopkin  and  Wil- 
liams have  since  studied  the  subject  pharmaceutical^,  and  have  suc- 
ceeded in  preparing  oleate  of  mercury,  and  certain  solutions  of  that 
salt  in  oleic  acid.  The  strength  of  the  preparations  made  by  them  is 
indicated  by  the  percentage  of  the  oxide  of  mercury  which  they  con- 
tain. The  5  per  cent,  solution  is  a  perfectly  clear  pale  yellow  liquid, 
resembling  olive  oil,  but  thinner ;  the  10  per  cent,  solution  is  also- 
fluid  and  perfectly  clear,  but  as  dark  as  linseed  oil ;  whilst  the  20  per 
cent,  preparation  is  an  opaque  yellowish  unctuous  substance,  closely 
resembling  in  appearance  resin  ointment,  melting  very  readily  at  the 
temperature  of  the  body,  and  forming  a  kind  of  transparent,  viscid,, 
colorless  varnish  when  applied  to  the  skin.  The  chief  care  to  be  ob- 
served in  the  manufacture  of  these  solutions  is  not  to  hurry  the  pro- 
cess, and  not  to  employ  a  high  temperature,  or  the  mercury  will  be 
immediately  reduced. 
Unlike  the  mercurial  ointment  so  long  in  vogue,  which  is  a  crude, 
gross,  unscientific  mixture,  very  dirty  and  very  wasteful,  because  so 
small  a  proportion  of  its  mechanically  admixed  mercury  is  but  slowly 
absorbed,  these  solutions  of  oleate  of  mercury  are  cleanly  and  econo- 
mical in  use ;  and  as  the  diffusibility  or  penetrating  power  of  oleic 
acid  is  much  greater  than  that  of  ordinary  oils  or  fats,  and  as  each 
one-thousandth  part  of  even  a  minim  of  these  new  preparations  con- 
tains its  proper  modicum  of  mercury,  they  are  absorbed  by  the  skin 
with  remarkable  facility  and  manifest  their  remedial  effects  with  great 
promptitude.  They  should  not  be  rubbed  in  like  ordinary  liniments 
or  embrocations,  but  should  be  merely  applied  with  a  brush,  or  be 
spread  lightly  over  the  part  with  one  finger :  otherwise  they  may  cause 
