Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
August,  1896.  / 
Solution  of  Lead  Subacetate. 
427 
SOLUTION  OF  LEAD  SUBACETATE^ 
By  Edward  M.  Post,  Ph.G. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy,  No.  156. 
This  official  preparation  was  introduced  into  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine under  the  name  of  Extractum  Saturni,  in  1770,  by  Thomas 
Goulard,  who  was  at  that  time  a  surgeon-major  of  the  military- 
hospital  at  Montpellier,  France.  From  the  outset  the  preparation 
received  a  prominence  which  time  has  served  to  strengthen,  until,  at 
the  present  time,  the  article  has  a  universal  reputation  of  favor. 
Though  this  solution  has  been  prominent  and  widely  known  for  so 
long,  the  method  of  its  preparation  seems  to  have  had  but  little 
consideration,  if  we  judge  from  the  few  suggestions  for  improve- 
ment of  that  process.  But  some  of  these  suggestions  are  very 
worthy  of  attention,  and  the  object  of  the  experimental  work  herein 
recorded  was  to  test  the  claims  of  the  following  references : 
Hennig  suggested,  in  the  Pharm.  Cent.  Halle,  for  1869,  p.  162, 
to  make  the  preparation  by  cold  digestion  of  lead  oxide  with  lead 
acetate  solution  for  twenty-four  hours.  Of  the  same  order  was  the 
suggestion  of  M.  Nerning,  as  published  in  the  Jour,  de  Pharm.  et  de 
Chimie,  for  1870,  at  which  time  the  editor,  in  a  note,  stated,  with 
reference  to  this  process,  that  it  had  long  been  adopted  in  the  mili- 
tary hospitals,  the  following  being  the  proportions  of  ingredients 
used :  crystallized  acetate  of  lead,  300  parts ;  litharge,  in  fine 
powder,  100  parts;  distilled  water,  650  parts.  Put  them  into  a 
bottle,  shake  them  from  time  to  time,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  six 
or  eight  hours,  filter. 
In  Squire's  "  Companion  to  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,"  six- 
teenth edition,  1 894,  we  find  the  note  :  "  Digestion  in  the  cold  for  a 
week  answers  equally  well  if  not  better  than  the  half-hour's 
boiling." 
The  quantities  directed  by  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  are :  lead 
acetate,  250  gm.;  lead  oxide,  175  gm.,  and  water  to  make  1,000  gm. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  of  this  country  orders  that  170  gm.  of  lead 
acetate  be  dissolved  in  800  gm.  of  boiling  distilled  water,  and  that 
100  gm.  of  finely  sifted  lead  oxide  be  added,  the  whole  boiled  for 
half  an  hour,  replacing  from  time  to  time  the  water  lost  by  evapo- 
ration, and,  after  cooling,  adding  sufficient  water  to  bring  the  weight 
up  to  1,000  gm.    The  product  is  finally  filtered. 
