THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
SEPTEMBER,  1883, 
SALICYLATE  OF  BISMUTH. 
By  Frank  H.  Rosengarten. 
In  the  "Medical  Record of  August  11,  1883,  appears  an  editorial 
on  "  The  germ  theory  of  typhoid  fever,  and  the  treatment  of  this  dis- 
sease  by  salicylate  of  bismuth/'  giving  the  results  of  the  experiments 
of  Dr.  Desplat  in  the  use  of  salicylate  of  bismuth.  The  "  Record  " 
says,  "  Dr.  Desplat  is  favorably  known  by  his  numerous  theses  on  the 
antiseptic  treatment  of  fevers,  especially  by  a  memoir  published  last 
year  on  the  treatment  of  typhoid  fever  by  carbolic  acid.  After  long 
experimentation  with  various  salicylates  in  typhoid  fever,  he  has  found 
the  salicylate  of  bismuth  the  great  desideratum,  in  his  experience  it 
has  even  had  a  marked  abortive  action.  Thus,  out  of  twenty  cases 
reported  by  him,  eleven  (or  more  than  one-half)  treated  in  the  first 
stage  were  cut  short  in  four  or  five  days  under  the  free  use  of  salicylate 
of  bismuth."  The  ordinary  dose  was  about  a  scruple.  This  was 
repeated  sufficiently  often,  so  that  the  daily  quantity  taken  should 
equal  about  six  grammes  (or  about  one  drachm  and  a  half). 
As  this  salt  is  comparatively  unknown  in  this  country,  and  the 
attention  of  the  medical  profession  has  been  so  recently  called  to  it,  a 
few  words  about  it  will  not  be  out  of  place.  As  it  is  not  readily  pre- 
pared by  double  decomposition  from  the  other  salts  of  bismuth  with 
salts  of  salicylic  acid,  it  can  only  be  formed  as  a  sub-salicylate.  This 
salt  is  a  white  soft  powder,  insoluble  in  water,  without  separating  the 
salicylic  acid  on  heating  to  boiling ;  but  is  readily  soluble  in  dilute 
muriatic  acid  when  boiled,  the  salicylic  acid  separating,  on  cooling,  in 
flocculent  white  crystals.  Care  must  be  taken  in  its  preparation  to 
avoid  too  much  heat,  as  the  tendency  is  to  convert  the  salt  into  ordi- 
nary oxide  of  bismuth  and  salicylic  acid.  Whether  it  is  superior  to 
the  salicylates  of  the  cinchona  alkaloids  is  not  mentioned,  but  if  its 
value  as  a  remedy  should  be  owing  to  its  difficult  solubility,  possibly 
they  may  prove  as  efficient,  for  the  salicylates  of  quinine  and  cinch oni- 
dine  are  very  difficultly  soluble  in  water,  and  would  hardly  be  as  likely 
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