ON  ACID  NITRATE  OF  MERCURY. 
5 
the  yard,)  I  fired  a  pistol  loaded  with  nine  grains  by  weight  of 
the  ordinary  cotton,  at  a  piece  of  yellow  pine  door,  one  inch  in 
thickness.  The  ball  entered  the  door  about  half  way.  I  then 
fired  with  two  grains  of  the  cotton  which  had  been  treated  with 
the  solution  of  chlorate  of  potash.  The  pistol  bursted  into 
several  pieces,  part  of  the  nipple  entering  my  fore  finger,  the 
mark  of  which  I  still  bear.  The  remaining  pistol  was  then 
loaded  with  one  grain  of  the  same  cotton,  when  the  ball  passed 
entirely  through  the  door,  making  a  perfectly  smooth  perfora- 
tion. The  rebound  of  the  pistol  was  so  great  as  to  cause  me 
pain  for  several  hours  after  firing.  I  have  never  since  experi- 
mented with  the  cotton,  but  think  it  might  be  used  admirably 
for  blasting  purposes. 
Respectfully  yours,  &c, 
Alonzo  Caldwell. 
Baltimore,  Dee,  IQlh,  1855. 
ON  ACID  NITRATE  OF  MERCURY. 
By  B.  A.  SlIAKSPEARE. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Having  had  occasion  to  prepare  the  acid  bi-nitrate  of  the  deut- 
oxide  of  mercury  to  fill  an  order,  I  proceeded  according  to  the 
Dublin  recipe  in  the  U.  S.  Dispensatory,  as  follows  :  "  Take 
pure  mercury,  two  ounces,  (avoird.)  nitric  acid,  one  fluidounce  and 
a  half,  (imperial  measure,)  distilled  water,  one  ounce  and  a  half; 
in  the  acid  first  diluted  with  water,  dissolve  the  mercury  with 
the  application  of  heat,  and  evaporate  the  solution  to  the  bulk  of 
two  fluidounces  and  a  half." 
Proceeding  as  above  directed  I  failed  to  make  the  solution, 
finding,  at  the  close,  not  only  a  heavy  crop  of  crystals,  the 
basic  nitrate  and  subnitrate,  but  also  a  considerable  portion  of 
undissolved  mercury.  I  then  proceeded  to  investigate  the  causes 
of  failure,  by  forming  a  recipe  from  the  chemical  formula  of  the 
elementary  constituents  of  the  preparation.  Now  to  form  an 
acid  bi-nitrate  of  the  deutoxide,  three  equivalents  of  mercury 
will  require  eight  equivalents  of  dry  acid  to  form  the  neutral 
salt,  and  one  or  two  additional  equivalents  for  the  acid  solution  ; 
two  additional  equivalents  being  necessarily  broken  up  to  furnish 
