part ni. Metallic Preparations. — Antimony. 503

ternative in many cutaneous diseases; and when ^iij of it aretriturated with gj of lard into an ointment, and applied to theskin, it occasions a local pustular eruption, and hence hasproved very serviceable in mania, white swellings, and deep-seated inflammations as a counter irritant.

When taken in large doses tartar-emetic acts as a corrosivepoison, producing violent vomiting, hiccup, a sensation ofburning in the stomach, colic, hypercatharsis, syncope, dif-ficult respiration, convulsions, and death. The treatment,when assistance is demanded in time, consists in carrying thepoison out of the stomach by bland, oily liquids freely taken;after which decoction of yellow bark should be freely adminis-tered, with opium and local bleedings.

Officinal preparations. Liquor Antimonii tartarizati. L, VinumTartritis slntimonii. E.

LI'QUOR ANTIMONII TARTARIZA'TI. Lond. So-lution of Tartarized Antimony.'

" Take of tartarized antimony, « scruple ; boiling distilledwater, four fluid ounces; wine, six fluid ounces. Dissolve thetartarized antimony in the boiling distilled water; then addthe wine."

Vinum Tartratis Antimonii. Edin. Wine of Tartrateof Antimony.

" Take of tartrate of antimony, twenty-four grains ; Spanishwhite wine, one pound. Mix, so that the tartrate of antimonymay be dissolved."

These solutions, when newly made are equal in point "ofstrength, fgj of each containing grs. ij. of tartarized anti-mony ; but the London preparation soon becomes consider-ably weaker, the large proportion of water employed facilitat-ing the spontaneous decomposition of the salt, which falls tothe bottom of the vessel in which the solution is preserved, inthe form of a grayish powder. The same circumstance oc-curs in a smaller degree in the Edinburgh preparation; andtherefore the intention of these processes (the obtaining a so-lution of a determinate strength to afford a ready mode ofadministering tartarized antimony in very minutely divideddoses) is thus in some respects frustrated. The precipitateappears to be an oxide of antimony, with a portion of super-tartrate of potash ; arising, perhaps from the potash attract-ing tartaric acid from the wine, and thus breaking the affinitywhich retains it as a component of the antimonial salt.

Medical properties and uses. — These solutions are diapho-retic or emetic, according to the extent of the dose. In dosesofi7\xtof5j in any proper vehicle, repeated every three or

1 Vinum Antimonii tattarizati. P. L. 1787.K K. 4>