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teen degrees; but the degree of concentration is a matter of very little confequence, fince all the difference that refults from making ufe of a weak ley or ftrong one, is, that a greater or a lefs quantity of wool will be diffolved.

"The pot-ath of commerce may alfo be made ufe of; it is to be employed in the fame manner as the wood-afhes, but with one third of its weight of quick-lime.

"With refpect to the choice of the wool, every one knows, that in the making of woollen cloths, blankets, and all other kinds of woollen goods, a series of operations are performed, from the first washing of the wool to the finishing of the cloth, &c. in each of which there occurs a lofs, more or less confiderable, of a portion of the original material. The water in which the wool is washed, the floor on which it is fpread, and the warehoufe in which it is depofited, exhibit fufficient proofs of this; fa alfo do the operations of beating, carding, fpinning, and weaving the wool, and thofe of fhearing, combing, and fulling the cloth. It is indeed true that the fcattered wool, produced from thefe various proceffes, is collected with fonte care; but many of them are of fuch a nature, that the wafte wool refulting from them, either is dirty, and mixed with ether fubftances, or it is cut fo fhort, that it is rendered incapable of being again ufed: in either cafe, the manufacturer throws it on the dunghill. The making of the foap here de fcribed furnishes him with the means of bringing all these into ufe; nothing more being requifite than to collect them in the baskets in which the wool is wafhed, and to wash them carefully; as well for the fake of cleaning them, as to fe parate from them all foreign fub

ftances. When washed, they may be laid by till wanted.

"We may alfo, with equal advantage, make ufe of the cuttings and fhreds of woollen cloth, which are found in the shops of woollendrapers, tailors, &c. and likewise of all forts of garments, or other woollen articles, after they have been worn, till they will ferve no longer.

"On the Preparation of the Soap.

"When the ley is made, and the wool procured, nothing remains to be done, but to bring the ley to a boiling-heat in a common caldron, When it is brought to that degree of heat, the wool is to be thrown in, a little at a time, and the mixture is to be stirred, that the foldtion may go on the fafter. A fre quantity of wool fhould not be arced, until the preceding quantity is diffolved; and the process fhould be ftopped, as foon as we find that the liquor will not diffolve any more wool.

"It has been ascertained, by trials in the large way, made by Michel Fabriguette, with foap of this kind, which he prepared ac cording to my inftructions, that fuch foap feours the cloths, felts them, and foftens them, perfectly well; but there are fome obferva tions to be made, refpecting its ufe, which are too important to be omit ted.

"First, when this foap is not prepared with fufficient care, or when it is made with dirty or co loured wool, it is apt to give the cloths, &c. a greyish tinge, which it is very difficult to remove. If the cloth is intended to be dyed, this tinge is of no confequence; but it would injure that fine white colour, which, in certain cafes, is intended to be given, or to be preferved.

This tinge, however, may be prevented, by a very careful felection of the materials for making the foap which is meant to be employed for fuch delicate purposes.

"Cloths, &c. fulled with this foap, acquire, as was faid before, an animal fmell, which, without being very ftrong, is nevertheless unpleasant; but, water and air never fail to remove it.

"Having fucceeded in fulling woollen cloths by the ufe of this foap, I attempted to use foda, in the place of pot-afh, and thus to form (according to the process above defcribed) a hard foap, fit for the operations of dying cottons; and my experiments fucceeded beyond my expectations.

"Forty-fix pounds of foda-ley (of eight degrees) diffolved, in a boiling-heat, five pounds of wool; and afforded, when cold, fixteen pounds fourteen ounces of foap, fufficiently hard to keep its form.

"The firft quantities of wool thrown into the foda-ley are eafily diffolved; but it may be obferved,, that the liquor gradually grows thicker, and that the diffolution becomes more difficult and flower.

"The ley, by the wool firft diffolved in it, acquires a green colour; it afterwards grows black; and the foap, when cold, ftill retains a blackish green colour.

"This foap has been made ufe of, in every different manner, and under every form, in my manufactory for dying cottons; and I am now fatisfied that it may be employed, instead of the faponaceous liquor we are accustomed to make from ley of foda and oil, for the purpose of preparing the cottons. I have conftantly obferved, that if fuch a quantity of this foap be diffolved in cold water as will render the water milky, and the cotton be worked

therein, in the ufual well-known manner, it will, by being passed three times through the liquor, and dried each time, be as ftrongly dif pofed to receive the dye, as cotton which has been feven times paffed through the faponaceous liquors commonly used. This will not be thought very aftonishing, when it is confidered that animal substances are very fit for difpofing thread and cotton to receive the colours with which they are to be dyed; and that the intention of feveral of the operations performed upon them, previous to their being dyed, is merely to impregnate them with fuch fubftances.

"It is neceffary to remark, that cotton, by being paffed through a folution of this foap, acquires a grey tinge, very much like that which is given to it by aluming; although the common faponaceous liquors give it a beautiful white colour. This grey colour, however, is no difadvantage to cotton which is intended to be dyed, as we have already remarked with respect to woollen cloths.

"In confirmation of what I have faid above, refpecting the advantage to be derived from making ufe of this foap, I may add, that after having impregnated fome cotton with it, according to the ufual method, I made it pals through all the proceffes which wool undergoes, in order to be dyed of a fearlet colour. The confequence was, that the cotton was thereby dyed of a deep and very agreeable flesh-colour; whereas, cotton which had not been prepared in that manner, came out of the bath almost of its natural colour. This firft trial promifes advantages which I mean to pursue.

"It may be right to obferve, that this foap of wool may advantageoufly be made ufe of, inficad of 14

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INTERESTING ACCOUNT of the EFFECTS produced on the HUMAN
BODY, by the INTERNAL USE of NITROUS ACID, and of the BENE-
FIT derived from it in the CURE of DISEASES, by Mr. SCOTT, of
BOMBAY.

[From Drs. DUNCANS' ANNALS of MEDICINE for the Year 1796.]

"Tricle of medical news has

HE following interefting ar

not probably fallen into the hands of many of our readers; and to all of them it will, we doubt not, appear fo fingular as to deferve particular attention. If the obfervations made by Mr. Scott fhall be confirm ed by the experience of others, the nitric acid will afford a most valuable remedy for combating diseases, againft which, the remedies commonly employed are often attended with fo much inconvenience.

LETTER TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS.

Bombay, 6th May, 1796. "I embrace an opportunity of fending you a fhort account, that I have juft published, of the effects of the nitrous acid on the human body. As I have long made use of this active agent, and in a great variety of cafes, I am perfuaded that I have not been deceiving myfelf. Another paper will fhortly be publifhed on this fubject, which I thall alfo take the liberty of fending you.

ternal uie, is procured from a mix

The acid that I now employ for in

ture, of three parts of alum, and one of nitre. I have no objection ta my name being ufed on this fubject; for I really believe, that fuch a remedy would be highly useful to mankind, if judiciouily employed, especially in warm climates, where a tendency to animalization gives a particular character to all our difeafes. I am, &c,

W. SCOTT. Account of the Effects of the Nitrous Acid on the Human Body, extral ed from the Bombay Courier, April 30, 1796.

The following attempt to extend a little the limits of the healing art, is infcribed as a tribute of respect to the character of Dr. James Anderfon, phyfician-general at Madras.

"In Auguft 1793, I employed myself for fome time in making experiments on the bile, a fecretion that is connected in a great degree

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with many of the diseases of this Country. I wished to unite fome of the calces of mercury with the refinous matter of that fluid; for I imagined that I might difcover fome chemical affinity between thofe fubftances, and be able to fee by what means this metal is fo fingularly qualified for removing obftructions of the liver.

"I had collected, for experiment, a quantity of the refinous bafe of the bile of a buffalo, which I had fepa rated very carefully from its foda, and from the lymphatic matter with which it is united. I had put a dram or more of this fubftance into a veffel, to which I added about half of the fame weight of the red calx of mercury, with ten or twelve ounces of water. On heating the whole together, I was furprifed to obferve, that the bafe of the bile became remarkably more foluble in the water. I cannot fay that I obferved the red colour of the calx in any great degree altered; but it is known to retain its brilliancy with different quantities of oxygene. I filtrated this bitter folution, which depofited the bafe of the bile, as the water, evaporated in the ordinary heat of the atmosphere. I fhall at another time confider this fubject with a little more attention.

"M. Fourcroy has obferved, that water difolves a fmall portion of the base of the bile. In this experiment, a confiderably larger quantity was taken up than water could have diffolved, which I attribute to the oxygenation of the refin by the pure air of the calx. I had fome reafon to think, that obftructions of the liver do often confift of a depofition of the refin of the bile, which, I now began to fuppofe, might be rendered foluble in the animal fluids, by the pure air of the mercurial preparations that are given for the difeafe. I have feen

livers, on the diffection of the dead, of a pearl colour, and much enlarg ed, which, I fufpect, were compofed' in a good measure of this refinous matter. I have even found it, from accurate trials, in a confiderable quantity, in the fubftance of a liver that was apparently without disease. Is the well-known effect of new grafs, in diffolving the biliary calcu li of the gall-bladder, that cattle get in the winter-time, to be accounted for from the pure air of green and afcefcent vegetables?

"It is acknowledged, that all the calces of mercury which are used in medicine, contain a quantity of pure air; but I know of no direct experiment having been hitherto made, to prove that the effect of mercury in difafes of the liver, or in other maladies, depends on this principle, and not on the metal itself. The experiments, that I had made on the bafe of the bile, inclined me to with to take myfelf a quantity of pure air, united to fome fubftance for which it has no great attraction. I reflected on the different ways that are employed by chemifts to oxygenate inanimate matter; for I believed, that the fame chemical attractions would produce a fimilar effect in the living body, although they might be difturbed in their o peration by the vitality of the machine, and the variety of the prin ciples of which it is compofed.

"The nitric acid, as may be fuppofed, was one of the firft fubftances that occurred to me as fit for my purpofe; for it is known to contain about four parts of vital air, united to one of azote, with a certain proportion of water. These principles can be feparated from each other by the intervention of many other bodies, as chemifts find every day in their operations. I was led, betides, to give a preference to the nitric acid, from obferving, that it dif

folves very completely the refinous bafe of the bile. I have fince found, that the celebrated M. Fourcroy had made the fame obfervation before me.

"Before I began to take the nitric acid, I confulted all the accounts of it, that I could procure, with a view of learning fomething of its effects on the human body. The refult of this inquiry was but little fatisfactory; for I only found that it had been given as a diuretic, in very infignificant quantities, or recommended in general terms, where the mineral acids are fuppofed to be useful. I did not think myself warranted to administer it to others from fuch imperfect information; but I refolved to take it myfelf; and I thought I was particularly qualified to determine its effects, as I had reafon, for a long time before, to complain of my liver.

"In September 1793, I began to take the nitric acid. I mixed about a dram of the strongest that I could procure, with a fufficient quantity of water; and I was happy to find, that I could finish that quantity in the courfe of a few hours, without any difagreeable effects from it. The following is the journal that I kept of myself at the time.

"11th September, 1ft day. Took at different times about a dram of ftrong nitric acid, diluted with water. Soon after drinking it, I feel a fenfe of warmth in my ftomach and cheft; but I find no difagreeable fenfation from it, nor any other material effect.

"2d. I have taken to-day a confiderable quantity of acid, diluted with water, as much as I could eafily drink during the forenoon.

"3d. I have continued the acid. I feel my gums affected from it, and they are fomewhat red, and enlarged between the teeth. I flept ill;

but could lie for a length of time on my left fide, which, from fome difeafe in my liver, had not been the cafe for many months before. I perceive a pain in the back of my head, refembling what I have commonly felt when taking mercury.

"4th. My gums are a little tender. I continue the acid as before. I ftill find a pain in my head, and about my jaws, like what aries from mercury. I perceive no symp toms of my liver-complaint.

"5th. I have taken the acid; and always feel an agreeable fenfe of heat after drinking it. I spit more than usual.

"6th. I continue the acid. I obferve my mouth forer to-day, and fpit more.

"7th. I think I am now fufficiently oxygenated. I feel my mouth fo troublefome, that I fhall take no more acid.

"From this time my mouth got gradually well, and I found my health confiderably improved.

"I now began to suppose, that I had discovered a remedy for that chronic difeafe of the liver, which is fo much more common here than the accute hepatitis. I thought that it night in fome refpect be preferable to mercury, as it did aot appear to produce the inconveniences that arife from the use of that metal. I have given it fince to a number of people, who had taken mercury for hepatic obftructions, without being effectually cured; and I have found it in many cafes produce the moft agreeable confequences. If it were proper on this occafion to be more particular in detailing the cafes in which I have administered this remedy, I believe I could make it very probable that I have not been deceiving myself. In the acute hepatitis, I have hardly employed it; for where the life of a perfon is in immediate danger, I have thought

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