Nitro-muriatic Acid

Authority. 5, H. Scott, M.D., Amer. Med. Recorder, vol. i, 1818, p. 84; the acid used was formed by mixing three parts of the Nitrous acid with one of Muriatic acid.

Bombay, April 27th, 1798. I bathed in a bath which was merely acidulous. It covered the whole body below the head. I staid iu half an hour, and it was nearly of the temperature of the body.

April 28th. Bathed again, keeping the bath at the same temperature or making it rather higher, and of the same strength in regard to acid. I staid in it half an hour. I still feel no material effects from the bath. Pulse after bathing 76. The only apparent action of the acid is on such animal matters as are unprotected by life, with which it forms an acid soap.

29th. Bathed again, and continued as before, for half an hour in the bath. To-day the bath was hardly as hot as the body. About half an hour after bathing yesterday, I became sensible of an odd sensation about luy gums, my jaws, and my teeth.

30th. Bathed again, and staid half an hour in the bath. It was rather warmer than my body. Since yesterday I have been sensible of sotiie uneasiness in my throat on swallowing. I feel a disposition to salivation at times, but I am otherwise well. My gums, both above and below, are somewhat reddened. I was for some time disposed to ascribe these effects to imagination, but they have continued all this day, and leave me no doubt of their reality. I am in good health.

May 1st. Since yesterday I have felt some pain in my throat, especially on swallowing. This pain seems to follow the course of the oesophagus. During the whole of this forenoon, I had a sense of burning over the roof of my mouth and down the gullet. This sensation is like what arises from having chewed an acrid vegetable substance; and is so unpleasant, that unless it leaves me by to-morrow, I shall bathe no more. To-day I bathed as usual, staying in the bath for half an hour. It has been to-day, and is, in general, so acid as to make my skin smart a good deal iu many places.

2d. My mouth, etc., though not in the least ulcerated, is somewhat painful. I am sufficiently convinced of the great power of this bath, and shall bathe no more. My digestion is improved, and I feel that my liver, unclogged by disease, is doing its office with facility, which for some time past has not been the case with me. ^ i •

6th. I have not bathed again, but I still feel the effects of the bath m my mouth. My appetite is now good, and I sleep with tranquillity, which I had not done of late. With all this, my pulse is quicker than usual, and I am sensible of some degree of languor. It is, however, to be observed, that the weather is very hot, the thermometer being, during the dav, in the shade, from 92° to 96° of Fahrenheit.

june 6th. For a fortnight after giving up the bath I was sensible of some of its effects upon my mouth, and my pulse remained too quick. I am now remarkably well. My liver seems to he sound, and I have experienced a happier change than I ever did from Mercury. Mere sponging the skin with Nitro-muriatic acid, sufficiently diluted with water, gives rise to the very same effects with bathing. Fifteen or twenty minutes may be employed in the sponging, though I found that a much less time does produce very material effects. When the bathing or sponging is carried to a considerable extent, and when the system is much under its influence, a sense of weakness comes on occasionally; some nervous irritation and restlessness are felt, a taste of metal (generally compared to that of copper) becomes sensible; a sense of pain occurs in some parts of the palate or . mouth, which is not permanent, but comes and soon goes off again. At length’ little specks or small ulcerations, extending no deeper than the cuticle are seen on the interior surface of the mouth and over the tongue, so that some degree of excoriation or rawness is at last produced. This is attended by a considerable discharge of saliva, with an increase of the feeling of lowness or depression. These effects resemble those of mercury, but they are not the same. The excoriation from the Nitro-muriatic acid never reaches deeper than the cuticle; it never gives rise to fetid ulcerations of any kind, nor does it produce the least offensive smell of the breath nor in the mouth. The effects of it in this way are surprisingly fugitive. At one hour the discharge of saliva maybe excessive; the next it will stop, and perhaps suddenly come on again. The excoriations in the mouth generally go away in a day or two if the remedy be discontinued, and appear no more. While the mouth in this way is affected by the acid, the teeth partake of uneasiness ; but I never saw this in a considerable degree, nor have I known any injury done to the teeth or their sockets. These last-mentioned effects are seldom met with to the extent that I have described, and need not be excited unless i^ome peculiar circumstances require an unusual power, such as the symptoms of syphilis. I have lately added more and more of the Muriatic acid in proportion to the Nitric, and the effects have proportionately increased. I now make use of equal parts of the acids. It sometimes very suddenly increases the secretion of bile, and this effect may be kept up for a length of time. It increases the perspiration, and often to a great extent. Whether the acid be ap|)lied to the inner surface of the stomach, or to the external surface of the body, the effect is the same in kind, though not in degree,^