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CALOMEL

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 60 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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CALOMEL , a See also:

DRUG
DRUG (from Fr. drogue, a word common in Romance languages, cf. Span. and Ital. droga; the origin of the word is obscure, but may possibly be connected with Dutch droog, dry)

drug consisting of mercurous chloride, See also:

mercury subchloride, Hg2C12, which occurs in nature as the See also:

MINERAL

mineral See also:

horn-quicksilver, found as translucent crystals belonging to the tetragonal See also:

SYSTEM

system, with an adamantine lustre, and a dirty See also:

white See also:

grey or brownish See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour. The See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief localities are See also:

IDRIA

Idria, Obermoschel, See also:

HOROWITZ, ISAIAH (c. 1555-c. 1630)

Horowitz ins See also:

BAVARIA (Ger. Bayern)

Bavaria and See also:

ALMADEN, or ALMADEN DEL AZOGUE

Almaden in See also:

Spain. It was used in See also:

MEDICINE

medicine as See also:

early as the 16th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century under the names See also:

Draco mitigatus, See also:

MANNA

Manna metallorum, See also:

Aquila See also:

ALBA

alba, Mercurius dulcis; later it became known as calomel, a name probably derived from the See also:

Greek KaXos, beautiful, and µhXas, See also:

black, in allusion to its blackening by See also:

AMMONIA (NH3)

ammonia, or from KaXos and OM, See also:

HONEY (Chin. me ; Sansk. madhu, mead, honey; cf. A.S. medo, medu, mead; Gr. p Xt, in which 0 or b is changed into X; Lat. mel ; Fr. miel ; A.S. hung ; Ger. Honig)

honey, from its sweet See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste. It may be obtained by See also:

HEATING

heating mercury in See also:

CHLORINE (symbol Cl, atomic weight 35`46 (0=16)

chlorine, or by reducing mercuric chloride (corrosive sublimate) with mercury or sulphurous See also:

ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid. It is manufactured by heating a mixture of mercurous sulphate and See also:

COMMON

common See also:

salt in See also:

IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron retorts, and condensing the sublimed calomel in See also:

BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick See also:

chambers. In the wet way it is obtained by precipitating a mercurous salt with hydrochloric acid. Calomel is a white See also:

POWDER (through O. Fr. puldre, modern poudre, from Lat. pulvis, pulveris, dust)

powder which sublimes at a See also:

low red See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat; it is insoluble in See also:

WATER

water, See also:

ALCOHOL

alcohol and See also:

ETHER, (C2H5)2O

ether. Boiling with stannous chloride See also:

SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution reduces it to the See also:

metal; digestion with See also:

POTASSIUM [symbol K (from kalium), atomic weight 39.114 0=16)]

potassium iodide gives mercurous iodide. Nitric acid oxidizes it to mercuric nitrate, while potash or soda decomposes it into mercury and See also:

OXYGEN (symbol 0, atomic weight 16)

oxygen. See also:

Long continued boiling with water gives mercury and mercuric chloride; dilute hydrochloric acid or solutions of alkaline chlorides convert it into mercuric chloride on long boiling. The molecular See also:

WEIGHT

weight of mercurous chloride has given occasion for much discussion. E.

See also:

MITSCHERLICH, EILHARDT (1794–1863)

Mitscherlich determined the vapour See also:

DENSITY (Lat. densus, thick)

density to be 8.3 (See also:

air = 1), corresponding to HgCI. The supporters of the See also:

formula Hg2C12 pointed out that See also:

DISSOCIATION

dissociation into mercury and mercuric chloride would give this value, since mercury is a monatomic See also:

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element. After contradictory See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence as to whether dissociation did or did not occur, it was finally shown by See also:

Victor See also:

Meyer and W. See also:

Harris (1894) that a See also:

rod moistened with potash and inserted in the vapour was coloured yellow, and so conclusively proved dissociation. A. See also:

Werner determined the molecular weights of mercurous, cuprous and See also:

SILVER

silver bromides, iodides and chlorides in See also:

PYRIDINE

pyridine solution, and obtained results pointing to the formula HgCl, etc. However, the See also:

double formula, Hg2C12, has been completely established by H. B. See also:

Baker (Journ. Chem. See also:

SOC

Soc., 'goo, 77, p. 646) by vapour density determinations of the absolutely dry substance.

Calomel possesses certain See also:

SPECIAL

special properties and uses in medicine which are dealt with here as a supplement to the See also:

general discussion of the See also:

PHARMACOLOGY

pharmacology and See also:

THERAPEUTICS (Gr. BepaaeuTLKIi, Sc. TEXVrt, from Beparebsty, to serve)

therapeutics of mercury (q.v.). Calomel exerts remote actions in the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of mercuric chloride. The specific value of mercurous chloride is that it exerts the valuable properties of mercuric chloride in the safest and least irritant manner, as the active salt is continuously and freshly generated in small quantities. Its pharmacopeial preparations are the " Black See also:

WASH, THE

wash," in which calomel and See also:

lime react to form mercurous See also:

OXIDE

oxide, a pill still known as " Plummer's pill " and an ointment. Externally the salt has not any particular See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage over other See also:

MERCURIAL

mercurial compounds, despite the existence of the See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official ointment. Internally the salt is given in doses—for an adult of from one-See also:

HALF

half to five grains. It is an admirable aperient, acting especially on the upper See also:

PART

part of the intestinal See also:

canal, and causing a slight increase of intestinal secretion. The stimulant See also:

ACTION

action occurring high up in the canal (duodenum and jejunum), it is well to follow a dose of calomel with a saline purgative a few See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours afterwards. The special value of the drug as an aperient depends on its antiseptic See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power and its stimulation of the See also:

LIVER (O. Eng. lifer; cf. cognate forms, Dutch lever, Ger. Leber, Swed. lefver, &c.; the O. H. Ger. forms are libara, lipora, &c.; the Teut. word has been connected with Gr. i'prap and Lat. jecur)

liver. The stools are dark See also:

green, containing calomel, mercuric sulphide and bile which, owing to the antiseptic action, has not been decomposed. The salt is often used in the treatment of syphilis, but is probably less useful than certain other mercurial compounds. It is also employed for See also:

FUMIGATION (from Lat. fumigare, to smoke)

fumigation; the patient sits naked with a blanket over him, on a J of See also:

CHARCOAL

charcoal or blackened See also:

PLATINUM [symbol Pt, atomic weight 145.0 (0=16)]

platinum See also:

FOIL

foil were immediately raised See also:

CANE

cane-bottomed See also:

CHAIR (in. Mid. Eng. chcere, through O. Fr. chaire or chaiere, from Lat. cathedra, later caledra, Gr. xaOi3pa, seat, cf. "cathedral"; the modern Fr. form chaise, a chair, has been adopted in English with a particular meaning as a form of carriage; chaire

chair, under which twenty grains of calomel are volatilized by a spirit-See also:

LAMP (from Gr. Xag ras, a torch, Xaµaav, to shine)

lamp; in about twenty minutes the calomel is effectually absorbed by the skin.

End of Article: CALOMEL

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