SULPHUR.
255
Various effects have been ascribed to this acid, which require' to befurther investigated ere they are admitted. Thus Hecker ( Arzneimittel .Bd. 2. S. 305) says, it has a specific operation on the nervous system, invirtue of which it possesses the power of allaying pain and spasm.Lentin ( Beitrage zur ausub. Heilk. Bd. 2. S. 139) considers it to beendowed with a specific power of influencing secreting surfaces and thebones, whereby it is enabled to ameliorate various morbid conditions ofthese parts. Sundelin ( Heilmittell , Bd. 2, S. 234) regards it as a stimu-lant and tonic to the sexual organs. Various effects have been ascribedto it by Herder [Hufeland 's Journ. Bd. 9, St. 3, S. 148).
Uses. —Phosphoric acid has been employed in the same cases inwhich sulphuric and other mineral acids have been used, and under thesame regulations. It may be employed for a longer period, without dis-turbing the digestive functions, than the other agents of this class.
It has been used in certain cases rather on theoretical than practicalgrounds. Thus its power of dissolving phosphate of lime has led to itsemployment in those forms of lithiasis attended with phosphatic de-posits in the urine,—in ossification of the arteries and cardiac valves,—and in exostosis and other osseous tumours. Lentin used it as a localagent to check caries, from a' notion that this disease depends on a defi-ciency of phosphoric acid in the part affected. Would applied it topromote the formation of bone.
There are several other diseases against which this acid has beenadministered. Thus it has been given in blenorrhma and leucorrhoea, whenthe secreted fluid was thin and acrid (Sundelin),—in profuse suppura-tion, to diminish the quantity and improve the quality of the secretedmatter,—in hysterical affections of young and irritable subjects, Sundelinhas found it useful,—in impotency of the male (Berends),—in diabetes,and in jaundice.
Administration. —Internally the dilute phosphoric acid should begiven in doses of from ten minims to half a drachm, properly diluted.Mixed with eight or ten times its volume of water, it may be employedas a wash in caries.
Order 9.—Sulphur and its non-metallic Compounds.
Sulphur.—Sulphur or Brimstone .
History. —Sulphur has been known from the most remote periods ofantiquity. It is mentioned by Moses ( Genesis, xix. 24), Homer [Iliad ,lib. xvi.) and other ancient writers.
Natural History . —It is found in both kingdoms of nature.
[a.) In the inorganized kingdom.—Native or virgin sulphur occurs in twoforms: either imbedded in rocks ( common native sulphur), or produced bysublimation ( volcanic sulphur). In Sicily it is found in beds in a blueclay formation, which, in the opinion of Dr. Daubeny, is more recentthan chalk, but is of the same age with the gypsum beds in the neigh-bourhood of Paris . Solfatara (called by the ancients Forum Vulcani orthe Court of Vulcan), a kind of half-extinct volcano, in the vicinity of