Some allusions have been made to the local application of muriatic acid in diseases of the throat and of the acid bath in hepatic affections. It will not be necesary to recapitulate on these points.

Nitric acid is one of the most efficient escharotics for the destruction of specific or unhealthy ulcers. It is the most frequently used caustic for the destruction of chancroid, sloughing or phagedenic chancre. A glass rod or bit of pine is dipped into the acid and applied, care being taken to penetrate to all the sinuosities of the sore. The surrounding healthy tissue may be protected from injury by the previous application of oil, and, when the acid has sufficiently penetrated, its further action may be arrested by some alkaline wash, A water-dressing, or spirit and water, or dilute tincture of benzoin, or some similar application, may be afterward applied to the sore. Ordinary indurated chancre does not require escharotic applications. Hospital gangrene, or a gangrenous condition of wounds, injuries, or ulcers, is similarly treated with advantage, and probably no form of caustic is more desirable than nitric acid for these purposes. Ordinary torpid and ill-conditioned ulcers are improved and put in the way of healing by frequent washing with a weak lotion of nitric acid (oz j— Oj). The same solution will remove mucous patches and condylomata, and will often check the bleeding from haemorrhoids.

Nitric acid is one of the means employed for the removal of haemorrhoids. It is not effective, however, against all forms. Large haemorrhoids are much better treated by the ligature, galvano-caustic loop, or carbolic-acid injections. The so-called "strawberry-pile," a small hemorrhoid of red color, which consists of a congeries of arte rial twigs and which bleeds freely, can be effectually destroyed by nitric acid. The pile should be exposed, usually through a speculum, and the strong nitric acid be applied on a pine stick freely, followed by an abundant application of olive-oil to prevent the extension of the escharotic action to the surrounding parts. Small, superficial naevi are treated successfully in the same way.

Sulphuric acid penetrates more deeply than nitric, and its escha-rotic action is not so easily limited; hence, it is not so frequently employed for the destruction of sloughing and ill-conditioned ulcers. It is sometimes used in the form of Ricord's paste to chancres, sloughing or phagedenic. The paste is made by the addition of sufficient charcoal to strong sulphuric acid to give it the proper consistence. This is spread on a piece of muslin of a size equal to the sore, and is allowed to remain on until an eschar is produced, when an ordinary poultice may be applied.

A favorite liniment of Sir Benjamin Brodie for counter-irritation of diseased joints is made by the addition of sulphuric acid to olive-oil ( 3 j of the acid, oz iv of olive-oil).

A general bath in, or sponging the body with, a solution of nitro-muriatic acid—one ounce to a gallon—is very serviceable in the case of cachectic children who present these symptoms: a dry and wrinkled skin, sallow complexion, capricious appetite with a taste for dirt-eating, and whitish, pasty motions. Applying to the surface of the body an acid solution, must affect the constitution of the blood, for an acid solution on one side of an animal membrane and an alkaline fluid on the other are the conditions most favorable to diffusion.

Lately, Dr. Lombe Atthill, of Dublin, has called attention to the "use of nitric acid in the treatment of uterine disease." He applies the fuming nitric acid to the interior of the uterine cavity after previous dilatation with sponge or laminaria tents. In order to protect the cervix and cervical canal he introduces an intra-uterine speculum with expansive blades. The cavity is first mopped out and dried with cotton; then a probe, wrapped with cotton, is dipped in fuming nitric acid and applied thoroughly to the mucous membrane. This practice is very effective in the treatment of intra-mural fibroids and fungous granulations, to restrain haemorrhage, and after the removal of polypi. He almost invariably employs nitric acid in the treatment of granular cervicitis and endo-cervicitis, "with the best results." When decided tenderness of the uterus exists, he advises that this be first removed by suitable measures.

Authorities referred to above:

Atthill, Dr. Lombe. Obstetrical Journal of Great Britain and Ireland, June, 1873. Bretonneau. Des Inflammations Spéciales du Tissu Muqueux, et en particulier de la Diphthérite, Paris, 1826, p. 242, et seq.

Fox, Db. Wilson. The Diseases of the Stomach, Macmillan & Co., 1872, p. 140.

Gubler, Dr. Adolph. Commentaires Thérapeutiques du Codex Medicamentarius, Paris, 1868, p. 464.

Mackenzie, Dr. Morell. Pharmacopoeia of the Throat Hospital, p. 35.

Martin, Sir Ranald. London Lancet, December 9, 1865.

Nothnagel, Dr. Hermann. Handbuch der Arzneimittellehre, Berlin, 1870, p. 378, et seq.

Ridge, Dr. J. James. The Medical Times and Gazette, vol. ii, 1871.

Ringer, Dr. Sidney. A Handbook of Therapeutics, third edition, p. 97, et seq.

Squire. Companion to the British Pharmacopoeia, 1871, p. 12.