_Lime Water._
It is a saturated solution of lime in water; f℥j of which contains 3/4
of a grain.[553] INCOMPATIBLE SUBSTANCES. _All alkaline and metallic
salts_; _borates_; _tartrates_; _citrates_; _acids_; sulphur;
_spirituous preparations_, and _the infusions of all astringent
vegetables_. It should be kept in close vessels, for if exposed to the
air, the lime will attract carbonic acid, and become an insoluble
carbonate; the addition of an _alkaline carbonate_ produces the same
effect instantaneously.[554] If animal charcoal be boiled with
lime-water, it will precipitate the whole of the lime, an effect which
is not produced by charcoal of vegetable origin. MED. USES. It is an
antacid, and is therefore useful in dyspepsia attended with acidity;
_Form. 149_. Mixed with an equal quantity of milk, it furnishes an
excellent remedy in infantile complaints connected with bowel
affections; it is likewise astringent in leucorrhæa, in the last stages
of dysentery, and in protracted diarrhœa. It dissolves also the slimy
mucus with which disordered bowels are so generally infested; on account
of this latter property, it has been exhibited in calculous
affections,[555] with the view of dissolving the cementing ingredient of
the concretion, and thereby of destroying its cohesion: see page 123.
Not being very nauseous, it is easily given under any circumstances, and
it is not liable to produce that irritability of stomach which
frequently attends the long continued use of the fixed alkalies. It also
frequently forms the basis of astringent gargles. Lime water moreover
affords a successful remedy in certain cutaneous affections,
particularly those affecting the face, as _Gutta Rosea_. Sir G. Blane
has also seen some remarkable cures of herpetic complaints of the legs
by large doses; he has also employed it with effect as a lotion. FORMS
OF EXHIBITION. Milk disguises its flavour, without impairing its
virtues. DOSE, f℥j to f℥vj. Sugar has the curious property of rendering
lime more soluble in water. See _Saccharum_.