Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/601

ANTIMONY 565 open air, it takes fire and burns with a bright bluish-white flame. The vapor is an oxide, which in condensing often forms beautiful crys- tals, formerly known as the argentine flowers of antimony. The metal also, after being melt- ed in close crucibles and cooled very slowly, crystallizes in octahedral forms. The name is said to be derived from anti-monachos, or anti- monks, some preparation of the metal having proved fatal to several of the brotherhood, not- withstanding it had been observed that the same mixture had a fattening effect upon hogs, after purging them. A more probable deriva- tion is from atimad, its Arabic name. The ancients gave the name stibium to some com- pound of the ore they were acquainted with, which was without doubt the common ore of commerce, the sulphuret. This name is adopted in chemical nomenclature to represent the metal. Its symbol is Sb. Antimony is sometimes found in a metallic state. It so occurs in the Hartz, in France, and in Swe- den. The only important natural production of it, however, is the sulphuret, a combination of 71-77 per .cent, of the metal and 28-23 of sulphur. This ore is of a lead-gray color, crys- tallized in laminae and needles, which are very brittle and fusible in the flame of a candle. Its specific gravity is from 4-13 to 4'6 ; hardness=2. It is easily ground to a black powder, and in this state forms a pigment, which appears to have been used in ancient times by ladies for coloring the eyebrows and edges of the eyelids. The ore is not of rare occurrence in metallifer- ous districts ; but the great supply of it is from the island of Borneo, through Singapore. There are mines of it in lower Hungary, France, and Great Britain. A large vein has been found in Tulare county, California, about 80 miles from Los Angeles, in a high granitic range that bor- ders the Tulare valley on the south. Its separa- tion from the sulphuret is now effected by first melting the ore in crucibles, perforated at the bottom, and placed in other vessels. As the ore melts, it flows through into the lower ves- sel, unaltered in composition, but freed from its earthy gangues. This is the crude antimony of commerce. On roasting it to expel the sulphur, different combinations of oxide of antimony and sulphur are formed as the glass of anti- mony, the liver of antimony, and crocus. The first-named consists of 8 parts of oxide and 1 of sulphuret. It is a transparent salt, of a reddish yellow color. Crocus contains 2 parts of sul- phuret to 8 of the oxide ; it is opaque and of yellow-red color. Liver of antimony is opaque and deep brown ; it consists of about 4 parts of sulphuret and 8 of oxide. Crude anti- mony is reduced to a metallic state by first carefully roasting it to obtain the oxide. This is then mixed with crude tartar, or with car- bonate of soda, and powdered charcoal, placed in melting pots, and heated in a wind furnace. An impure metal is thus obtained, called the regulus of antimony. This is again melted with a small proportion of oxide of antimony, by which it is freed from its impurities. Antimo- ny combines with oxygen in three proportions, the first forming the peroxide, Sb a O ; the third quinquioxide, or antimonic acid ; and the sec- ond antimoniate of antimony, or quadroxide, a compound of the other two. The most impor- tant alloys of antimony are : type metal, con- sisting of 4 parts lead and 1 of antimony, which when used for stereotyping has added to it -fe to -fa of tin; Britannia metal, 100 parts tin, 8 antimony, 2 bismuth, 2 copper; and various white alloys used for teapots, spoons, and forks. Pewter may be made of 12 parts tin, 1 part an- timony, and a little copper. Several com- pounds of antimony are used in medicine. The pulvis antimonialis, corresponding to the nos- trum James's powder, is composed of 1 part teroxide of antimony and 2 parts precipitated phosphate of lime. Kermes mineral is a com- pound of teroxide and tersulphide in varying proportion, and the precipitated sulphide con- tains also a portion of teroxide. The most important preparation is the tartrate of anti- mony and potassa, or tartar emetic. This drug causes vomiting by a specific effect upon the nervous centres. It has a peculiar de- pressing effect upon the heart and muscular system, both when it produces vomiting and when tolerance, as it is called, has been estab- lished. In poisonous doses it produces burn- ing in the mouth, throat, and stomach, hic- cough, copious secretion of mucus and saliva, colic and diarrhoea, muscular weakness, some- times convulsions and cramp, and a pulse at first weak and slow, then weak and rapid. In chron- ic poisoning the symptoms are similar, but less marked. Frequently repeated, with intervals of comparative ease, they lead to emaciation, loss of strength, and finally fatal depression. The post-mortem appearances are not very characteristic, and for medico-legal purposes the presence of the drug must be demonstrated. There are various processes for extracting antimony from suspected matter, which consist essentially in oxidizing and dissolving it in acids. Its presence may be demonstrated by the formation of characteristic precipitates, or by its deposit in a metallic form by Marsh's or Eeinsch's test. The metallic spot formed by antimony in Marsh's test is less volatile than that of arsenic, and is insoluble in hot nitric acid or hypochlorite of soda, both of which dis- solve arsenic. Tartar emetic is much less used in medicine than formerly, but still finds some favor as a diaphoretic and expectorant, and as a cardiac sedative in inflammatory diseases, es- pecially pneumonia. Statistics, however, do not speak in its favor as compared with less depressing agents. In most cases other sub- stances possess advantages over this drug as an emetic. Externally, in the form of ointment, it produces a pustular eruption. In poisoning by tartar emetic, vomiting should be encour- aged by tickling the fauces and drinking warm water, or the stomach pump may be used. Tannin, such as exists in galls or hi green tea,