Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/393

PHO buted to the recovery of person*; who had been reduced by intem- perance. So potent a medicine, however, ought to be employed only with the utmost caution, and under the immediate superintend- ance of a competent judge. Phosphoric Acid, is a pecu- liar acid, fixed in the fire, and corn- posed of phosphorus, in combina- tion with oxygen. It constitutes a materialpart of bone-ashes, from which it may be easily extraited by calcination, in the following manner : Take a lar?e giass-jar, and dilute one pound ot oil of vitriol with tivdve pounds, or pints, oi water 3 then add gradually, under constant agitation of the mixture, one pound and a half of finely pul- verized ashes of bones, calcined to whiteness. During this process, an etfervescence takes place, and a very pungent odour is disengaged. The vitriolic acid now forms gyp- sum, or sulphat of lime, by com- bining with the calcareous earth of the ashes ; and the phosphoric acid, thus separated, unites with the wa- tcr. — We have purposely inserted this experiment ; as we have rea- son to belir-ve that the phosphoric acid, when largely diluted (for in- stance, in the proportion of one or two drams of the acid to every gal- lon of water) will pnwe highly fer- tilizing to the vegetable mould em- yjloyed by gardeners. And, though we cannot sufficiently corrobora'.e such conje6iuve from our own ex- perience, yet there appears to be ample ground to rfcGnimend far- thei trials to be n'.ade with this ac- tive and powerful agent. "VVe have already remarked, that it exists throughout the vegetable kingdom, ?.nd is su; po-ed (by one of our most profound inquirers into the arcana of Nature) to have a ccusi- PHY [371 derable share in the process of ve- getation. It has also been discovered in the mineral kingdom 3 for in- stance, in the apatite, or phosphat of lime ; and in the green lead-spar found at Zschopau, in Saxony. — This acid produce-; similar erFects in the animal economy with the so- lid phosphorus ; and, when used as an ingredient in lemonade, M. Le- Koi informs us, that it has proved of eminent service in the disorders above mentioned. Phrexzy. See InJoGmfr.r.'ion of the Brain. Phthisis. See Pulmoxart ConsHiiiption. Physic. See rvlEr)icr>fE. PHYSICIAN, an appellation given, in general, to tho>-,e persons only, who exercise the medical profession, under the san6lion of a diploma granted by an universit)'^ after a regular course of study. In a strift sense, every surgeon, or apothefaiy, v.'ho has received a li- beral education, and praftises the healing art on sci. ntific principles, is fully entitled to the same distinc- tion ; though he have not obtained the degree which constitutes a doSior nf medicine. — Consistently with this explanation, we shall ven- ture to illustrate the official capa- city of a physician, with a few oc- casional remarks. When we consider the almost boundless acquisitions to be made in the different branches of natural knowledge, as well as in the prac- tical acquaintance with that com- plicated machine, in which the hu- man mind acts the must conspicu- ous part ; when we reflect en the various requisites to form tl;c cha- racter of a true physician, and the great trust reposed in him by all ranks of societ}' — it will not -^jjpear surprizing to the cool observer, B b 2 ' thaCj