Vinegar of Litharge.
Take of litharge, half a pound; strong vinegar, two pints. Infuse them together in a moderate heat for three days, frequently shaking the vessel; then filter the liquor for use.
This medicine is little used, from a general notion of its being dangerous. There is reason, however, to believe that the preparations of lead with vinegar are possessed of some valuable properties, and that they may be used in many cases with safety and success.
A preparation of a similar nature with the above has of late been extolled by Goulard, a French surgeon, as a safe and extensively useful medicine, which he calls the Extract of Saturn, and orders to be made in the following manner:
Take of litharge, one pound; vinegar made of French wine, two pints. Put them together into a glazed earthen pipkin, and let them boil, or rather simmer, for an hour, or an hour and a quarter, taking care to stir them all the while with a wooden spatula. After the whole has stood to settle, pour off the liquor which is upon the top into bottles for use.
With this extract Goulard makes his vegeto-mineral water, which he recommends in a great variety of external disorders, as inflammations, burns, bruises, sprains, ulcers, &c. See Collyrium of Lead.
He likewise prepares with it a number of other forms of medicine, as poultices, plasters, ointments, powders, &c.
William Buchan
Domestic Medicine 2nd edition 1785