Mercurial Pill.
Take of purified quicksilver and honey, each half an ounce. Rub them together in a mortar, till the globules of mercury are perfectly extinguished; then add, of Castile soap, two drachms, powdered liquorice, or crumb of bread, a sufficient quantity to give the mass a proper consistence for pills.
When stronger mercurial pills are wanted, the quantity of quicksilver may be doubled.
The dose of these pills is different, according to the intention with which they are given. As an alterant, two or three maybe taken daily. To raise a salivation, four or five will be necessary.
Equal parts of the above pill and powdered rhubarb made into a mass, with a sufficient quantity of simple syrup, will make a Mercurial purging Pill.
Mercurial sublimate Pill.
Dissolve fifteen grains of the corrosive sublimate of mercury in two drachms of the saturated solution of crude sal ammoniac, and make it into a paste, in a glass mortar, with a sufficient quantity of the crumb of bread. This mass must be formed into one hundred and twenty pills.
This pill, which is the most agreeable form of exhibiting the sublimate, has been found efficacious, not only in curing the venereal disease, but also in killing and expelling worms, after other powerful medicines had failed[[209]].
For the venereal disease, four of these pills may be taken twice a-day, as an alterant three, and for worms two.