Lime, Calcium oxide
Lime: Burnt Lime: Quicklime: Unslaked Lime: Calx: Calx Viva: Abesum (Calcium oxide, CaO)–Chuna (Ayurveda)
Slaked Lime: Calcium Hydrate (Calcium Hydroxide, Ca(OH)2)
Lime Water: Liquor Calcis, Aqua Benedicta, Blessed Water, Calcium Hydroxide Solution
Hortus sanitatis, 1491Minerological name:
Lime is Calcium oxide (CaO)
When ‘Slaked’ (added to water), it becomes Calcium Hydroxide
Parts used:
Mineral
Temperature & Taste:
Lime is Warm, very dry. Pungent. Toxic
Slaked Lime is Cold, dry and Bitter.
Uses:
1. Clears Stomach Heat: (Lime Water)
-Gastritis
-acid Diarrhea, Vomiting, Vomiting of Pregnancy
-stops infants vomiting Milk
2. Clears Phlegm-Heat: (Lime Water)
-Asthma
-Scrofula, Lymphatic Swellings, Watery Swellings
3. Externally:
-Chronic Sores, Boils, Carbuncles, Erysipelas
-Burns, Scalds
-Lymphatic Swellings, Parotitis
-Swelling of the Testicles
-Toothache; Tooth decay
-Hair loss, and to promote Hair growth
Dose:
Lime Water: 3–4 oz.
Lime is generally used externally, or mixed into compounds for internal use.
Comment:
Lime is caustic and highly irritant. However, when mixed with Water it forms Calcium hydroxide which removes its irritant qualities.
Preparation:
1. Preparation of Lime
Prepared by calcining White Marble, Iceland Spar, Lime Stone, shells (or other forms of Calcium Carbonate). Heating Calcium Carbonate drives off carbon dioxide, leaving Lime (Calcium oxide).
2. Washing of Lime
Beat Quicklime, add to a pan with water, stir, and when it has settled to the bottom, change the water, and stir again. Repeat 7 or 8 times, the last time washing it with Rose water, then let it dry and keep for use.
Main Combinations:
Internal–Lime Water
1. Bleeding from the Lungs, infuse the following herbs in Lime Water for 2 days: Comfrey, Soloman’s Seal, Plantain, Licorice, Nettle root.
2. Catarrh, Decoction of Raisins, Lime Water (equal parts) (Pharmacopoeia Extemporanea)
3. Stones, take calcined Egg Shell with Lime Water
4. Consumption:
i. Lime Water with Milk (equal parts)
ii. Lime Water with Cod Liver oil
5. Rickets, Lime Water with Milk (equal parts)
6. Acute Gastritis, Lime, Sugar and Vinegar (TCM)
7. Leukorrhea, weathered Lime, Poria Fu Ling, and Rice paste are made into pills. (TCM)
Externally:
8. Abdominal masses, calcined Lime, Rhubarb and Rice vinegar applied topically. (TCM)
9. Swelling of the Testicles, aged Lime, Galls and Gardenia Zhi Zi, made into a paste with flour and vinegar. (TCM)
10. Chronic Sores, Lime, Ginger juice, Egg White applied as a paste. (TCM)
11. Eczema, Psoriasis, Dandruff, Leprosy, apply Lime Water mixed with Chaulmoogra oil. (Ayurveda)
12. Swollen Lymph Nodes, calcined Lime, Ginkgo nut and Honey as a paste. (TCM)
13. Topically for Cancer:
i. Aloes, Round Birthwort (2 drams each), Unslaked Lime, Burnt Dill (1 dram each). Powder, mix with Honey and apply. (Gabelhover)
ii. Cancerous Ulcers, Slaked Lime, White Amber, Pearl, Raponticum, Rhubarb, Bay berry, Self Heal, Peony root, Mistletoe (equal parts); powder, apply topically. ‘Excellent’. (Gabelhover)
iii. Quicklime washed 9 times, Pepper, Orpiment, Vinegar, Honey, Barley meal. Form a dough, cook until burnt, then powder and apply topically. (Galens Powder for Cancer)
14. Parotitis, Lime mixed with Vinegar as a paste and applied
15. Hair loss, and to promote hair growth, Lime in Wine as a wash. (TCM)
16. Tooth decay:
i. powdered Lime and Sugar are applied to tooth decay. (TCM)
ii. Lime, Long Pepper, Pomegranate rind, Galls, Henbane seed, Clove, Burnt Alum, Opium, topically. (Mynsicht)
17. Thrush of the Mouth, boil Catechu in Lime Water; strain, and add Honey of Roses.
18. Deep-rooted Boils, apply powdered Lime and Pinellia Ban Xia (TCM)
19. Erysipelas, Lime mixed with Vinegar and applied (TCM)
20. Pruitus, Sulphur powder (6 oz.), Lime Water (1 gallon). Boil half an hour. Wash the affected parts twice daily. (West)
21. Psoriasis, Quicklime, Sulphur (equal parts), Olive oil (sufficient to mix). Apply topically.
22. To remove a Mole, apply a paste of Lime, sticky Rice and Water (TCM)
23. Burns:
i. Lime Water, Linseed or Olive oil (equal parts), mix to form an Emulsion and apply. (This was called Carron Oil)
ii. mix Lime powder and Oil and apply topically. (TCM)
24. Ulcers:
i. Atonic Ulcers, Lime Water (12 oz.), Yellow Wax (2 drams), digest in a moderate heat until melted, then strain.
ii. Fistulous Ulcers, Copaiba (half oz.), Egg Yolk (qs) mix and add Lime Water (6 0z.), Honey of Roses (3 oz.). Mix and apply.
iii. Syphilitic Ulcers, Lime water with Calomel, applied topically
25. To repress Granulation in unhealthy Wounds and Ulcers, Tincture of Myrrh, Lime Water (equal parts)
26. Discharges from the Ear, syringe the ear with Lime Water
27. Sciatica and Rheumatism, Apply Honey to a plaster, sprinkle with Quicklime and apply topically.
Major Formulas:
Decoction Liberans
Galens Powder for Cancer
Cautions:
1. Lime is highly caustic and irritant. However, Lime Water is far safer for internal use.
2. Lime Water is a weak antacid. It is not suitable for those with Cold and Weakness of the Stomach and Digestion.
Main Preparations used:
Slaked Lime, Lime Water (Blessed Water), Compound Lime Water
BLESSED WATER.
(Aqua Benedicta, Lime Water)
i. Unslaked Lime 1 lb.
Boiling Water 8 lbs.
Add together; after it has settled, filter, and keep for use. (Salmon said it is much better to add some Cloves, Cayenne or some other Spice.)
ii. Lime half pound
Boiling distilled Water 12 pints
Pour the water on the Lime, stir, then cover and let stand for 3 hours.
Used for ‘Kings Evil, Asthma, Phthisic or Consumption of the Lungs, Empyema, malign dysenteries, watery and scrophulous tumours, flux of the whites, running Gout, Morphew, Freckles, Herpes, Tetters, Gangrene, Oedema, Swellings of the Knees and Shins, common ulcers … and in the cure of the Diabetes, it is a most excellent Remedy’. (Pharmacopoea Bateana, Salmon)
Salmon said it Sweetens the Blood and Humours, and absorbs the acid juices in them.
Modern uses of Lime Water:
1. Antacid in dyspepsia and acid diarrhea;
2. Infantile vomiting; Obstinate Vomiting in adults
3. Added to infants milk to make it easier to digest.
4. Sweetened with Sugar, it has been used for chronic vomiting and the vomiting of Pregnancy.
5. It is also a valuable antidote for poisoning from mineral acids, alkaloids, oxalates, and for Arsenic
6. A Spray of Lime Water is used for Croup and Diptheria;
7. it also makes a good injection for Leukorrhea.
8. It has also been given as an internal remedy for warts: ‘Half a pint of Lime Water internally per day successful in causing hundreds of Warts (verruca plana) to disappear’ (British Medical Journal, 1910);
9. Also for Thread Worms.
10. Chilblains, warm Lime Water to body temperature and apply on cloths.
It was also used (as a folk remedy) in sick rooms to cleanse the air, and help prevent the infection being spread; for this purpose, a cloth was dipped into the water and hung in the room.
Dose: 3-4 oz., 2–3 times daily, best given in Milk. It can be used as common drink for a month.
BLESSED WATER COMPOUND.
(Aqua Benedicta Composita)
Fresh Licorice 1 oz.
Sassafras bark 0.5 oz.
Raisins of the Sun, stoned 6 oz.
Nutmegs 6 drams
Blessed Water 6 lbs.
Infuse for 2 days without heat, then strain and keep. This is better than simple Lime Water, and used for the same conditions; it is also an excellent Pectoral, opening obstructions of the Breast and Lungs.
Dose: 3 oz. (Pharmacopoea Bateana, Salmon)
SWEET or ALKALIOUS SALT. (Schroder)
Quicklime 1 lb.
Ashes of Wood 0.5 lb.
Tartar, Nitre 1 oz. ea.
Boil them in water, filter, and coagulate to dryness.
It opens, resolves, attenuates, destroying all acids, and the diseases proceeding from them which Salmon said are ‘almost infinite’, and can include phlegmatic diseases, Scurvy and Epilepsy.
Dose: 0.5-1 scruple. (Pharmacopoea Bateana, Salmon)
CARRON OIL
Lime Water
Linseed or Olive Oil equal parts
Mix to form an Emulsion and apply.
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