Potassium bromide

“ The difference of conductivity between an iodide and a bromide, for example, is the same whether potassium, sodium, or ammonium salts are compared. A similar experiment has been made with a series of cations combined with various anions. The difference of conductivity of the salts in the series is the same whichever anion is used, i.e. the difference of conductivity between potassium chloride and sodium chloride is the same as that between {31}potassium bromide and sodium bromide. Hence we may conclude that the conductivity of any salt is an ionic property. ”

“ Action of Potassium and Sodium Bromide.—They are distinguished depressants of the cerebral and spinal functions, also hypnotic, anaphrodisiac, antispasmodic and alterative. The bromide of potash, like all other potassium salts, is especially a cardiac and muscular paralyzant. They are very diffusible and slowly eliminated; long continued doses produce gastric catarrh. [135] They reduce the number of respirations and the heart’s action and force; lessen activity of brain cells, producing sleep; diminish sensibility of peripheral nerves, causing anesthesia of the skin and mucous membrane. ”

“ We prepare, then, a solution of potassium bromide in water containing in every 12 ounces of solution 1 ounce of the salt. On testing it with litmus paper, the solution may be either slightly alkaline or neutral; in either case, it should be faintly acidified with hydrochloric acid.
The last material we require is the gelatine, one of the most important, and at the same time the most difficult substance to obtain of good quality. ”

“ It might be thought that heat is the cause, but the same changes take place more slowly in the cold, so we can only say that heat accelerates the action, and hence must conclude that the prime cause is one of the materials in the emulsion itself.
Now, besides the silver bromide, we have in the emulsion water, gelatine, potassium nitrate, and a small excess of potassium bromide ”

“ A salt which is obtained from hydrobromic acid, bromide of iron, &c., by similar processes to those adopted for the iodide. The following process for the preparation of bromide of ammonium is from the formula for the new medicaments adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society: “Add bromine very slowly to a solution of ammonia, with continual stirring, until the liquid remains faintly and persistently coloured by a slight excess of bromine.” It forms white prismatic crystals; and, in its general properties, resembles bromide of potassium. It is volatile, and easily decomposed. ”

“ Toward the end of the reaction, a crust of potassium bromide may tend to cover the melted potassium hydroxide. One can break the crust by shaking the distilling flask gently, or by using a glass rod inserted through a second hole in the stopper holding the dropping funnel.
It is convenient to have such a rod or stirrer passing through a mercury seal in the stopper of the flask. An occasional turn of this stirrer breaks the crust and facilitates the operation. Mechanical stirring should not be employed, as it reduces the yield tremendously. ”

“ At 32° F. it is brittle, like glass; at 59° it is soft and malleable; at 144° it becomes liquid. Potassium is widely diffused in the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms. Some of the more important potassium compounds are caustic potash (the hydroxide) , the carbonate, the bicarbonate; also potassium chloride, bromide, iodide, nitrate (saltpeter) , sulphate, chlorate, cyanide etc. Of these iodide, bromide and chlorate are used for medicines, the others being employed more or less in the arts. ”

“ HYDRO′BENZANIDE. White crystalline mass, obtained from oil of bitter almonds by treatment with ammonia.
HYDROBRO′MIC ACID. See Bromide.
Hydrobromic Acid. (HBr.) Syn. Hydric Bromide, Hydrogen Bromide.
Prep. This very powerfully acid gaseous body may be prepared as follows:—1. By decomposing bromide of potassium with a concentrated solution of phosphoric acid. 2. By decomposing bromide of phosphorus by means of a small quantity of water.
Hydrobromic acid gas is colourless and non-inflammable; it extinguishes flame. It is extremely irritating to the lungs when breathed. ”

“ Dissolve separately thirty grains of bromide of potassium, and 42 grains of nitrate of silver, in separate half-ounces of distilled water; mix, stir well, and wash the precipitate; pour upon it, in a glass measure, distilled water up to one ounce; then, upon the addition of 245 grains of iodide of potassium, a clear solution will be obtained; should it not, a few more grains of the iodide of potassium will effect it. It may be well to add that I believe neither of the solutions is injured by keeping, especially if preserved in the dark. ”

“ Plates should always be kept in a dry room. The dark room is seldom a safe place for storage, because it is apt to be damp.
Various developing agents give different results. Pyrogallic acid in combination with carbonate of sodium or carbonate of potassium gives strong, vigorous negatives. Eikonogen and metol yield soft, delicate negatives. Hydrochinon added to eikonogen or metol produces more contrast or greater strength.
It is essential to have a bottle of bromide of potassium solution, 10 per cent, in the dark room. (One ounce of bromide of potassium, water to 10 ounces.) ”

“ For patients between the ages of seven and fifteen years, give one-half of the above dose; for those under seven years, give five (5) drops only, from each bottle.
No. 1 was a bright red liquid; analysis showed it to contain in 100 fluid parts, 3·4 parts of potassium bromide, 12 parts of glycerine, a trace of a pungent substance, sufficient oil of cinnamon (or oil of cassia) to give a flavour, a very small quantity of alcohol, and cochineal colouring matter darkened with a trace of alkali; no copper was present. The following formula gave an exactly similar liquid:
No. ”

“ Edgerton's month of diminution we use this with him daily. Its sedative effect, when given about three and a half P.M., just after the second dose of bromide of potassium, is exceedingly happy-seeming, as I have heard a patient remark, "to smooth all the fur down the right way"—removing entirely the excessive nervous irritability of the opium-craving, and often affording the patient his only hour of unbroken sleep during the twenty-four. ”

“ Townsend has simplified the process materially, having found that the use of the fluoride and cyanide of potassium, as directed by Le Gray, in no way adds to the efficiency of the process, either in accelerating or otherwise. The iodide and bromide of potassium with free iodine give a paper which produces rapid, sure, and clean results. ”

“ Perhaps no one medicine is so uniformly successful in the ordinary forms of nightmare as the bromide of potassium, administered in doses of from twenty to forty grains, three times a day. I have seen a number of cases which had resisted all hygienic measures, and the simple removal of the apparent cause, yield to a few doses of this remedy.
When the affection has lasted a long time, it is more difficult to break up the acquired habit. In these cases, the plan so successfully employed by the daughter of the Spanish officer will almost invariably succeed. ”

“ Bromine does not occur in nature in the uncombined condition, but in combination with various metals is very widely but sparingly distributed. Potassium, sodium and magnesium bromides are found in mineral waters, in river and sea-water, and occasionally in marine plants and animals. Its chief commercial sources are the salt deposits at Stassfurt in Prussian Saxony, in which magnesium bromide is found associated with various chlorides, and the brines of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, U.S.A. ”

“ Potassium iodide, KI, is obtained by dissolving iodine in potash, the deoxidation of the iodate being facilitated by the addition of charcoal before ignition, proceeding as with the bromide. The commercial salt usually has an alkaline reaction; it may be purified by dissolving in the minimum amount of water, and neutralizing with dilute sulphuric acid; alcohol is now added to precipitate the potassium sulphate, the solution filtered and crystallized. It forms colourless cubes which are readily soluble in water, melt at 685°, and yield a vapour of normal density. ”

“ Bromine possesses very similar medicinal properties to iodine, and has been administered in goitre, scrofula, &c., in the form of an aqueous solution composed of 1 part of bromine to 40 of water, of which 5 or 6 drops is the dose; but it is more usually given under the form of bromide of potassium (which see) . The compounds of bromine are also largely used in photography in the manufacture of certain coal-tar colours, and in scientific chemistry the solution has also been used as a lotion. Bromine is a good disinfectant. It is very poisonous; the antidotes, &c., resemble those for iodine. ”

“ While morphia and bromide of potassium are, on the whole, the most useful remedies for the relief of pain and irritating symptoms of brain tumor, other remedies can often be used with great advantage as adjuvants. Ergot in the form of the solid or fluid extract has a beneficial influence in relieving the congestive symptoms. Cannabis indica in the form of the fluid extract in doses of five to ten minims, or the tincture in doses of fifteen to thirty minims, may be advantageously combined with morphia and a bromide, or sometimes may be tried alone. ”

“ A certain amount of bromide of ammonium or potassium (preferably ammonium, on account of its greater uniformity and purity) and nitrate of silver are dissolved separately, and mixed together in a thin solution of gelatine, at a moderately warm temperature. Great sensitiveness is obtained by a long exposure to the same warm temperature, or by the addition of a small amount of ammonia, and raising the heat to the boiling-point for from a half to a full hour ”

“ Among the more purely medicinal agents, bromide of potassium occupies the first place, and can almost always be used with advantage to diminish the amount of blood in the brain, and to allay any excitement of the nervous system that may be present in the sthenic form of insomnia. ”

“ Or the following substitute may be used:—Artificial sea-salt, 11 lbs.; bromide of potassium, 4 oz.; mix, and let the above be added to a bath containing sufficient water for immersion. The bromine bath is more especially used for tumours of every kind. It requires to be continued in for a long time. When the patient does not possess the conveniences for taking the bath, flannels dipped in a strong solution of the salt and wrung out may be applied wet to the abdomen for some hours daily. ”

“ Bromide of potassium, twenty grains at a dose, dissolved in syrup, may be given every hour.
Alcoholic Poisoning should be combated by emetics, of which the sulphate of zinc given as above directed, is the best. After that, strong coffee internally, and stimulation by heat externally, should be used.
Acids are sometimes swallowed by mistake. Alkalies, lime water, magnesia, or common chalk mixed with water, may be freely given, and afterward mucilaginous drinks, such as thick gum water or flaxseed tea. ”

“ Bromides.—Hydrobromic acid reacts with metallic oxides, hydroxides and carbonates to form bromides, which can in many cases be obtained also by the direct union of the metals with bromine. As a class, the metallic bromides are solids at ordinary temperatures, which fuse readily and volatilize on heating. The majority are soluble in water, the chief exceptions being silver bromide, mercurous bromide, palladious bromide and lead bromide; the last is, however, soluble in hot water. They are decomposed by chlorine, with liberation of bromine and formation of metallic chlorides ”

“ The label on the trade package indicates the presence of 10 per cent. of alcohol. It will be observed that the proportions of the different bromids are not stated. Hence, the assertion of the Peacock Chemical Company that “there is nothing secret in this compound” cannot be true. A physician prescribing it cannot know how much of each ingredient he is giving; it may be 141⁄2 grains of potassium bromid and 1⁄8 grain each of sodium, ammonium, calcium and lithium bromid, or any other of an enormous number of possible permutations of the proportions. ”

“ The decomposition of 2HBr into H2 + Br2 only requires, if the bromine be obtained in a gaseous state, a consumption of about 24,000 units, whilst in the decomposition of 2HI into H2 + I2 as vapour about 3,000 heat units are evolved; [68] these facts, without doubt, stand in causal connection with the great stability of hydrogen chloride, the easy decomposability of hydrogen iodide, and the intermediate properties of hydrogen bromide. ”

“ It was suggested that since the preparation cannot contain the stated amounts of free bromin, free iodin and free phosphorus, the form of combination in which these elements are present should be set forth. In reply, the firm said, first, that “Brom-I-Phos consists of Bromin, Iodin, Phosphorus, Glycerin, Wine, Water and Volatile Oils. The Iodin is rubbed up with a small percentage of Potassium Iodid and 95 per cent. Alcohol, which solution is mixed with a solution of Bromine and Spirits of Phosphorus which are combined with the base and aromatics.” ”

“ A solution of bromine in potassic bromide solution also gives similar precipitates to the above, but it forms insoluble compounds with phenol, orcin, and other substances.
Mercuric potassic iodide is prepared by decomposing mercuric chloride with potassic iodide in excess. The proportions are 13·546 grms. of mercuric chloride and 49·8 of potassic iodide, and water sufficient to measure, when dissolved, 1 litre. The precipitates from this reagent are white and flocculent; many of them become, on standing, crystalline. ”