The preparations of lithium used in medicine are: _Lithii Carbonis_,
dose 2 to 5 grs.; _Lithii Citras_, dose 5 to 10 grs.; and _Lithii
Citras effervescens_, a mixture of citric acid, lithium citrate,
tartaric acid and sodium bicarbonate, dose 60 to 120 grs. Lithium
salts render the urine alkaline and are in virtue of their action
diuretic. They are much prescribed for acute or chronic gout, and as a
solvent to uric acid calculi or gravel, but their action as a solvent
of uric acid has been certainly overrated, as it has been shown that
the addition of medicinal doses of lithium to the blood serum does not
increase the solubility of uric acid in it. In concentrated or large
doses lithium salts cause vomiting and diarrhoea, due to a
gastro-enteritis set up by their action. In medicinal use they should
therefore be always freely diluted.
LITHOGRAPHY (Gr. [Greek: lithos], a stone, and [Greek: graphein], to
write), the process of drawing or laying down a design or transfer, on a
specially prepared stone or other suitable surface, in such a way that
impressions may be taken therefrom. The principle on which lithography
is based is the antagonism of grease and water. A chemically pure
surface having been secured on some substance that has an equal affinity
for both grease and water, in a method hereafter to be described, the
parts intended to print are covered with an unctuous composition and the
rest of the surface is moistened, so that when a greasy roller is
applied, the portion that is wet resists the grease and that in which an
affinity for grease has been set up readily accepts it; and from the
surface thus treated it will be seen that it is an easy thing to secure
an impression on paper or other material by applying suitable pressure.
The inventor of lithography was Alois Senefelder (1771-1834); and it is
remarkable what a grip he at once seemed to get of his invention, for
whereas the invention of printing seems almost a matter of evolution,
lithography seems to come upon the scene fully equipped for the battle
of life, so that it would be a bold craftsman at the present day who
would affirm that he knew more of the principles underlying his trade
than Senefelder (q.v.) did within thirty years of its invention. Of
course practice has led to dexterity, and the great volume of trade has
induced many mechanical improvements and facilities, but the principles
have not been taken any further, while some valuable methods have been
allowed to fall into desuetude and would well repay some experimentally
disposed person to revive.
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