Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/486

 480 LIME LIMERICK of ammonia. The latter salt will detect one part of lime in 50,000 of water. Chloride of calcium imparts an orange red color to alcohol flame, which by spectrum analysis is resolved into green and orange bands. Medical Uses of Lime. Several salts of lime are used in medicine. The hydrate, when mixed with an equal weight of caustic potassa, constitutes the potassa cum calce of the United States Pharma- copoeia, or Vienna caustic. Lime water is often used as an antacid, especially for children. It prevents the too rapid coagulation of the milk used in their food, and has besides a restraining effect upon diarrhoea, so that it is sometimes called astringent. Combination with sugar renders lime more soluble in water, and a sac- charine solution or sirup may be used, which contains a much larger quantity of lime than lime water. Lime water with milk is often used in diseases of the stomach ; a combination which is sometimes borne, especially in the nausea of pregnancy, when no other food can be retained. As lime water has some power in dissolving the false membrane of croup, it has been employed in that disease, both* by pro- jection of its spray into the fauces, and by the inhalation of the vapor arising from slaking lime. The various carbonates of lime, such as prepared chalk, precipitated carbonate, prepared oyster shells, crabs' claws, and " crabs' eyes," are used to neutralize acid in the stomach both in indigestion and in poisoning by acids. They are specially called for in oxalic acid poison- ing. Chloride of calcium has been used as a tonic, but is less employed than formerly. Phosphate of lime or bone earth has been con- siderably used in medicine, to increase the sup- ply of this salt for the formation of bone and the promotion of the general nutrition. (See HYPOPHOSPHITES.) The following works on the uses of lime, besides those already men- tioned, may be consulted : Hassenfratz, Traite theorique et pratique de Vart de calciner la pierre calcaire et de fabriquer toutes sortes de matieres, ciments, letons, &c. (Paris, 1825) ; Vicat, " Treatise on Calcareous Mortars and Cements," translated from the French by J. T. Smith (London, 1837) ; Dumas, GJiimie ap- pliquee aux arts, vols. liv., lv., chap. viii. ; Regnault, Cours de cMmie, vol. ii. (1849) ; Burnell, "Treatise on Limes, Cements, Mor- tars, Concretes," &c. (in Weale's "Rudimentary Series," ^1850) ; Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, " Lime, Hydraulic Cements, and Mortars " (New York, 1872) ; and Beckwith, " Report on the Hydrau- lic Lime of Theil " (New York, 1873). LIME, a fruit resembling a miniature lemon, produced by a species or variety of citrus. As mentioned under LEMON, there is great diffi- culty in defining the species of citrus, and some botanists incline to regard nearly all the cultivated ones as forms of G. medica. The books generally refer the lime to G. limetta, but that produces a very different fruit from the one known in our commerce as the lime ; some authors refer our fruit to G. lima, others to G. acida, while Grisebach ("Flora of the British West Indies ") regards it as a dwarf, spiny, and small-fruited variety (var. spinosis- sima) of the common orange, C. aurantium; it is considered as indigenous to the West In- dies, and is there used as a beautiful and ser- viceable hedge plant. The fruit varies much in size, sometimes being only an inch long ; the skin is thin, greenish yellow, and the abundant juice very sour, with a slight bitterness ; the juice is used for the same purposes as lemon juice. Large quantities of lime juice are ex- ported from the West Indies for the manufac- ture of citric acid, and for use as an anti-scor- butic upon long sea voyages. For the botanical characters of the genus, see OKANGE. LIMERICK. I. A S. W. county of Ireland, in the province of Munster, bordering on Clare, from which it is separated by the Shannon,. Tipperary, Cork, and Kerry; area, 1,035 sq, m. ; pop. in 1871, 191,313. The surface is mountainous in the northeast, south, and south- west, and elsewhere level or undulating. The most important rivers are the Shannon, Maigue, and Deel. Iron, copper, and lead ores are found. The soil is very fertile, especially along the banks of the Shannon and in the "Golden Vale," a tract which extends from Tipperary W. through the centre of the county. An ex- cellent breed of long-horned cattle is reared here, and cattle raising and dairy farming are the principal branches of industry. Wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, and turnips are extensively grown. The manufactures consist of coarse woollens, lace, paper, flour, and meal; and large quantities of the products of the county are exported. The chief towns are Limerick, Rathkeale, and Newcastle. This county is the most interesting in Ireland to the archaBologist, on account of its numerous Cyclopean remains, military earthworks, ancient castles, and ruins of religious houses. II. A city, capital of the county, and a county in itself, on the estuary of the Shannon, 106 m. W. S. W. of Dublin, with which and with Cork and Waterford it is connected by railway; pop. in 1871, 49,670. It consists of the "English town," built on an island in the Shannon, and the " Irish town " and " Newton Pery," on the left bank of the river. These three portions are connected by five bridges, one of which, the Wellesley bridge, cost 85,000. The Thomond bridge, rebuilt in 1839, is interesting from historical associa- tions. Its approach was anciently guarded by a fort and by King John's castle. The great gateway and round towers of the latter are still in good preservation, but the picturesqueness of the castle is marred by the modern roofs and by the buildings of the barracks, into which the interior has been converted. Newton Pery is filled with handsome modern houses, and is much the most attractive part of the city. The houses on the island are principally in the Flemish style. The old (or Irish) town is a mass of dilapidation and filth, the old crum- bling houses being used by the poor wherever