wn three
different recipes for arsenical soaps. The inventor of the first of
these appears to have been one Becoeur, of the now world-renowned
Metz. Becoeur appears to have flourished about the year 1770, and his
formula is still commonly used. It is compounded as follows:

No. 1.--Becoeur's Arsenical Soap.

Camphor, 5 oz.

Salt of tartar, 12 oz.

Powdered arsenic, 2 lb.

Lime in powder (or powdered chalk), 4 oz.

White soap, 2 lb.

Cut the soap into small slices as thin as possible, put them into a
pot over a gentle fire with very little water, stirring it often with
a wooden spoon; when dissolved, add the salts of tartar and powdered
chalk; take it off the fire, add the arsenic, and stir the whole
gently; lastly, put in the camphor, which must first be pounded in a
mortar with a little spirits of wine. When the whole is properly mixed
together it will have the consistence of paste. It may be preserved in
tin or earthenware pots, well closed and cautiously labelled. When
wanted for use it must be diluted with a little cold water to the
consistence of clear broth; the pot may be covered with a lid of
pasteboard, having a hole for the passage of the brush, by which the
liquor is applied. (There appears in this formula to be an error in
giving 12 oz. of Salts of tartar, which should, I think, be reduced to
2 oz.; also the proportion, of arsenic and soap is clearly excessive
with regard to the quantity of the lime or chalk.)

Swainson appears to have used a composition somewhat different from
the preceding. He describes it as follows:

No. 2.--Swainson's Arsenical Soap.

Arsenic, 1 oz.

Distilled water, 6 drms.

White soap, 1 oz

Camphor, 2 drms.

Carbonate of potash, 1 drm.

This mixture should be kept in small tin boxes; when it is to be used
moisten a camel-hair pencil with any kind of spirituous liquor, and
with it make a lather from the soap, which is to be applied to the
inner surface of all parts of the skin, and also to such bones as may
not be removed.

The next formula is of my own arrangement; I have used it, and have
found it quite equal to any of the other arsenical preparations, which
is not saying much for any of them.

No. 3.--Browne's Arsenical Soap.

Arsenic, 1 lb

Distilled water 6 drms

Soft soap,