lunar caustic

American  

noun

Medicine/Medical, Chemistry.

1. silver nitrate, AgNO 3 , especially in a sticklike mold, used to cauterize tissues.

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lunar caustic British  

noun

1. silver nitrate fused into sticks, which were formerly used in cauterizing

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Etymology

Origin of lunar caustic

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

I applied the lunar caustic to two of the smaller ulcers.

From An Essay on the Application of the Lunar Caustic in the Cure of Certain Wounds and Ulcers by Higginbottom, John

Dissolve a couple of drachms of lunar caustic, and half an ounce of gum arabic, in a gill of rain water.

From The American Housewife Containing the Most Valuable and Original Receipts in all the Various Branches of Cookery; and Written in a Minute and Methodical Manner by Anonymous

The application of the lunar caustic in recent burns or scalds, has always appeared to me to increase the inflammation and vesication, even inducing blisters where there were none before.

From An Essay on the Application of the Lunar Caustic in the Cure of Certain Wounds and Ulcers by Higginbottom, John

The small, soft discolorations and excrescences of the skin, popularly called moles, may be removed by touching them every second or third day with strong acetic or nitric acid, or with lunar caustic.

From The Ladies Book of Useful Information Compiled from many sources by Anonymous

No: the lash is a valuable application, so is lunar caustic, so is lapis infernalis, or the actual cautery itself.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various