The compounds of mercury attracted considerable attention, mainly on account of their medicinal properties; mercuric oxide and corrosive sublimate were known to pseudo-Geber, and the nitrate and basic sulphate to " Basil Valentine."
The use of corrosive sublimate is not, however, recommended, as it forms on drying a fine powder which when the plants are handled will rub off and, being carried into the air, may prove injurious to workers.
This condition is not so frequently seen in the more highly differentiated cells, but may follow necrosis of secreting cells, as is found in the kidney, in corrosive sublimate poisoning and in chronic nephritis.
Bismuth trichloride, BiC13, was obtained by Robert Boyle by heating the metal with corrosive sublimate.
Kyan's process, patented in 1832, consists in impregnating the timber with corrosive sublimate which, acting on the albumen in the wood, converts it into an indecomposable substance.