White Lead
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for White Lead. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
The Encyclopedia of Founding (1892)
Important: Safety Warning This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes. This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon. The carbonate of lead. It is produced by several methods, and extensively employed as a paint. The Dutch method, usually considered a good one, is to place thin sheets of lead rolled into scrolls into earthen pots with weak vinegar or acetic acid. These are fitted with lead covers and closely packed, and buried in spent tan-bark. The acid corrodes the metal, forming a coating of acetate of lead. The carbonic acid set free by the decomposing vegetable matter displaces the acetic acid, combines with the lead, and the carbonate is formed. The acetic acid thus released attacks more metal, which is again carbonized, and thus, with occasional charges of vinegar, the operation is continued and the lead keeps constantly changing. See LEAD.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Important: Safety Warning This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes. This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon. a preparation of lead used as the basis of white paint. It is prepared by subjecting sheets of lead to the action of acetic acid, an active principle present in vinegar. In making white lead one method is the following: Sheets of lead shaped like pies are piled on one another in earthen pots containing a little acetic acid. The pots are stacked in a pit which is covered with spent tanbark and allowed to stand for three months. A little over half of the metal will be found converted into white lead. As it is not subject to atmospheric influences, it makes, with linseed oil, the best of white paint for the protection of wooden surfaces. See Paint
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a dense white powder, insoluble in water, but easily dissolved in dilute nitric or acetic acid; extensively employed in painting.