SANGER. — CHRONIC ARSENICAL POISONING. 153 



shortly before the examination, the physician had prescribed a powder 

 of lactate of iron, magnesia, and phosphate of lime, which may have 

 had some effect on the elimination. The physician did not dare 

 to try the effect of potassic iodide, owing to the child's constitution. 

 Both mother and child improved after the paper was removed. 



This investigation is accurate, and the results reliable. It is unfor- 

 tunate that no method was known to Fabian which would have per- 

 mitted the determination of such small amounts of arsenic. From the 

 description of the mirrors, I cannot place the amounts at over 0.05 

 mgr. per litre. 



Kirschgasser,* in 1868, published twenty-one cases of chronic poison- 

 ing, chiefly from arsenical wall paint, in which are the most complete 

 details of symptoms that have ever been presented. I need not refer 

 to these cases at any length, as they are well known, and are com- 

 mented upon especially in Dr. Putnam's paper, above referred to. I 

 note, however, the following. The rooms were partly on the ground 

 floor, partly on the first or second story, and were not damp, though 

 some were badly aired. There was no apparent opportunity for 

 miasma. Occasionally a garlic odor was observed. The children 

 appeared less affected than the elders. In one case, the intermittent 

 character of the symptoms noticed by Lorinzer f was confirmed. 



The urine was examined in eight of the cases, with a positive result 

 in six. In one of the two negative tests the urine was not collected 

 until six weeks after the removal of the arsenical color. The work 

 was done very carefully by Holthof. Large amounts of urine (6 to 

 18 pounds, and in one case 25 pounds) were taken, and the reagents 

 examined in quantities larger than would be used in one analysis. 

 The method of analysis in seven of the cases was as follows. The 

 urine was acidified with hydrochloric acid, and sulphuretted hydrogen 

 was led in for eight days, occasionally warming. The precipitate 

 was collected on a filter, dried, removed from the filter, and evap- 

 orated repeatedly with nitric acid. The acid was neutralized by sodic 

 carbonate, and the solution evaporated and melted to destroy all 

 organic matter. The sodic nitrate was then decomposed by sulphuric 

 acid, and the clear solution put into the Marsh apparatus. The 

 reduction tube was heated for 30 minutes, and the mirror examined 

 for arsenic. In the eighth analysis, 25 pounds of urine were acidified 

 with nitric acid and evaporated to dryness on the water bath. The 

 residue was treated with fuming nitric acid and heated until the mass 



* Vierteljahr. f. gericht. Med., N. F., IX. 96. t Loc. cit. 



