Chittenden and JVbrris — Absorption of Nickel and Cobalt. 149 



Our experiments have been conducted wholly upon rabbits, the 

 main object being to study the distribution of the absorbed poison. 

 The salts used were chemically pure cobalt and nickel nitrates, dried 

 over sulphuric acid. They were administered by mouth in gelatin 

 capsules. 



We first endeavored to gain some idea of the relative toxic action 

 of the two salts. For this purpose two rabbits, weigliing 2 kilos, 

 each, were dosed as follows : 



Experiment I. 



Both rabbits died on the morning of the Yth, apparently from 

 heart failure. The urine was examined each day, but in both cases 

 was entirely free from either sugar or albumin. On the 3d, the 

 cobalt rabbit appeared troubled with involuntary micturition and 

 defecation, and on the 5th there was quite pronounced partial paral- 

 ysis of the hind quarters. The appetite remained good up to the 

 6th. On the 6th instant, after administration of 500 milligrams of 

 the cobalt salt, there was a loose diarrhoea continuous till death, de- 

 cided pai-alysis of the hind legs, total loss of appetite with a decided 

 lowering of the body temperature. After death, the body weight 

 was found to have diminished three-fifths of a kilo. With the nickel 

 rabbit, there was no diarrhoea whatever and the paralysis of the 

 hind legs, visible on the 6th, was not as pronounced as with cobalt. 

 The loss of body weight was the same as in the cobalt rabbit. 



On post-mortem, the only noticeable abnormal feature with either 

 cobalt or nickel was a slight congestion of the lining membrane of 

 the stomach and intestines. The stomach, however, was found full 

 of undigested food, as if the salt had interfered with the digestive 

 process. 



