﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  75 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  in 
  general, 
  and 
  then 
  proceed 
  to 
  distil 
  more. 
  I 
  regret 
  that 
  at 
  

   this 
  time 
  I 
  am 
  only 
  able 
  to 
  bring 
  before 
  the 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  Academy, 
  specimens 
  

   of 
  the 
  honey-makers 
  (No. 
  2), 
  the 
  other 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  community, 
  except 
  from 
  

   Captain 
  Fleeson's 
  description, 
  being 
  quite 
  unknown 
  to 
  me. 
  It 
  is, 
  however, 
  my 
  

   hope 
  that 
  at 
  a 
  future 
  meeting 
  I 
  may 
  be 
  enabled 
  to 
  exhibit 
  the 
  other 
  varieties, 
  

   and 
  to 
  give 
  some 
  more 
  extended 
  information 
  upon 
  this 
  very 
  interesting 
  subject. 
  

   The 
  honey 
  is 
  much 
  sought 
  after 
  by 
  the 
  Mexicans, 
  who 
  not 
  only 
  use 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  deli- 
  

   cate 
  article 
  of 
  food, 
  but 
  apply 
  it 
  to 
  bruised 
  and 
  swollen 
  limbs, 
  ascribing 
  to 
  it 
  

   great 
  healing 
  properties. 
  The 
  species 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  abundant 
  in 
  the 
  neigh- 
  

   bourhood 
  of 
  Santa 
  Fe, 
  New 
  Mexico, 
  in 
  which 
  district 
  the 
  observations 
  of 
  Capt. 
  

   Fleeson 
  were 
  made. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  connection 
  between 
  the 
  Atomic 
  Weights 
  of 
  Substances 
  

   and 
  their 
  Physiological 
  Action. 
  

  

  BY 
  JAMES 
  BLAKE, 
  M. 
  D. 
  

  

  In 
  a 
  communication 
  to 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  of 
  France, 
  read 
  February 
  

   10th, 
  Messrs. 
  Rabuteau 
  and 
  Ducondray 
  state 
  that 
  the 
  poisonous 
  effects 
  of 
  

   metals 
  is 
  greater 
  as 
  their 
  atomic 
  weights 
  increase. 
  Having 
  been 
  engaged 
  for 
  

   many 
  years 
  in 
  experimenting 
  on 
  the 
  physiological 
  effects 
  of 
  organic 
  compounds, 
  

   I 
  15ud 
  myself 
  iu 
  possession 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  facts 
  bearing 
  directly 
  on 
  this 
  interest- 
  

   ing 
  question. 
  In 
  a 
  paper 
  read 
  before 
  the 
  Royal 
  Society 
  of 
  England 
  in 
  1841, 
  I 
  

   stated 
  that 
  isomorphons 
  substances, 
  when 
  introduced 
  directly 
  into 
  the 
  blood, 
  

   produce 
  analogous 
  physiological 
  reactions. 
  Since 
  this 
  time 
  a 
  widely 
  extended 
  

   series 
  of 
  experiments 
  with 
  these 
  substances 
  has 
  confirmed 
  the 
  truth 
  of 
  this 
  fact.* 
  

  

  I 
  shall 
  not 
  now 
  enter 
  into 
  a 
  general 
  review 
  of 
  the 
  facts 
  I 
  have 
  already 
  pub- 
  

   lished, 
  but 
  would 
  state 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  different 
  elements 
  are 
  grouped 
  according 
  

   to 
  their 
  isomorphous 
  relations, 
  I 
  find, 
  evidently, 
  a 
  close 
  connection 
  between 
  their 
  

   physiological 
  action 
  and 
  relative 
  atomic 
  weights, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  only 
  with 
  this 
  restric- 
  

   tion 
  that 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  Messrs. 
  Rabuteau 
  and 
  Ducondray 
  is 
  even 
  approxi- 
  

   mately 
  applicable. 
  That 
  no 
  absolute 
  connection 
  exists 
  between 
  the 
  atomic 
  

   weight 
  of 
  a 
  metal 
  and 
  its 
  physiological 
  action, 
  is 
  evident. 
  For 
  instance, 
  the 
  

   salts 
  of 
  potassium, 
  the 
  atomic 
  weight 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  thirty-nine, 
  are 
  far 
  more 
  poi- 
  

   sonous 
  than 
  the 
  salts 
  of 
  ferrous 
  oxide, 
  the 
  atomic 
  weight 
  of 
  iron 
  being 
  56, 
  and 
  

   the 
  salts 
  of 
  beryllium 
  with 
  an 
  atomic 
  weight 
  of 
  9.3 
  are 
  more 
  poisonous 
  than 
  

   the 
  salts 
  of 
  silver, 
  with 
  an 
  atomic 
  weight 
  of 
  108. 
  As 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  the 
  con- 
  

   nection 
  between 
  the 
  atomic 
  weights 
  and 
  the 
  poisonous 
  qualities 
  of 
  a 
  substance, 
  

   the 
  accompanying 
  table 
  affords 
  strong 
  evidence 
  that 
  such 
  a 
  connection 
  exists 
  

   when 
  the 
  substances 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  isomorphous 
  group. 
  The 
  experiments 
  

   were 
  performed 
  on 
  rabbits, 
  by 
  injecting 
  solutions 
  of 
  some 
  salt 
  of 
  the 
  metal 
  directly 
  

   into 
  the 
  jugular 
  vein. 
  

  

  * 
  An 
  account 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  experiments 
  is 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  Keports 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Asso- 
  

   ciation 
  for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  Science, 
  from 
  1845 
  to 
  1850, 
  and 
  in 
  3d, 
  4th 
  and 
  5th 
  vols, 
  of 
  the 
  

   Journal 
  of 
  Anatomy 
  and 
  Physiology. 
  

  

  