CHEMISTRY. 



that arsenious acid forms a solid compound 

 with the albumen, which thereby loses the ca- 

 pacity to undergo the transformations necessa- 

 ry to the existence of the living tissues, is unten- 

 able for the reason that a solution of arsenious 

 acid, or of its salts, does not form the solid com- 

 pounds which Liebig assumed. It is precisely 

 those tissues in the body which are specially 

 endowed with the capacity to receive and utilize 

 the oxygen of the blood that form the princi- 

 pal seat of the destructive action of arsenic. 

 The neutral salts of arsenic acid are as poi- 

 sonous as those of arsenious acid. Arsenious 

 acid changes readily to arsenic acid, and the 

 transformation proceeds still more readily in 

 the inverse sense. The latter change is effect- 

 ed by albumen in general, the former by the 

 living albumen of animals and plants. In a 

 number of experiments with arsenic acid and 

 egg-albumen, the fibrine of warm-blooded ani- 

 mals, and fresh brain-substance, arsenic acid 

 was reduced at the temperature of the body ; 

 while with the tissue of the pancreas, of the 

 liver, and the undecomposed protoplasm of 

 vegetable organs, arsenic acid was reduced to 

 arsenious acid, and arsenious acid was oxidized 

 into arsenic acid. A consideration of the in- 

 dividual results of these experiments has led 

 to the conclusion that the reciprocal transfor- 

 mations of the two acids produce within the 

 living albumen-molecule in which they take 

 place a violent oscillation of the oxygen-atom 

 by which the tissues are corroded to the extent 

 of their complete destruction. Nitrogen in its 

 poisonous compounds performs a similar func- 

 tion to that which metallic arsenic seems to 

 discharge here. Itself without direct action, 

 it serves as the inert carrier and distributor of 

 the powerfully aggressive, active oxygen-atom. 

 The differences existing between arsenic and 

 nitrogen are those of degree only. The oxides 

 of nitrogen act instantly, and corrode those 

 parts of the organism to which they are first 

 introduced ; the oxides of arsenic develop their 

 activity only within the organism, and are ex- 

 ternally corrosive only by prolonged action. 

 A correspondence in behavior as poisons and 

 as chemical agents is traceable among the other 

 members of the nitrogen group, the action of 

 which is similar in the minutest to that of ar- 

 senic, differing only in degree. 



Distribution of Arsenic in the Body. Messrs. 

 S. W. Johnson and R. H. Chittenden, of the 

 Sheffield Laboratory of Yale College, have pub- 

 lished the results of investigations into the 

 manner in which arsenic is distributed in the 

 human body in a case of arsenical poisoning. 

 Scolosuboff has recently attempted to show 

 that instead of localizing itself principally in the 

 muscles, as has long been accepted as a settled 

 fact, arsenic is specially absorbed and retained 

 in the nerve-tissue. His experiments were not 

 considered satisfactory, and his conclusions 

 were disputed, because the arsenic was admin- 

 istered in an exceptional form, and allowance 

 was not made for the modification which might 



have been caused by the changed form of the 

 poison in the rate of absorption. In the body 

 of Mrs. Riddle, of Connecticut, which was ex- 

 amined for arsenic after having been buried 

 nearly a year and a half, the poison was looked 

 for in the internal organs, the arm, leg, and 

 muscular and bony tissue of other parts of the 

 body, and was found in the sample portions ex- 

 amined in such proportions as to indicate the 

 existence of 5*2261 grains of arsenious oxide in 

 the whole body. Of this quantity, 2'3805 grains 

 were found in the internal organs, and 2*8463 

 grains were assigned to the muscular and bony 

 tissues. Only an unweighable trace was found 

 in the brain. One hundred grammes of ab- 

 dominal muscle were found to contain '00045 

 gramme, 100 grammes of muscle and ribs '0007 

 gramme, and 100 grammes of muscle from the 

 thigh '0004 gramme of metallic arsenic, while 

 300 grammes of brain yielded only an unweigh- 

 able mirror. In the body of Mary Stannard, 

 who was supposed to have died shortly after 

 arsenic was administered to her, Professor 

 Johnson found 83 '23 grains of arsenious oxide 

 in the stomach, liver, and other internal organs, 

 while the brain contained hardly a perceptible 

 trace of arsenic. In the case of a dog that was 

 killed in the laboratory after the administra- 

 tion of arsenious acid in gradually increasing 

 doses for eight days, the amount of arsenic ab- 

 sorbed by the brain-matter was found to be 

 very small compared with the amount absorbed 

 by other tissues. In a recent article on the 

 distribution of arsenic in the animal body after 

 the taking of arsenious oxide, E. Ludwig finds, 

 by constantly agreeing results, that in the case 

 of men as well as of dogs poisoned by arsenic, 

 both in acute and chronic cases, the liver con- 

 tains the most arsenic ; and in acute forms the 

 kidneys contain an abundant quantity; while 

 the bones and brain, in either case, contain 

 only a very small trace. 



Albuminoids in Wheat, Grain, and Flour. 

 Professor Albert B. Prescott, of the University 

 of Michigan, has reported upon the analysis of 

 several varieties of wheat and of the flour from 

 the same, made in order to ascertain the rela- 

 tive value of the different varieties and their 

 flours in nitrogen and albuminoids. The re- 

 sults of the analyses of four varieties were, in 

 percentages of nitrogen, as follows : . White 

 amber wheat, grain, 2'013 ; flour, 1-963 : Fulce 

 wheat, grain, 1-996; flour, 1*900: Clawson 

 wheat, grain, 1*794; flour, 1'650: red winter 

 wheat, grain, 2-096 ; flour, 1-963: patent flour 

 from the last specimen, 2-040. The percent- 

 ages of albuminoids are obtained in either case 

 by multiplying the percentage of nitrogen by 

 6'25. The average of all the determinations, 

 excluding that of the patent flour, is, in the 

 entire grain, 1-974 per cent, of nitrogen, 12*338 

 of albuminoids ; in the flour, 1-869 per cent, of 

 nitrogen, 11 -682 of albuminoids. The patent 

 flour is made by a process which forces the 

 middlings to give up a part of the rich layer of 

 albuminoid cells which lies so close to the 



