1865.] into and out of the Vascular and Non-vascular Textures. 421 



four hours traces were found in the lens. And even when only a quarter 

 of a grain was taken, faint traces of lithium were found in five and a half 

 hours. 



2. On the Rate of Passage of Solutions of Lithium out of the Textures of 



Animals. 



After two grains of chloride of lithium, in six days neither a young 

 nor an old guinea-pig gave any lithium in the kidney, liver, or lenses. 



After two grains, in four days no lithium could be found in the lens, nor 

 in the cartilage of a joint. 



After one grain, in three days the alcoholic extract of the lens showed no 

 lithium. 



After a quarter of a grain of chloride of lithium, in sixteen days the 

 minutest traces of lithium were detected in the liver, kidneys, and lens. 



After half a grain, for thirty-seven or thirty-eight days traces of lithium 

 could be found in the urine. 



After three grains, traces were found in the lens for thirty-three days, 

 and for thirty-nine days, the smallest quantity could be found in urine. 



The skin of guinea-pigs throws off lithium, and it collects on the hair and 

 nails ; so that it is possible for the animal to redose itself with lithia from 

 its own body, and thus to keep lithia passing in and out of the textures 

 much longer than if a single dose only were taken. 



3. On the Rate of Passage of Solutions of Lithium inland out of the Human 



Body. 



In ten-grain doses, lithium may be found in the urine in from five to ten 

 minutes, and continue to pass out for six or seven days. 



In five-grain doses it may be in the urine in from ten to twenty minutes, 

 and continue to pass out even for eight days. 



In twenty-grain doses, it may be found in small quantity in the crystal- 

 line lens in two and a half hours, and be present in every particle of the lens 

 in three and a half, five, and seven hours ; and no trace of lithium may be 

 detectable in the lens after seven days, when twenty -grains of the carbo- 

 nate of lithia had been taken. 



4. Results of the examination of Solid and Liquid Food. 

 Although almost every kind of vegetable food, and almost every fluid 

 which we drink, contains infinitesimal quantities of lithia, yet. rarely, 

 if ever, can lithium be detected iu any part of the body of man or animals, 

 unless some larger quantity is taken than ordinarily occurs in the food or 

 drink. 



APPENDIX. Received July 8, 1865. 

 On the Passage of Chloride of Rubidium into the Textures. 

 A guinea-pig was given three grains of chloride of rubidium at 1 1 A.M. 

 VOL. xiv. 2 I 



