UNIVERSI! 





EFFECT OF COPPER SULPHATE. 



The process of regreening legumes is described by Bouchardat and 

 Gautier, a showing the amount of copper thus introduced into the 

 vegetables to be too small to produce any injurious effect. The maxi- 

 mum amount of this metal in regreened peas as given by Gautier b is 

 125 mg. per kilogram, in connection with which he notes that Chatin 

 and Personne have given it as 270 mg. According to Gautier, the 

 amount of copper ordinarily consumed in a full meal is 95 mg. 



Lafar c attributes the green color of Lodisan and Parmesan cheese 

 to the presence of copper, giving the maximum amount for Lodisan 

 cheese as 215 mg. per kilogram. Chocolate d contains 0.005 to 0.125 

 gram per kilogram, cafe bourbon e 8 mg. per kilogram, and beef 1 mg. 

 per kilogram. There is 0.01 gram of copper sulphate in 1 pounds of 

 bread/ 0.1 gram of copper oxide has been found in 1 kilogram of pre- 

 serves, and similar amounts are normally present in a large number of 

 commodities used for food. 



Medicinal uses of copper compounds are cited by Du Moulin.^ He 

 has prescribed 12 to 15 eg. for scrofulous children, for cases of oph- 

 thalmia, etc., and found no ill effects. Copper sulphate in doses of 40 

 to 50 eg. for four or five days has proved beneficial to children with 

 diphtheria. 



Summarizing from a large number of experiments, Bernatzik^ con- 

 cludes as follows: After entering the stomach only small quantities of 

 copper are absorbed by the blood, and toxic action occurs only when 

 the necessary amount can accumulate in the circulation. Silver, 

 copper, and zinc have almost the same medicinal properties, the dif- 

 ference being of degree rather than kind. They differ markedly from 

 other heavy metals, having no harmful effects upon the tissues, and 

 producing no fatal functional injuries; hence they are not poisons in 

 the same sense as are lead, mercury, arsenic, antimony, and phos- 

 phorus. Moreover, in the case of copper, after suspension of the 

 dose the injured functions return to the normal. 



It is evident that there is still a considerable difference of opinion 

 among eminent authorities as to the exact amount of copper which 

 may be injurious, but as a very conservative limit we may accept 0.02 

 gram as the amount that may with safety be absorbed daily. Accord- 

 ing to Merck's Index, the National Dispensatory, and the United 

 States Dispensatory, the dose of copper sulphate for tonic and astrin- 



Bouchardat and Gautier, Congres Internationale d' Hygiene, 5: 486. 

 6 Gautier, 1. c. 



c Lafar, Technical Mycology, 159. 

 <i Duclaux, Bull, de la Soc. Chim. de Paris, 16: 35. 

 Sargeau, Jour, de Pharm., 18: 219, 654; 16: 507. 

 /Tschirsch, 1. c. 



ffDn Moulin, Journal de Pharmacie et Chimie, 13: 189. 



^Bernatzik, Encyclop. d. ges. Medicin., 11: 429; Encyclop. d. ges. Heilkunde, 

 11: 429. 



