TOXICOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY 375 



with pneumococci on white rats and mice. They obtained at times 

 a retardation of the disease process and in individual instances they 

 allege a cure by means of silver injections. 



Clinical Experiments. 



I shall pass over the majority of experiments which, because of 

 their limited scope, are without significance and frequently contra- 

 dictory, and shall only regard such results as are unimpeachable. 

 To all appearances, only experiments performed with a stabilized 

 silver hydrosol have practical value. 



The use of silver hydrosol, as collargol, in septicemia and pyemia 

 is most frequent and best known. It is usually used as an intra- 

 venous injection, at times as an ointment or an enema. If the 

 numerous case histories 1 are reviewed, two phenomena are prom- 

 inent: the fall in temperature and the subjective improvement 

 of the patient which follow several hours after the application is 

 given. In contrast to this it is hardly possible to determine to 

 what extent the disease process is influenced. The effect of silver 

 hydrosol on pneumonia has been studied most thoroughly. G. 

 ETIENNE * and J. CAVADIAS obtained good results; the rapid defer- 

 vescence is also the most significant fact here. G. IzAR* 2 treated 

 28 cases of pneumonia with silver hydrosol and several with plati- 

 num and iridium hydrosol; no difference was noted between the 

 Ag, Pt and Ir. These thoroughly studied cases gave the following 

 results: the course of the pneumonia process seems in general to 

 have been favorably influenced though it was hardly possible to at- 

 tribute this to a specific action upon the infectious process, but 

 rather to the amelioration of the symptoms. As in the case of 

 healthy individuals, in a pneumonia patient a rise of temperature, 

 which reaches its maximum in about 4 hours, follows the injection 

 and this is followed by a severe rigor, which is succeeded by 

 profuse sweating and a rapid temperature fall, "critical in character, 

 however, it cannot be termed a crisis." The subjective improvement 

 of the patient is characteristic of the action of silver hydrosol. 



The brief period of oppression and anxiety which accompanies 

 the rigor is succeeded when the temperature falls by a feeling of well- 

 being or euphoria. Cardiac and renal functioning are not affected, 

 nor is there any action on the course of the pneumonia process as far 

 as may be determined from a change in the excretion of chlorids. 



1 A very complete bibliography is given by WEISSMANN, Uber Kollargol. 

 Therapeut. Monatsh., Aug., 1905. 



Mentioned by ISCOVESCO, Presse Me*dicale, May 8, 1907. 



