790 Transactions of the American Institute. 



iind the sulphide of antimony, also the sulphide of silver, were com- 

 bined with gold in a metallic state. 



Dr. P. H. Vanderweyde said, antimony as a medicine is almost 

 as dangerous as mercury, and should be used with caution. The 

 tartrate of antimony is the most dangerous; it has the property of 

 reducing the pulse. One grain is fatal, and it has to be used in 

 portions of one-twentieth of a grain or less. It has an accumula- 

 tive effect; it does not manifest itself at first. After giving it for 

 some time, without any perceptible action, it will all at once pro- 

 duce the most alarming symptoms. The tartrate of antimony, when 

 used as a salve, produces sores that can never be healed. 



The Association then adjourned to the second week in January. 



January 9, 1868. 

 Prof. S. D. Tillman in the chair. 

 The following notes were read by the Chairman: 



A SERMON METER. 



The Queen of Great Britain has fixed on the pulpit of the Chapel 

 Royal, Savoy, a sand-glass measuring eighteen minutes. 



NEW USE FOR MAGNESITE. 



Dr. Swartz recommends the use of magnesite, a natural carbonate 

 of magnesia (maffrnant), for obtaining the carbonic acid required 

 in soda water. The gas, obtained by subjecting this mineral, in a 

 retort, to a red heat, is pure and odorless, and the resulting mag- 

 nesia will be found more valuable than the original material. But 

 the supply of magnesite is not large. At Hoboken, New Jersey, it 

 is found in small seams with dolomite and serpentine. 



NEW TREATMENT IN CASES OF AMPUTATION. 



Dr. Maisonneuve, surgeon of the Hotel Dicu, Paris, read a paper 

 before the French Academy on the advantages of a continuous 

 method of aspiration in the healing of great amputations. The 

 liquids exuding from the surface of the wound coming in contact 

 with the air, poisonous putrefaction ensues; to arrest this action, 

 Dr. Maissonneuve, after dressing the wound with lint saturated 

 with antiseptic liquids, brings into use his aspiratory apparatus, 



