292 Means of detecting Arsenic in the Animal Body, Se. 
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There is one very important fact to be kept in mind with ref- 
erence to examinations of this character ; it is the medical treat- 
ment that the individual has been subjected to before death. For 
instance, the treatment by diuretics, which will be mentioned 
presently, may remove from one or more organs the poison previ- 
ously contained in them, and still the impressions made upon 
them be too strong to be recovered from. How then is this diffi- 
culty to be removed? By carefully preserving all the urine—an 
observation which is of such importance that it should not escape 
the memory of any physician. er, 
What are the best means of treating the poisonous effects of ar- 
senic ? 
A few words upon two new methods of treating the effects of 
arsenic, will conclude this article, already extended much farther 
than I had intended. Score le # ae 
The remedies that we already possess, are, at the very best, 
but feeble agents to combat the effects of this poison. ‘The one 
most to be relied on is the hydrated peroxide of iron, it being @ 
veritable antidote to poisoning by arsenic; however, there are 
some objections, the principal of which is the slowness of its 
absorption, for it is only where it encounters the poison ‘that its 
salutary effects are displayed, by forming with it an inert arsenite 
of iron. 
A treatment proposed in Italy, is the administration of stimu 
lant draughts every two or three hours, consisting of brandy one 
ounce, wine two ounces, bouillon (the liquid produced by boiling » 
beef or other meat in water) four ounces. It 1 ypon 
the supposition that the effects of arsenic are atonic, the truth of 
which is far from being established. Instances are given where 
this treatment has proved eflicacious, although I have witnessed 
experiments made with it, in comparison with simply tepid water, 
where the latter proved to be the most successful of the two 
The treatment by diuretics is one that deserves some conside- 
ration; it is advanced by M. Orfila, based upon numerous expel: 
ments. It has been more than once stated, that the urine exhib- 
its a large portion of the arsenious acid absorbed into the system, 
and it seems very rational to suppose, that if this secretion cov 
be augmented by any means, that the quantity of arsenic carth 
off would be also increased. It has been observed, that whew 
equal quantities of arsenious acid have been given to two dogs of 
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