S4t2 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



I. Arsenic exists in Tiuman bones; if the bones of an adult be 

 calcined, taking care not to raise the temperature too high, and to 

 avoid contact with the fuel, these bones, when reduced to powder 

 and treated with purified sulphuric acid, and then tried in Marsh's 

 apparatus, will yield brown, brilliant and thick arsenical spots. This 

 result was obtained both from the bones of corpses of adults who 

 had been dead some days, or buried for some months. 



When the calcination is effected at a white heat, no arsenic is ob- 

 tained, nor is any procured from the bones of commerce reduced 

 to a soft paste ; but if they be subjected to heat and the processes 

 indicated (nitric acid, potash and sulphuric acid), a certain quantity 

 of arsenic is obtained. 



From this first series of experiments, which amount to fourteen, 

 I conclude, says M. Orfila, 1st, That the bones of the human adult, 

 of the horse, ox, and sheep contain minute portions of arsenic, which 

 it is possible to discover by treating the bones with potash purified 

 by alcohol and pure sulphuric acid. 



2ndly, Thh quantity of arsenic is not increased by long burial. 



Srdly, Vitrification removes a portion of it, which is undoubtedly 

 occasioned by the volatilization which it occasions. 



4thly, Among the conditions favourable to the discovery of ar- 

 senic, must be especially reckoned that of not calcining the bones 

 too strongly, and secondly to avoid carefully the contact of fuel. 



5thly, When bones are treated with pure water and ebullition, 

 no arsenic is discoverable. 



6thly, If in operating in this mode, any arsenic be detected, it 

 has certainly been in some mode introduced into the ceconomy. 



II. No arsenic is found in the viscera unless it has been absorbed. 

 The organs of a dog which was hung, treated by the usual pro- 

 cesses, did not yield any. The blood, brain, the liver, spleen, kid- 

 neys, intestines, stomach, &c. gave no traces of it. Carbonized 

 with nitric acid, and afterwards tried in Marsh's apparatus, white 

 opake spots only were obtained, and these were also produced with- 

 out the presence of these organic matters. 



The liver of an adult gave none ; nor did the decoctions made 

 with various organs yield any. 



From these facts we may conclude, observes M. Orfila, but not 

 positively, that the viscera do not originally contain arsenic ; or to 

 state the fact more accurately and not to prejudge the case, it may be 

 asserted, that they do not yield any when treated with boiling water, 

 sulphuretted hydrogen, or when carbonized by concentrated nitric 

 acid, &c. It may so hajjpen that the quantity is too small to be 

 detected by sulphuretted hydrogen, or that it is lost by carbonization ; 

 but by acting on a large quantity of brain or other organs, it may be 

 detected. At any rate, it is sufiicient at present to have ascertained, 

 that the viscera yield no arsenic by the reactions described, vinless 

 it has been introduced by poisoning. 



III. It is not proved that muscular flesh contains arsenic : twelve 

 pounds of it taken from the corpse of an adult, carbonized by nitric 

 acid and tested by Marsh's apparatus, gave white opake spots ; some 

 were brilliant, with a blueish tint ; others were yellow, and had an 



