24 



Scientific Proceedings (55). 



complete anesthesia and paralysis as follows a subcutaneous 

 injection of fifteen decigrams of magnesium sulphate alone. In 

 other words the result of the injection of subminimal doses of 

 sodium oxalate and magnesium sulphate is a greatly intensified 

 effect, which, however, does not seem to correspond to a combina- 

 tion of the divergent effects of the two salts but corresponds rather 

 to a summation of two subminimal doses of magnesium salt 

 alone. There was this difference, however: the state of anesthesia 

 and paralysis produced by the injection of the two salts lasted 

 definitely longer than is usual after an injection of an effective 

 dose of magnesium alone. 



The results were constant; except for one or two failures at 

 the beginning, the outcome of every experiment was in the 

 direction stated above. 



The experiments were undertaken on the basis of considera- 

 tions which follow from the observations of Meltzer and Auer on 

 the antagonistic action of calcium to magnesium, namely that the 

 anesthetic and paralytic action of magnesium is rapidly reversed 

 by an injection of calcium. As a consequence of this fact, it 

 seemed probable that a reduction of calcium within the body might 

 be capable of augmenting the depressing action of magnesium. 

 Now we know that oxalates precipitate calcium salts in crystalloid 

 solutions and also antagonize their effects in animal fluids, as 

 is illustrated in the process of fibrin formation. It was therefore 

 considered possible that oxalates, by reducing in some degree the 

 calcium action within the body, might increase the effect of sub- 

 minimal doses of magnesium. The results of our experiments 

 seem to support this hypothesis. 



