486 
IODINE AN ANTIDOTE TO STRYCHNINE. 
subcutaneous administration, and that the one-tenth of a grain by the stomach, are suffi¬ 
ciently large doses of strychnia to produce rapid death. The sulphate of methyl- 
strychnium, though much more energetic than the iodide, is less so than strychnia, one 
grain being about the minimum fatal dose for rabbits by subcutaneous administration. 
This substance is, however, more soluble than the iodide of methyl-strychnium, and this 
may explain the difference of energy. The fatal dose of iodide of methyl-brucium was 
found to be very nearly the same as that of iodide of methyl-strychnium ; while the 
sulphate of methyl-brucium was said to be less energetic than the corresponding 
strychnia preparation, two grains being insufficient to kill a rabbit. An opium alkaloid 
—thebaia—has exactly the same action as strychnia or brucia. Drs. Brown and Fraser 
found that the fatal dose, by subcutaneous injection, of iodide of methyl-thebaium is ten 
grains. The direct chemical addition of iodide or sulphate of methyl had therefore 
greatly increased the fatal doses of these three alkaloids ; but another most extraordi¬ 
nary effect was produced—their physiological action was completely changed. In place 
of their administration being followed by exaggerated reflex activity, convulsive spasms, 
and tetanus, they now caused paralysis. Drs. Brown and Fraser further prove by expe¬ 
riments on frogs that this paralysis is due to an effect on the peripheral terminations on 
the motor nerves, and that the action of these substances is therefore identical with that 
of curare (wourali). 
The fatal doses of codeia and of morphia were also found to be greatly modified by 
the addition of iodide or sulphate of methyl. Their convulsant action in the lower 
animals was converted into a paralysing one; but their soporific properties were not 
altogether removed. A rabbit could not be affected by iodide of methyl-morphium, 
even when so large a quantity as twenty grains was exhibited by the subcutaneous 
tissue, or thirty grains by the stomach. One of the authors took one grain of this sub¬ 
stance, containing about three-fourths of a grain of morphia; but absolutely no 
symptom was caused. The administration, however, of sulphate of methyl-morphium, 
of sulphate of methyl-codeium, or of iodide of methyl-codeium, produced sleep in the 
lower animals. 
There are few poisons that are so' energetic as nicotia. Drs. Brown and Fraser ob¬ 
tained, by the addition of iodide of methyl, an extremely soluble crystalline body, which 
is not fatal to rabbits, by subcutaneous administration, in the comparatively large dose 
of sixteen grains. 
The authors concluded their paper by pointing out some of the obvious practical 
applications of the curious results they have obtained. Among these, the great want of 
a substance producing the effects of curare is now supplied; for the sulphates of methyl- 
strychnium, of methyl-brucium, and of methyl-thebaium are perfectly pure and constant 
preparations, which may be substituted with advantage in therapeutical and physiolo¬ 
gical applications for that rare and by no means uniformly active agent. They also 
promise to communicate further researches in the vast and important field they have 
entered .—Medical Times and Gazette, February 29th. 
IODINE AN ANTIDOTE TO STRYCHNINE. 
The following communication by Dr. Fuller appeared in the ‘Lancet’of March 21: — 
“ In the course of my practice it has often occurred to me to prescribe a mixture con¬ 
taining quinine or strychnine, together with tincture of iodine. No chemist to whom I 
have spoken on the subject has been aware of any incongruity in the mixture, and few 
have reported any difficulty in dispensing it. Last summer, however, Messrs. Twin- 
berrow called my attention to the fact that it is impossible to dispense a mixture con¬ 
taining quinine and tincture of iodine without an immediate deposit of an insoluble 
iodide of quinine, which is precipitated—according to the degree of concentration of the 
mixture, and to the sequence in which the ingredients are mixed—either as a fine brown 
powder or in large flakes of a dark brown colour, More recently, while seeing a patient 
in consultation with Dr. Williamson, of Mildmay Park, I suggested the administration 
of a mixture containing a drachm of the liquor strychnine, two drachms of dilute 
hydrochloric acid, and two drachms of tinctura iodi. Mr. Young, the chemist, of Ball’s 
Pond Road, to whom the prescription was sent, observed that a dark flaky precipitate 
