422 
MISCELLANEA. 
out of the wrong Lottie. He communicated without loss of time with his two brother 
esculapians, who, by the timely administration of antidotes, neutralized the action of 
the poison, and saved his life. Dr. Brockhausen has no fear of catching the cholera 
for some time to come. He deems himself thoroughly disinfected.— British Medical 
Journal. 
Poisoning- Wliales. —M. Balard has been occupying himself with the problem 
how to poison whales rapidly. He combines a soluble salt of strychnia with a twentieth 
part of woorara. He loaded some explosive cartridges with two ounces each of this 
delectable compound, and started off on a whaler. He gives particulars of the whales 
which he shot at and wounded. They all either died almost immediately or very rapidly 
(usually in less than ten minutes) after general convulsion. He concludes that whales 
are even more sensitive to poison than land mammals, and that, in future, it will be well 
to diminish the dose of poison, in order to determine a rather slower death.— British 
Medical Journal. * 
The Sale of Almond Flavour. —A case has been brought before the Bolton 
Borough Court, in which Mr. Thomas Goodman, druggist, was charged with having 
sold to a young woman, named Catherine Joyce, “ a certain quantity of virulent poison 
to wit, half an ounce, of almond tlavour, such sale not being made in the presence of a 
witness,” etc,, as directed by the “ Bolton Improvement Act of 1854.” The sale of the 
poison having been proved. Dr. Settle, who made the post-mortem examination of the 
body of Catherine Joyce, stated that in his opinion “ almond flavour ” was a virulent 
poison, and he was sure that in this case it had produced death; and although Mr. 
Goodman stated that he purchased the essential oil of almonds free from prussic acid, 
and was of opinion that the poison had been produced by the decomposition of the oil, 
Dr. Settle stated that the oil was always poisonous ; he never heard of its being sold 
free from prussic acid. The Bench was of opinion that the case would be met by the 
infliction of a nominal fine of five shillings, by way of caution. 
A Fire Seif-extinguished. —A fire broke out on Saturday in the cellar of a 
druggist named Christian, in the Avenue Montaigne, Paris, and was brought to a termi¬ 
nation in a singular manner. A boy had let a lighted lucifer fall on some rags, which 
became ignited, and the flames spread to some bottles and carboys containing various 
kinds of spirits and alcohol; these bursting soon flooded the cellar with a blazing liquid 
which emitted a smoke so suffocating that the firemen were unable to enter. Suddenly 
a loud explosion was heard, and the flames became extinguished as if by enchantment. 
Three bottles of sulphuric ether, containing in all about three quarts, had burst, and the 
vapour mixing with tlie atmospheric air had put an end to the combustion.— Chemical 
News. 
Oxalate of Iron a iKTew Tonic. —The following communication from Mr. J. 
Emerson Eeynolds has been addressed to ‘ The Medical Press and Circular ’ of Nov. 28.— 
“Allow me to draw your attention to a preparation of iron, which has been much 
neglected, if not altogether overlooked. I refer to the oxalate of the protoxide of iron. 
Having lately used it in cases requiring the exhibition of a compound of the metal, I 
observed that it was borne with remarkable ease by the stomach, possessed little if any 
astringency, and produced the usual constitutional effect with sufficient rapidity. The 
salt is easily prepared by adding a solution of protosulphate of iron to an excess of 
oxalate of ammonia solution containing a little free oxalic acid, a yellow precipitate is 
thrown down, which is the compound in question ; this should be well washed and then 
dried. By having an excess of oxalic acid present any per-salt formed is held in solu¬ 
tion. The precipitate yielded on analysis results agreeing with the formula Fe 0, C .2 O 3 
+ 4 HO, and therefore contains one-third of its weight of oxide of iron, one-third of 
oxalic anhydride, and the rest of water. The salt, when prepared as above directed, is 
a fine powder of a straw-yellovv’ colour, almost devoid of taste and singularly slow to 
oxidise in contact with the air. It is slightly soluble in water, but more easily acted 
upon by a dilute acid, and is decomposed by the alkalies or their carbonates. When 
burned in the open air it leaves a residue of pure peroxide of iron in a condition parti¬ 
cularly favourable for the production of fer r&luit. In conclusion, I may remark that 
the oxalate of iron requires but three atoms of oxygen for its complete oxidation in the 
system, whereas for a given weight of iron the tartrate of the peroxide needs ten 
equivalents, and the citrate eighteen of oxygen, to effect the same end.” 
