578 
Extracts from British and Foreign Journals. 
/ 
ON THE THERAPEUTIC ACTION OF THE CHLORATE OF 
POTASH. 
Much that is unsatisfactory at present exists respecting 
the modus operandi of this salt; and some have even thought 
that many of its properties are comparatively unknown, and 
that this had led to its non-appreciation as a therapeutic 
agent. 
Dr. Fountain, of Davenport, Iowa, in the New York Journal 
of Medicine , appears as a warm advocate for its medical 
employment. He says, “ An experience of seven years in 
the frequent use of this salt in various affections, and often 
with surprisingly favorable results, enables me to speak confi¬ 
dently of its properties as a medicine, and to present some 
facts in relation to the same heretofore unnoticed/” 
Having adverted to the composition of the salt, and the 
readiness with which it yields up its oxygen on the application 
of heat to it, he proceeds as follows: 
“ In the present article I propose to show that this same property, 
viz., the large amount of oxygen in loose combination, constitutes it an 
agent of great power in the human economy, and furnishes us with the 
means of aiding the operations of nature in some of the vital functions 
of the body, and in important ways controlling the effects of disease and 
injuries. The peculiar mode of its operation, physiologically considered, 
will be noticed after presenting some evidence of its practical utility in 
the treatment of disease. From the facts and cases here offered, some 
data can be obtained upon which to found a tolerably well sustained 
opinion, relating to its physiological action in many conditions of the 
body, in which it manifests its greatest power, while in others it must 
remain as yet a matter of hypothesis.” 
The first cases in which Dr. Fountain successfully employed 
the chlorate of potash were mercurial stomatitis, and “ he 
never knew it to fail.” He also resorted to it in a malignant 
form of ulceration of the pharynx, and likewise of typhoid 
pneumonia, with equally beneficial results. In reference to 
the last case he says: 
“I will now call attention more particularly to the peculiar property 
of the chlorate of potash, which I consider paramount to all others, and 
one which appears to be entirely unnoticed in any practical application 
by the profession generally. This property is manifested in its power 
as’ an oxydizing remedy by which the chief function of respiration is 
