THALLIUM AND ITS POISONING PROPERTIES. 
51 
seem to some to be speculative, or our suggestions appear 
unpractical, we would venture to observe that we are fully 
aware of the difficulties that oppose themselves to the appli¬ 
cation of principles; but while we accord a profound respect 
to practical experience, we feel we are not likely to meet 
with unsympathising readers among the farmers of the pre¬ 
sent age, if we persist in forcibly urging the claims of 
science. 
7a, New Cavendish Street, Portland Place, 
February 10, 1863. 
THALLIUM AND ITS POISONING PROPERTIES. 
Our readers are well acquainted with the history of this 
new metal, which has been the subject of a dispute for 
priority between Mr. Crookes and M. Lamy. The latter 
gentleman, in a paper addressed to the Academy of Sciences, 
now announces a property of that metal, the discovery of 
w hich undoubtedly belongs to him, viz., its deleterious pow er. 
Having experienced certain pains, especially in his lower 
limbs, while pursuing his studies on thallium, he w r as in¬ 
duced to attribute them to a noxious influence of the metal; 
and in order to ascertain whether such w 7 as the fact, he dis¬ 
solved five grammes of sulphate of thallium in milk and 
offered it to tw 7 o puppies, each about tw T o months old. But 
after tasting the liquid they left it, and could not be induced 
to take any more. On the following day the milk, w hich 
had been left in the yard, had disappeared, and it soon turned 
out that it had been partaken of by a dog, tw r o hens, and 
six ducks. For a few hours after ingestion the dog became 
sad and refused to eat. During the night it w 7 as seized with 
violent gripes, which caused it to utter piercing cries. Its 
features had undergone a change; its back was bent up 
through the effect of pain, the seat of which was evidently in 
the intestines. Its hind legs, after a continuance of con¬ 
vulsive motions, became paralysed, and it died sixty-four 
hours after taking the poison. On the day before its death 
a hen and six ducks died, and in those which w T ere w’atched 
in time the paralysis of the legs was remarked. The tw 7 o 
puppies, which had scarcely touched the milk, had meanwhile 
showrn symptoms of fatigue ; by degrees they w 7 ere seized 
with convulsive trembling, and could hardly stand; then 
came the acute pains which ended in death, although every 
