ANTIMONY. 
§ 794 -] 
of the chloride, with a small quantity of arsenic, from the contents of 
the stomach. 
§ 794. Detection of Antimony in Organic Matters. — In acute 
poisoning by tartar emetic it is not impossible to find a mere trace only 
in the stomach, the greater part having been expelled by vomiting, 
which nearly always occurs early, so that the most certain method is, 
where possible, to analyse the ejected matters. If it should be suspected 
that a living person is being slowly poisoned by antimony, it must be 
remembered that the poison is excreted by the kidneys, and the urine 
should afford some indication. The readiest way to test is to collect a 
considerable quantity of the urine (if necessary, two or three days’ 
excretion), and test. In any case, whether the analyst operates on an 
organic solid or liquid, the organic matter is destroyed by one or other 
of the processes detailed at pp. 595-597 ; the acid solution ultimately ob¬ 
tained is then concentrated and saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen. 
It is important that the liquid should only just be acid ; for Lang and 
Carson have shown that antimony sulphide is soluble in HC1 of sp. gr. 
1-16, and that it is generally much more soluble than arsenic sulphide. 
Any precipitate, of whatever colour, is filtered off, washed, and digested 
with ammonium sulphide. 
The sulphides soluble in ammonium sulphide 1 are as follows :— 
Arsenic . 
Antimony- 
Stannous salts 
Stannic salts 
Germanium 
Selenium . 
Tellurium 
Gold 
Platinum 
Iridium . 
Colour of Sulphide. 
. yellow. 
. orange, 
brown. 
. dirty yellow. 
. white. 
. orange. 
. black. 
brownish black. 
. brownish black, 
brownish black. 
In a toxicological research, only arsenic or antimony or tin is 
likely to be present, although, if platinum utensils have been used, we 
have known the sulphides to be darkened by a small proportion of 
platinum sulphide. 
The sulphide or sulphides may now be separated and identified in 
various ways. 
(a) Dry Method. —The sulphides are dried and intimately mixed 
with dry potassium cyanide and sodic carbonate, and submitted to the 
reducing flame of the blowpipe on charcoal. An onion-like odour 
1 Ammonium sulphide slightly dissolves copper sulphide, and since the liver 
always contains copper, it is useful in researches in that organ to rather use sodium 
sulphide, which will not dissolve copper sulphide. Gold, platinum, and iridium 
sulphides are very insoluble by themselves, but when in presence of the arsenic group 
of sulphides are somewhat soluble. 
40 
