422  POISONOUS  EFFECT  FROM  COPPER  FOUNTAINS. 
useful  substitute.  The  oil  employed  was  a  pure  cocoa  oleine, 
obtained  by  pressure  from  crude  cocoa-nut  oil,  as  expressed  in 
Ceylon  and  the  Malabar  coast  from  the  Copperah  or  dried  cocoa- 
nut  kernel,  and  refined  by  being  treated  with  an  alkali  and  then 
repeatedly  washed  with  distilled  water.  It  burns  with  a  faint 
blue  flame,  showing  a  comparatively  small  proportion  of  carbon, 
and  is  undrying. 
The  analysis  of  the  blood  was  conducted  by  Mr.  Dugald 
Campbell.  The  whole  quantity  abstracted  having  been  weighed, 
the  coagulum  was  drained  on  bibulous  paper  for  four  or  five 
hours,  weighed  and  divided  into  two  portions.  One  portion  was 
weighed  and  then  dried  in  a  water  oven,  to  determine  the  water. 
The  other  was  macerated  in  cold  water  until  it  became  colorless, 
then  moderately  dried  and  digested  with  ether  and  alcohol  to 
remove  fat,  and  finally  dried  completely  and  weighed  as  fibrine. 
From  the  respective  weights  of  the  fibrine  and  the  dry  clot  that 
of  the  corpuscles  was  calculated.  The  following  were  the  results 
observed  in  seven  different  individuals  affected  with  phthisis  in 
different  stages  of  advancement : — 
Red  corpuscles.  Fibrine. 
First  stage,  before  the  use  C  Female  129-26  4-52 
of  cod-liver  oil    .    .  (  Male  116-03  13-57 
First  stage  after  the  use  C  Female  136-47  5-00 
of  cod-liver  oil    .    .  £  Male  141-53  4-79 
Third  stage,  after  the  use 
of  cod-liver  oil    .    .      5  Male  138-74  ^ 
Third  stage,  after  the  use  C  Male  139-95  2-31 
of  cocoa-nut  oil  .    .       £  Male  144-94  4-61 
Chem,  Gfaz.,  July  15,  1854. 
POISONOUS  EFFECTS  OF  SODA  WATER  FROM  COPPER  FOUN- 
TAINS AND  LEAD  PIPES. 
By  R.  Ogden  Doremus,  M.  D. 
Having,  within  a  few  days,  had  several  friends  relate  their 
sudden  illness  after  taking  a  single  glass  of  soda  water,  and  sus- 
pecting some  poisonous  impregnation  to  be  the  cause,  I  was 
induced  to  obtain  several  gallons  of  this  favorite  beverage,  from 
different  parts  of  the  city,  and  to  submit  them  to  a  chemical 
examination. 
