238 
MISCELLANY. 
Antiperiodic Ointment. 
R — Lard, 95 gr. 
Sulphate of quinine, - - - - 15 gr. 
Sesquioxide of iron, - - - - 60 centi-gr. 
Pure opium, ------ 15 " 
Use. — In frictions on the vertebral region, after having washed it with 
soap and water, every two hours for three days. 
This ointment is employed in cases of periodic fevers — when child- 
ren are indisposed for absorption — when the fits do not allow time for 
administering the preparations of quinine — when there is vomiting and 
dysphagia, &c. — Chemist from Journal de Chimie Medicale. 
Arsenic in the Earth of Cemeteries. — M. Ollivier d'Angers made the 
following communication to the Academy: — He had recently been en- 
gaged in a judicial inquiry which had involved an important medico- 
legal question, one on which M. Orfila had read a paper to the academy 
two years ago, viz., ** the arsenic contained in the earth of cemeteries." 
M. Orfila stated in his memoir that arsenic being insoluble in water, it 
was impossible that a body buried in arsenical ground could become im- 
pregnated by that substance. This statement, the result of theory, had 
been confirmed by the case to which he alluded, and which was as fol- 
lows:-— A man lost his wife, and public rumor having accused him of 
poisoning her, the body was exhumed. An accurate analysis, however, 
proved that she had died of organic lesions quite independent of the ac- 
tion of any poison. A married woman, who wished to marry this man, 
poisoned her husband, and on the post mortem examination being made, 
evident traces of arsenic were found. The woman was brought before 
the azzises, but owing to discussions between the medical witnesses, 
the trial was deferred to the ensuing session. The body of the poison- 
ed man was again exhumed, and the viscera sent to Paris to M. Ollivier 
d'Angers, along with some of the earth of the grave. Arsenic was 
found in the liver through the means of Marsh's apparatus. It was also 
found in the earth. The authorities then had the body of the woman 
who first died again exhumed. It is worthy of remark that after the 
first exhumation the body accidentally fell out of the coffin into the grave, 
and was covered by arsenical earth. Not a trace of arsenic however 
was found in the body, although it had thus remained several months 
imbedded in arsenical earth. This case, therefore, confirms the previ- 
sions of M. Orfila. It shows both that arsenic does exist in the earth 
in some localities, and that this circumstance does not render medico- 
legal researches more difficult, as the insolubility of the arsenic contain- 
ed in the earth of cemeteries prevents bodies becoming impregnated 
with it. 
