10 
ON PHOSPHATE OF AMMONIA. 
ART. II — OBSERVATIONS ON PHOSPHATE OF AMMONIA. 
By Charles Ellis. 
We are indebted to Dr. T. H. Buckler, of Baltimore, for 
an interesting communication on the use of Phosphate of 
Ammonia, in gout and rheumatism. The theory of Dr. B., 
in regard to its remedial action in those diseases, the reasons 
which induced his experiments, together with a history of 
the successful treatment pursued by him, will be found in 
the article alluded to, published in " The American Journal 
of the Medical Sciences" for January, 1846. 
Before proceeding with our remarks upon the chemical 
character of this salt, and the methods of preparing it, the in- 
troduction of which, as a new remedy, by Dr. Buckler, is 
another contribution from the science of Chemistry to that 
of Medicine, we propose to make a few extracts from his 
Essay which will throw some light on the history of the 
introduction of this salt to the class of the therapeutic 
agents : 
" My attention was called particularly to this subject 
quite accidentally, and in this way. A gentleman of high 
intelligence, great acuteness of mind, and a subject of gout, 
came under my care, in an attack of this disease. Some 
days after my visit to him had ceased, he addressed me a 
note in which he complained that his finger joints, which 
had been for a long time thickened, were more swollen than 
usual, and that since his last attack they were quite sensi- 
tive, so much so as to give him great uneasiness. He fur- 
ther remarked, that, in reading the life of Lord Eldon, he 
had seen it stated that he, (Lord Eldon,) had been sent, 
while suffering from an attack of gout, to drink the Bath 
water, the effect of which was instantly to cut short the 
gouty paroxysm. He begged me to send him an analysis 
of the Bath water, and asked, at the same time, if there 
