580 
Correspoiidence. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I  December,  1904. 
Up  to  the  time  of  going  to  press  replies  were  also  received  from  Dr. 
Hare,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  and  from  Dr.  Holland,  Dean  and  Professor  of 
Medical  Chemistry  and  Toxicology  in  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
Their  replies  are  as  follows  :  , 
My  Dear  Professor  Kraemer : 
In  reply  to  your  note  let  me  state  that  small  doses  of  copper  exer- 
cise, so  far  as  is  known,  a  stimulant  effect  upon  nutritional  processes. 
I  do  not  think  that  we  have  any  information  in  regard  to  the  infi- 
nitesimal quantities  which  are  present  in  water  when  treated  by  the 
copper  method,  but  it  is  incredible  that  they  could  exercise  any 
deleterious  influence.  Certainly  the  improbable  deleterious  influ- 
ence of  infinitesimal  quantities  of  copper  when  compared  to  the 
certain  evil  influence  of  micro-organisms  amounts  to  nothing. 
Very  truly  yours,  H.  A.  Hare. 
Philadelphia,  November  14,  1904. 
Mr.  Henry  Kraemer,  Editor  of  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Dear  Sir  : — In  his  paper  on  purification  of  water  by  copper  I 
think  that  Dr.  Moore  shows  conclusively  that  water  supplies  can  be 
freed  of  pathogenic  bacteria  and  algae  promptly,  cheaply  and  effi- 
ciently by  that  means.  The  question  remaining  to  be  answered  is, 
can  this  purification  be  done  with  entire  safety  to  those  drinking  the 
water  ? 
Until  comparatively  recent  times  it  has  been  thought  that  the 
slow  introduction  of  minute  doses  of  copper  was  injurious  to  the 
tissues  by  causing  such  pathological  changes  as  are  known  to  be 
due  to  certain  other  metallic  poisons,  such  as  lead,  arsenic  and  mer- 
cury. But  Bernatzic  1  has  proven  that  to  produce  toxic  phenomena 
with  copper  salts  it  must  be  given  freely  and  intentionally,  and  even 
then  the  subject  spontaneously  recovers  when  the  administration 
ceases.  When  a  student  of  medicine  I  was  made  aware  of  the  harm- 
lessness  of  copper  sulphate  in  small  doses.  Quinine  was  very  ex- 
pensive then,  and  in  the  dispensary  practice  of  a  malarious  region 
some  cheaper  substitute  was  needed.  Hundreds  of  cases  were 
treated  with  a  combination  of  the  sulphates  of  cinchonine,  iron  and 
copper.    About  l/§  of  a  grain  of  sulphate  of  copper  was  given 
Encyc.  d.  ges.  Heilkunde. 
