520  NONOCCURRENCE  OF  IODINE  IN  EGGS,  MILK,  ETC. 
ON  THE  PRETENDED  OCCURRENCE  OF  IODINE  IN  MILK,  EGGS, 
AND  THE  ATMOSPHERIC  AIR. 
Br  Dr.  Lohmeyer. 
Some  years  since,  Chatin  instituted  some  investigations  upon 
the  distribution  of  iodine  ;  he  not  only  found  it  in  all  spring- 
waters,  in  fresh  water  and  land  plants,  in  the  most  various  arti- 
cles of  food,  in  artificial  beverages  such  as  wine  and  beer,  but, 
according  to  him,  it  constantly  occurs  also  as  an  essential  con- 
stituent in  the  inhabitants  of  our  rivers  and  in  land  animals. 
As  it  was  shown,  about  the  same  time,  by  Meyrac,  Marchand 
and  others,  that  the  distribution  of  iodine  is  much  more  consid- 
erable than  had  hitherto  been  supposed,  it  could  excite  no  sur- 
prise that  it  should  be  found  in  the  animal  organism ;  here,  as 
everywhere  in  nature,  it  was  to  be  regarded  as  the  constant  com- 
panion of  the  chlorine  compounds. 
Chatin,  however,  regards  iodine  not  as  an  incidental,  but  as  an 
essential  constituent  of  the  organs ;  and  according  to  his  state- 
ments with  respect  to  the  quantities  of  it  contained  in  eggs, 
milk,  &c,  he  appears  to  be  perfectly  right  in  so  doing.  Accord- 
ing to  Chatin,  a  hen's  egg  contains  more  iodine  than  1  litre  of 
milk,  whilst  this  again  contains  more  than  our  usual  articles  of 
food  and  beverage.  He  also  considers  iodine  to  be  of  import- 
ance in  the  respiratory  process.  Normally  the  air  contains  1*500 
milligrm.  of  iodine  in  4000  litres,  and  during  respiration  4-5  are 
said  to  disappear.  Fourcault,  who  has  occupied  himself  with 
the  study  of  the  causes  of  goitre  and  cretinism,  examined  the  air 
in  those  places  where  these  diseases  are  indigenous ;  in  these 
localities  he  found  the  atmosphere  free  from  iodine,  and  concluded 
accordingly  that  the  deficiency  of  iodine  was  the  principal  cause  of 
goitre  and  cretinism.  Chatin  immediately  proved  that  the  air 
of  the  Alps  was  much  poorer  in  iodine  than  the  atmosphere  of 
Paris ;  he  found  less  iodine  in  the  valley  of  the  Rhone  than  in 
that  of  the  Seine,  less  still  in  the  valley  of  the  Isere,  and  a  con- 
stant diminution  towards  the  Alps.  He  only  met  with  it  again 
in  the  plain  of  Piedmont,  after  it  had  eluded  his  investigations 
on  the  French  side  of  the  Alps. 
As  therefore  the  influence  of  iodine  appears  to  be  of  the  great- 
est importance  to  the  development  and  continuance  of  the  animal 
organism,  the  author  regarded  the  testing  of  Chatin's  statements 
