ON  OXALATE  OF  CERIUM. 
3 
country,  near  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  and  Monroe,  New  York.  Prof. 
Silliman,  Jr.,  informs  me  that  he  had  caused  to  be  collected  at 
the  latter  place  during  the  past  year  a  notable  quantity  for 
Prof.  R.  Bunsen,  who  has  lately  published  an  interesting  paper 
on  the  preparation  of  pure  cerium-compounds,  as  have  Vogler 
and  Jegel.*  The  processes  for  this  preparation  are  tedious 
enough  to  excuse  me  from  recounting  the  various  methods  given 
elsewhere,  and  I  will  at  once  proceed  to  give  what  appears  to  me 
the  most  expeditious  and  satisfactory. 
Prof.  Simpson  does  not  state  expressly  whether  the  oxalate 
of-  cerium  he  uses  is  that  of  the  protoxide  or  peroxide  ;  but  I 
judge  it  to  be  the  former  from  a  sample  of  the  Edinburgh  pre- 
paration, which,  by  the  by,  contains  a  considerable  proportion  of 
lanthanium,  a  circumstance  which  may  have  no  bearing  on  the 
action  of  the  medicine. 
The  mineral  commonly  used,  and  the  one  I  obtained  for  this 
life  was  despaired  of.  She  got,  first  of  all,  one  grain  of  oxalate  of  cerium, 
but  vomited  three  hours  afterwards.  She  was  then  told  to  take  a  grain  every 
three  hours  for  a  day,  and  afterwards  one  grain  thrice  a-day.  This  was 
successful  in  checking  the  vomiting,  and  a  few  days  afterwards  she  left 
Edinburgh,  feeling  quite  well,  eating  her  meals  heartily,  and  free  from  all 
sickness.  Everything  had  been  tried  by  different  Medical  men  in  the  West 
which  afforded  any  prospect  of  relief,  as  creosote,  prussic  acid,  bismuth, 
lime-water,  ice,  champagne,  opium,  blisters,  etc.,  but  all  without  effect. 
The  only  thing  from  which  she  ever  experienced  any  benefit,  and  that  was 
only  very  transient  and  temporary,  was  calcined  magnesia.  Yet,  as  I  have 
told  you,  it  required  only  a  very  few  doses  of  oxalate  of  cerium  to  produce 
a  perfect  cure.  Shortly  afterwards  I  saw,  with  Dr.  Craig,  of  Ratho,  a  case 
of  severe  and  persistent  vomiting  in  pregnancy,  where  he  had  tried  every- 
thing; but  in  vain.  She,  too,  was  cured  by  a  few  doses  of  cerium.  When 
the  propriety  of  entering  this  and  other  modern  remedies  in  the  new  Phar- 
macopoeia to  be  published  by  the  Medical  Council  was  lately  debated,  it  was 
objected  that  so  little  of  the  drug  is  used  that  it  is  not  worth  while  classify- 
ing it  among  the  other  recognized  medicinal  agents.  But  on  making  in- 
quiry lately  at  the  drug  shop  of  Messrs.  Duncan,  Flockhart  &  Co.,  in  this 
city,  I  was  told  that  they  had  sold  as  much  as  sixty-four  ounces  during  the 
preceding  twelve  months,  and  I  feel  assured  that  it  only  requires  to  be  more 
widely  known  to  make  it  more  extensively  esteemed  and  employed  as  a 
general  metallic  sedative  tonic. — Med.  Times  and  Gazette,  Sept.  17th,  1859. 
*  Annalen  der  Chemie  u.  Pharmacie,  Vol.  cv.  40,  45  ;  Chemical  Gazette, 
1858,  p.  221. 
