130 ON POISONING BY CONCENTRATED ACIDS, ETC. 
cularly decarbonated magnesia!* Numerous facts appear to 
demonstrate the good effects derived from this mode of medi- 
cation. 
Now it is attempted to be established that this mode of prac- 
tice is not rational, and that it is necessary to follow another 
method. It is supposed that all the acid taken in is at once ab- 
sorbed; and it is asserted that the acids are cold or hyposthenic 
poisons, and that it is necessary, 1st, to cause the subject to vo- 
mit, by irritating the throat with a feather; 2d, to cause him to 
drink, without delay, pure wine, mixed with warm^broth; 
3d and lastly, to add magnesia with the drink, if it is sup- 
posed that any now absorbed acid remains in the stomach. 
We do not attach more importance to the employment of 
one method of treatment than to the other, but we think that 
the method which ought to be adopted is that which facts 
have demonstrated to be followed with success; now, if we 
consult authors who have published observations of poisoning 
by the concentrated acids, it will be seen that in the majority 
of cases, the alkalies, when they have been employed in time, 
have saved the patients. If we search for the facts, which 
will allow the results of the new method to be studied, they 
are found not to be numerous, at least within our knowledge. 
What ought we to conclude, then, from these researches? It 
is, that we ought to employ the method which is most cer- 
tain, and that we should not make experiments upon man to 
establish the value of different methods. 
We think that experiments made upon animals might elu- 
cidate the question ;" we at least express the wish that they 
should be tried by the individuals who are anxious to estab- 
lish that the anti-hyposthenic method should prevail over the 
method by saturation. 
To allow our readers an opportunity to study the facts, we 
shall indicate here, 1st, the cases of poisoning by concentrated 
* Lunding, Be olei viirioli et aquae forUs turgiiur ingestorum sequelae earum 
que cura, (Copenhagen, 1821,) has proposed to employ mucilaginous 
drinks, after the method of the ancients. He says that sometimes neutral- 
izing agents are injurious. 
