ANovJemLria894n-}      Blunder  in  Medical  Chemistry.  551 
dangerous,  and  which  is  also  doubtless  responsible  for  the  practice 
of  exhibiting  chlorate  of  potash  in  cases  of  blood-poisoning,  "  to 
oxidize  and  destroy  the  poison  in  the  blood,"  whereas  every  chem- 
ist is  aware  that  in  an  alkaline  solution  like  the  blood  the  chlorate 
of  potassium  is  practically  as  stable  and  inert*  as  the  chloride,  or  as 
common  salt. 
In  these  remarks  the  writer  disclaims  the  idea  of  censuring  the 
members  of  the  medical  profession,  because  these  are  chemical  sub- 
jects, and  if  blame  be  due  anywhere  it  must  undoubtedly  fall  upon 
chemists  for  neglecting  to  point  out  to  the  members  of  an  allied 
profession  the  absurdities  involved  in  these  two  cases. 
There  is,  however,  one  great  consolation  for  the  uric  acid  and 
pyaemia  patients  who  have  been  wrongly  treated,  viz.:  that  both 
lithia  water  and  chlorate  of  potash*  are  (so  far  as  we  know)  harmless — 
quite  unlike  the  copious  blood-letting  and  salivation  treatments  of  a 
by-gone  age. 
At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  use  of  value- 
less "  remedies,"  however  harmless  in  themselves,  hinders  or 
altogether  prevents  the  search  for  real  and  rational  ones.  The 
sooner,  therefore,  attention  is  drawn  to  them  the  better  for  the 
patients,  even  should  there  be  nothing  to  propose  in  lieu  of  those 
discarded. 
Although  the  absurdity  of  the  lithia  water  "  bull  "  merely  requires 
to  be  mentioned  to  a  trained  chemist  to  be  at  once  recognized,  it 
may  be  as  well  to  give  a  few  details. 
In  the  first  place,  the  substitution  of  lithium  for  sodium  in  the 
animal  economy  would  probably  be  by  no  means  an  unimportant 
change.  Physiologists  have  found  that  the  substitution  of  the  blood 
of  one  animal  for  that  of  another  is  possible  in  the  case  of  allied 
species,  but  in  that  of  animals  belonging  to  different  genera  the 
change  may  be  followed  by  immediate  death.  In  all  probability, 
therefore,  it  would  be  a  very  risky  proceeding  to  convert  the  albu- 
minate of  sodium  in  human  blood  into  albuminate  of  lithium,  even 
if  it  were  possible.  Fortunately  for  the  patient,  however,  this  is  as 
likely  to  be  successful  as  the  notion  regarding  the  medicinal  use  of 
free  phosphorus,  viz.:  «  the  brain  contains  free  phosphorus,  and  the 
*  While  it  is  true  that  potassium  chlorate  is  stable  in  alkaline  solutions,  yet 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  in  doses  of  ten  to  fifteen  grams  it  is  an  initant 
poison. — Editor  of  Am.  Jour.  Ph. 
