8 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
1st. That we are justified in believing that peroxide of iron 
undergoes no change from age, by inferences drawn from the 
known great affinity of iron for oxygen. 
2d. That the discovery of native peroxide, entirely un- 
changed, affords positive testimony of the foregoing position. 
3d. That relief has been afforded by the use of the peroxide 
of indeterminate age. 
From which, as a necessary consequence, it follows that 
neither reason nor observation sustains the opinion that the 
precipitated hydrate of peroxide of iron must be freshly pre- 
pared to render it available as an antidote to arsenious acid. 
In regard to the precipitated hydrate of peroxide of iron, it 
is proved, 
1st. That, owing to its state of aggregation, when moist, it 
is the preferable form in which to administer it as an antidote. 
2d. That it should be well washed before being so em- 
ployed. 
3d. That the extemporaneous preparation of the antidote 
is inadvisable, because time is lost in the administration, be- 
side the inability to wash it. 
4th. That the hydrated peroxide of iron can be preserved 
any length of time unaltered, and ready for immediate use 
by suffering it to remain diffused through a portion of the 
water in which it has been washed, corked up in bottles.* 
And lastly, That every apothecary, and physician residing 
in the country, should always be provided with the antidote 
thus preserved in bottles of a convenient size for use. 
Enough, has now, certainly, been said to establish the po- 
sition which I undertook to demonstrate, and a few comments 
upon the mode of preparation are now offered. Several modes 
have been suggested for the preparation of this oxide, which, 
although varied in detail, are essentially the same in princi- 
* These first, second, and fourth positions receive additional strength 
from the directions given by Drs. Bunsen and Berthold for making 
this oxide. They will be mentioned further on, and although not ita- 
licized in the text, have been so printed here to distinguish them. 
