264 
MISCELLANY. 
In the Bulletin Generale Therapeutique, for December, 1834, MM. 
Soubeiran and Miguel, of Paris, have published their experiments, with 
the supposed antidote, upon the canine species. The acid was first given, 
with the view of testing the anti-arsenical properties, said to be inherent 
in the economy of the dog family. The administration of large doses of 
the poison produced copious vomiting, and in every instance the animals 
submitted to their experiments recovered, without any other pathological 
symptom ; it therefore became necessary to tie the cesophagus after the 
introduction of the arsenious acid, to obviate vomiting ; the consequence 
of this step was the uniform death of the dogs in from two to four hours. 
The third step in the experiments consisted in giving a certain portion of 
the poison, followed by twelve times its amount of the hydrated tritoxide 
of iron, and an immediate closure of the cesophagus by ligature,— -life 
was prolonged to seventy-eight, eight-four and ninety-hours. It must be 
here remarked that tying the cesophagus is a fatal operation, and generally 
destroys life in from sixty to one hundred hours. Consequently the salu- 
tary effects of the iron cannot be doubted in these cases, for where the 
arsenic was given, and the ligature tied, without the administration of the 
antidote, the longest period of sufferance was four hours. Several other 
experiments were instituted to determine how long after the admission of 
arsenic into the system the antidote may be given with a reasonable hope 
of success; the results all tended to prove the value of the iron, and the 
experimenters emphatically conclude that it is a counter-poison where 
arsenious acid has been swallowed. 
Drs. Borelli and Demaria, two physicians of Turin, have published in 
substance the following : — 
Experiment 1. — Twelve grains of arsenious acid given to a dog; the 
cesophagus tied, but no peroxide of iron administered. Result, death in 
three hours. 
Experiment 2. — Nine grains of arsenic given to a dog, and immediately 
after three ounces of hydrated tritoxide of iron, the cesophagus tied ; seven 
hours afterwards the ligature was loosened to introduce another dose of the 
antidote. The animal lived ten days, and was then killed for a necroscopy. 
Experiment 3. — Fourteen grains of the poison, given to a large dog, and 
the cesophagus tied ; it was loosened half an hour afterwards to introduce 
one ounce of the iron. The dog perfectly recovered, and was killed some 
days subsequently, by a dose of arsenic administered without the antidote. 
Conclusions. — Four and a half parts of the iron necessary to neutralise 
one of arsenious acid. The hydrated iron loses its virtue by age ; i* 
fresh, it is as certain an antidote to arsenious acid as albumen is to corro- 
sive sublimate. 
In the Journal de Medecine et de Chirurgie Pratique for September, 
1835, M. Geoffroy, treated a hair-dresser, who had taken an ounce and a 
half of white oxide of arsenic. He gave ^vi. ss. of hydrated peroxide of 
