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DETECTION OF POISON IN THE URINE. 
1st. That many poisons are absorbed into the circulation. 
2ndly. That those poisons are eliminated by the kidneys, 
and may be detected in the urine, either by their chemical 
or physiological reactions. 
3rdly. That these facts, together with others from expe- 
riment, point to the value of diuretics in the treatment of 
cases of poisoning. 
4thly. That it is possible to obtain, from an examination 
of the urine, some of the most valuable and certain evidences 
regarding the administration of a poison. 
5thly. That we should not omit to examine this secretion 
in every case of suspected poisoning. 
In the course of the paper, the author alluded to the pre- 
sence of an excess of phosphates in the urine of persons oc- 
cupied in the manufacture of lucifer matches, and referred 
it to the inhalation of phosphoric and phosphorous acids 
generated by the slow combustion of the phosphorus. He 
proposed a very simple remedy, that of exposing shallow 
vessels, containing turpentine, in different parts of the build- 
ing, but especially in those situations where the phosphorus 
was most liable to oxidation : by this means he found that 
the vapour of turpentine would become diffused through 
the atmosphere, and so check that slow combustion of the 
phosphorus which was the source of all the mischief to the 
workmen. 
Dr. Golding Bird remarked that the paper just read con- 
tained some points of great interest ; the most interesting, 
however, being, probably, the least novel. Thus it was 
long ago demonstrated that the kidney carried from the cir- 
culation all effete and injurious matters that were held in 
the blood in solution, either in a changed or an unchanged 
condition. This latter law was of universal application, 
whether it related to saline or vegetable matters. 
One of the facts mentioned in the paper confirmed the 
experiments made by Donne and himself, (Dr. Bird) that 
when oxalic acid was taken into the stomach, either as a 
