POISONING  BY  GRANULES  OF  DIGITALIN. 
265 
that  half  this  quantity  is  sufficient,  the  beauty  of  the  crystalliza- 
tion being  greater  when  all  the  lime  is  not  saturated.  Syrups 
in  a  state  of  incipient  fermentation  must  be  saturated  with  alkali, 
as  their  carbonic  acid  destroys  the  saponaceous  compound.  No 
special  apparatus  is  required. 
The  soap  employed  in  the  experiments  was  made  with  soda 
and  olive-oil,  but  any  soap  may  serve  the  same  purpose.  It  must 
be  more  or  less  neutral  according  to  the  acid  or  alkaline  quali- 
ties of  the  syrup  to  be  treated,  and  the  economy  of  its  employ- 
ment is  increased  by  the  fact,  that  the  only  expense  is  that  of 
the  soda  for  saponification  and  the  acid  for  the  decomposition 
of  the  calcareous  soap,  as  the  fatty  matter  serves  almost  inde- 
finitely. The  method  also  causes  a  considerable  diminution  in 
the  employment  of  animal  charcoal.-—  Oomptes  Mendus,  Dee.  28, 
1857,  from  Chem.  Gaz.,  March  1,  1858. 
POISONING  BY  GRANULES  OF  DIGITALIN. 
By  Dr.  Heer. 
A  tall,  well-formed  lady,  of  a  sanguineous  temperament,  took, 
for  the  purpose  of  killing  herself,  at  seven  in  the  morning,  six- 
teen granules  of  digitalin,  and,  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  a  cup 
of  coffee.  Two  hours  after,  she  was  attacked  with  shivering  and 
trembling,  an  impossibility  of  remaining  on  foot,  vertigo,  and 
strange  hallucinations.  At  six  in  the  evening,  the  patient  took 
some  food  and  another  cup  of  coffee.  A  few  minutes  after,  a 
fresh  shivering  fit  came  on,  with  chattering  of  the  teeth,  cold 
sweats,  and  dyspnoea ;  later,  there  was  a  return  of  the  heat, 
great  agitation,  sleeplessness  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  night, 
and  persistence  of  the  dispnoea  and  vertigo.  Relief  from  these 
symptoms,  and  sleep  during  the  latter  part  of  the  night.  At 
seven  in  the  morning,  finding  that  she  had  failed  in  her  design, 
this  lady  took  forty  more  granules. 
In  an  hour  she  was  attacked  by  hallucinations,  vertigo,  fre- 
quent shiverings,  and  cold  sweat ;  nausea,  abundant  vomitings, 
colic  without  result,  and  extreme  weakness ;  the  patient  in  vain 
tried  to  feel  her  pulse  beat. 
During  the  evening  the  vomiting  became  more  abundant,  in- 
