MUTUAL  ACTION  OF  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOLUBLE  SALTS.  521 
in  which  it  is  said  to  have  occurred  perfectly  exceptional ;  in 
fact,  were  it  announced  from  any  other  laboratory  than  that  of 
Messrs.  Smith,  one  would  be  tempted  to  ask  whether  or  no,  by 
accident  or  mischievous  design,  some  narcotin  had  not  been  in- 
troduced into  the  aconitine  preparation. 
The  President  remarked  upon  the  highly  interesting  nature 
of  the  inquiry  as  to  the  existence  of  a  volatile  acrid  principle  in 
aconite,  as  had  been  so  confidently  asserted  in  some  quarters. 
Mr.  Grove's  results  appeared  to  set  this  matter  at  rest. 
Mr.  Giles  thought  that  in  speaking  of  the  doses  of  the  more 
potent  alkaloids  and  other  active  principles,  we  should  recognize 
how  different  were  their  actions  upon  different  individuals.  He 
had  known  half  a  grain  of  extract  of  belladonna  produce  all  the 
symptoms  of  poisoning.  The  results  of  such  idiosyncrasies  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  and  impressed  upon  physicians  who  prescribed 
the  more  active  remedies. 
Mr.  Groves  could  not  but  reiterate  the  objections  that  he  had 
already  expressed  to  the  use  of  galenical  preparations  of  indefi- 
nite strength,  consequent  upon  variations  in  the  plants  used. — 
Proc.  Brit.  Pharm.  Conf.  in  London  Pharm.  Jour.,  Sept.,  1866. 
ON  THE  MUTUAL  ACTION  OF  THE  ELEMENTS  OF  SOLU- 
BLE SALTS  WITHOUT  AND  WITHIN  THE  ANIMAL 
ECONOMY. 
By  M.  Melsens. 
The  experiments  already  made  by  the  author,  he  considers, 
justify  him  in  formulating  the  following  proposition  : — 
Two  soluble  salts  which  qre  without  apparent  mutual  action, 
and  which  may  be  given  separately  to  animals  without  pro- 
ducing any  disturbance  in  the  body,  may,  when  administered 
together,  act  as  a  poison : — 
Facts  of  this  kind,  proved  by  experiment,  have  a  great 
importance,  both  from  physiological  and  therapeutical  points  of 
view. 
The  two  salts  more  especially  experimented  with  by  the  author 
are  chlorate  of  potash  and  iodide  of  potassium.    These  two 
