246  Treatment  of  Bichloride  of  Mercury.   |  AnApriir'i92iarm' 
It  is  important  that  pharmacists  inquire  into  the  newer  ideas  in 
regard  to  this  question,  and  we  take  the  privilege  of  quoting  the  f  ol-, 
lowing  statements  from  an  editorial  article  which  recently  appeared 
in  the  Hahnemannian  Monthly: 
"Of  late  years  calcium  sulphide  has  been  recommended  as  a 
bichloride  antidote.  This  agent  coming  in  contact  with  the  bichloride 
solution  produces  an  insoluble  sulphide  of  mercury  and  no  excess  of 
antidote  is  capable  of  re-dissolving  the  precipitate,  hence  it  should 
prove  to  be  an  efficient  antidote ;  the  objection  to  it,  however,  is  that 
by  the  time  it  is  introduced  into  the  stomach  the  latter  organ  is 
empty  and  any  antidotal  influence  of  calcium  sulphide  depends  upon 
its  absorption  into  the  circulation. 
"About  three  years  ago  J.  H.  Willms,  of  Cincinnati,  made  some 
elaborate  experiments  covering  this  subject,  published  in  the  Journal 
of  Clinical  and  Laboratory  Medicine.  This  plan  of  treatment  is 
beautifully  simple,  so  simple  indeed  that  the  physician  is  only  too 
likely  to  make  efforts  at  improving  it  or  making  it  look  complicated, 
thus  defeating  his  purpose.  Its  very  simplicity  is  a  testimonial  to  its 
efficiency.  Of  the  last  fourteen  cases  of  poisoning  treated  at  Hahne- 
mann Hospital  but  one  patient  died,  and  that  one  took  over  140 
grains.  One  patient  who  recovered  had  taken  49  grains.  Of  those 
who  recovered  not  one  had  nephritis. 
"The  treatment  as  carried  out  was  this :  An  intravenous  admin- 
istration of  sulphide  calcium  in  the  proportion  of  one  grain  to  the 
ounce  in  sterile  water  was  employed  promptly  on  the  admission  of 
the  patient.  The  total  quantity  of  calcium  sulphide  used  was  one 
grain  for  every  grain  of  bichloride  supposed  to  have  been  taken. 
The  main  care  in  the  preparation  of  the  sulphide  solution  was  the 
avoidance  of  small  particles  of  calcium  sulphide  held  in  suspension 
and  not  evenly  enough  divided.  These  can  very  readily  be  taken  out 
by  passing  through  some  loosely  packed  absorbent  cotton  in  a  filter. 
Following  the  intravenous,  the  patient  is  given  one  grain  of  calcium 
sulphide,  sometimes  more,  by  the  mouth  every  hour  for  several 
days.    Such  is  the  treatment. 
"No  attempt  should  be  made  to  mix  the  sulphide  with  normal 
saline  solution,  as  such  most  unquestionably  would  interfere  with 
the  chemical  reaction.  No  time  should  be  lost  by  preliminary  wash- 
ing out  of  the  stomach.  No  attempt  should  be  made  to  add  any 
details  which  the  imagination  or  ingenuity  of  the  physician  may 
suggest.  It  is  is  simply  a  question  of  getting  sufficient  calcium  sul- 
phide into  the  circulation  as  quickly  as  possible." 
The  foregoing  plan  is  exceedingly  simple  and  apparently  pro- 
ductive of  unusual  results.  The  pharmacist  whose  duty  it  will  be 
to  prepare  this  solution  for  intravenous  medication,  will  mark  well 
