ANTIMONIAL  POWDER  OF  THE  DUBLIN  PHARMACOPOEIA.  127 
preparation,  however,  though  bearing  the  name  of  antimonial 
powder,  is  yet  different  from  it  in  one  respect,  and  that  the  most 
important,  in  all  the  antimony  it  contains  being  exclusively  in 
the  state  of  teroxide.  It  has  therefore  appeared  to  me  desirable 
to  ascertain  its  medical  effects  by  actual  experiment.  The  only 
account  of  the  effect  of  the  powder,  as  prepared  by  Mr.  Chenevix, 
that  I  can  find,  is  contained  in  the  following  words,  with  which 
his  paper  concludes  : — "Igave  some  of  my  powder  to  Dr.  Crichton, 
Dr.  Babington,  and  Mr.  Abernethy,  gentlemen  whose  extensive 
practice  and  acknowledged  skill  sufficiently  enabled  them  to  judge 
of  its  medical  properties.  They  all  concur  in  opinion,  that  in  its 
general  effect  it  agrees  with  Dr.  James's  powder  and  the  pulvis 
antimonialis,  but  that  it  is  more  mild,  and  consequently  may  be 
given  in  larger  quantities,  seldom  producing  nausea  or  vomiting, 
in  doses  of  less  than  eight  or  ten  grains."  The  results  I  have  ob- 
tained are  very  different. 
I  have  tried  it  in  twenty  cases,  selected  for  careful  observation 
in  Sir  Patrick  Dun's  Hospital.  The  powder  was  prepared  accord- 
ing to  the  process  of  the  Dublin  Pharmacopoeia,  1850,  by  Mr.  Mor- 
gan, whose  accuracy  and  ability  are  wrell  known.  The  dose  given 
in  every  instance  was  five  grains  in  the  evening  and  the  same  at 
bed  time.  The  cases  were  chiefly  rheumatism,  pneumonia,  and 
bronchitis,  and  the  patients  were  all  adults.  In  order  to  present  a 
view  of  the  percentage  of  the  effects,  and  to  facilitate  recollection 
and  comparison  with  other  observations,  I  have  reduced  them  to 
the  form  of  decimals. 
Table  of  the  Effects  of  the  Pulvis  Antimonialis  of  the  Dublin  Pharma- 
copoeia, 1850.  Dose  five  grains  evening  and  night. 
More  or  less 
gentle  action 
on  the  bowels. 
Nausea. 
Vomiting. 
Perspiration. 
Perspiration 
without 
Nausea. 
No  perceptible 
effect.  ' 
.50 
.45 
.20 
.65 
.20 
.10 
In  order  to  ascertain  the  effect  of  the  teroxide  of  antimony  taken 
separately,  I  tried  some  prepared  by  Mr.  Morgan,  according  to 
the  Dublin  Pharmacopoeia,  1850.  It  was  given  in  three  grain 
doses  evening  and  night,  and  to  the  same  average  class  of  cases 
as  the  above,  selected  in  Sir  Patrick  Dun's  and  Mercer's  Hospitals. 
