Note 81 — A CYCLOPÆDIA OF PRACTICAL RECEIPTS, PROCESSES, AND COLLATERAL INFORMATION (continued 10)

Dr Blondlot, in a paper communicated to the Paris Academy of Sciences, has come to the conclusion that the slightest quantity of greasy matter in contact with arsenious anhydride reduces its solubility to about 1-20th of what it was before. This explains at once why, in certain judicial investigations, arsenic has been sought for in vain in the liquid contents of the stomach, when the food consisted partly of fatty substances, such as broth, milk, &c. It likewise explains how arsenious anhydride, taken in powder, may sometimes remain a long time in the stomach before it produces any deleterious effect; since, in such cases, its action is hindered by the presence of fatty matter. Jugglers often swallow arsenic with impunity, because, according to Dr Blondlot, they previously take the precaution to drink milk and eat fat bacon. Hence, in cases of poisoning by arsenic, oils and fatty substances may be administered as real antidotes, capable of suspending the action of the poison for a considerable time, until more radical means of effecting a cure can be applied. The people engaged in some of the arsenic-works regard salad oil as almost a certain antidote to this poison.