Acute arsenical poisoning is still a problem of vital interest to the clinician. Although the number of cases of accidental poisoning has been considerably reduced by virtue of certain restrictions that have been placed against the industrial use of the substance, and the dissemination of knowledge regarding its toxic properties, cases of acute intoxication are not infrequent. In the search for suitable antidotes with which to combat the toxic manifestations of an orally administered arsenical compound, many substances have been introduced.
Unfortunately these so-called arsenic antidotes have not found support in animal experimentation, in which it becomes possible to draw satisfactory conclusions as to the efficacy of the preparation by establishing conditions of uniformity in dosage and treatment, as well as the employment of an adequate number of control animals.
In a recent paper from this laboratory1 it was conclusively shown that sodium thiosulphate was valueless in the treatment