SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION OF COMMERCIAL CLAIMS.

Some time ago there was introduced in Germany, un-the name of "Atoxyl," a new organic compound of arsenic. Although this preparation was advertised to a considerable extent, both in Europe and in this country, it did not come into special notice until the investigations of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and those of Koch in Africa alleged favorable results from its use in trypanosomiasis. The prominence conferred on it, however, through its semi-endorsement by such high authorities, coupled with the claims made by others as to its value in various conditions in which arsenic is indicated, and especially with the fact that the manufacturers were making decidedly extravagant claims for it—it was asserted, for instance; that forty times more arsenic could be exhibited in the form of atoxyl than in any other way—led to the investigation of its composition by scientific men in three different countries, viz., in France