The New era. [volume] ([Portsmouth, Va.]) 1845-1847, 1845-12-08
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
POISONS.

New York journal tells its readers, upon the
authority of an old English book of recipes, about
two hundred years old, that, powdered charcoal
swallowed In water, 10 an antidote to the poison
of arsenic; and it concludes with The sapient re-
commentator, CRY it," We find plenty of
fun in reading some of the New York journals.
especially the best bragg among them, when they
needle with science. They are so scientific as
to De irreslstibly entertaining
We illiterate and ignorant Ouakers ara not
obliged to Advance backwards two hundred wears.
to ind facts which modern chemistry fully ex-
plains. Ever since Prestly and Scheele discoy-
cred that little agent called oxygen, and lavois-
Ter discovered several Of its properties and gave
It Its present name, the property of charcoal in
neulralIzng or mitigating certain mineral poisons
has been well known. And this property was
discovered by induction, founded on analysis, both
OF charcoal and of such mineral posons Charcoal
is one of the forms of carbon, substance exten-
slVely distributed, and constituent of all yeoeta
Ole and animal matter. Carbon has strong
afhnliy tor oxygen. with VI hch it forms carbonic
acid, the gas which escapes from all liquors un-
dergong the vinous fermentation This acid al
ways assumes the gaseous form when liberated.
though 1t can by strong PRESSURE be converted into
a fluid with the appearance Of water, OF solid
| like snow, as was done few wears since in this
city, IN some beautiful experiments by DIR. JK
Mitchell. All metallic poisons are divides. or
combinations of some metal with oxygen; and
from this chemical union ensues the poisonous
| property The white arsenic Of commerce, used
IN the arts, and for destroying rats is combine
lion OF metallic arsenic and oxygen, chemically
named arsentous acid. The pure metal is not
poisonous. Then as the poisonous property of
arsenic depends upon this combination with oxy-
| gen, the first object, when it has been swal-
lowed, IS to deorygenate it, or separate the
| oxygen; and this can be done by SWALLOWING
some substance having greater affinity for oxy-
gen than the metal which is the base of the moi
sonous compound. In such case the oxvgen
leaves the metal, aHd unites with the new az
yde and thus the stomach will then contain
the crude metal, which is not poisonous, and the
new compound; and this also must be innocent
or the change will be merely the substitution of
one poison for another The next question is
which has the greatest affinity for oxygen, carbon
or metallic aTsenic2 According to the table of
affinites with oxygen, carbon is the first, and
arsenic the nineteenth Therefore charcoal. swaI-
lowed in powder soon after arsenious acid would
decompose 1t to some extent, producing carbonic
acid, substance not only innocent, but salutary
But whether this decomposition would be suffi-
GENTLY extensive to life is doubtful when we
consider how small is the quantity of arsenious
acid sufficient to destroy it. And even if the pa
tent were saved from immediate death, it MIGHT
afterwards ensue from the structural injury to the
| internal coats of the stomach, produced by the
poison. Still the trial should be made and there
| fore when arsenic has been taken, powdered char
coal, in any quantity, should be swallowed as
| speedily as possible.