The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-02-27
DOCTORS EXPERIMENT.
INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT
DISCLOSURES. LAST EVENING.
Two Well Developed Puppies, n
Few Grains of Morphine and Its
New Antidote Afford Them GhouI-
ish Entertainment.

The regular meeting of the Salt Lake
Medical society held last night was of
an unusually interesting nature, on ac-
count of the several novel experiments
which were down on the slate. The
attendance was larger than the aver
age.
Two puppies fresh from the pound
kept by the enterprising Taylor and
his still darker aids, were placed upon
the operating table. Doctor Benedict
was master of ceremonies and to the
lighter animal of the two be admins
tered nine grains of morphine in solu-
ton by prodermieally and to the sec
ond and larger animal six grains. both
absolutely fatal doses. Nine grains of
the recently discovered antidote for
morphine, permanganate of potassium,
were then injected into the smaller dog
while the other animal was left to die
an easy death. The mediCos watched
with eager interest the actions of the
puppies and the developments were a
surprise to nearly all present. The
antidoted dog gradually recovered
while the other gradually faded away.
The experiments were a success and
while a number of the physicians are
still somewhat skeptical there can no
longer be a. doubt as to the efficacy of
the antidote.
The experiments being tried by the
Salt Lake physicians are not entirely
original with them, the antidote for
morphine having been discovered by DR..
Moor of New York The doctor re-
Gently, for the purpose of proving his
statements, took three grains of NOR
phine, a positively fatal dose, and i'm
mediately afterwards drank solution
of permanganate of potassium, exper-
fencing no i'll effect.
The new antidote. it has been long
known, is a destroyer of organic mat
ter. The reason that it has not been
used until now as an antidote for NOR
phine is that it was genrally regarded
as certain to be deoxidiZed and so rem
dered powerless by contact with the
organic matter of the stomach.
But DR.. Moor's discovery is that the
lpermanganate will select a soluble salt
Of morphine from among the albumen
pepton and other contents of the stOm-
ach with astonishing rapidity and acid
/ ity.
1t will, in fact. decompose a morphine
salt several hundred times quicker than
it will decompoSe albumen. The dis
covery of this faculty of selection-of
the permanganate's affinity with the
morphine salt-gave DR.. Moor his cue.
The antidote acts upon the poison at
which it is aimed long before the other
contents of the stomach have had time
to destroy its antidoteal powers.
In cases where variations of opium
other than the sulphate of morphine
have been taken internally, Dr. Moor
has found the antidote should be acid
ulated with vinegar in the proportion
of one to five, and then it proves eff
caciOus at once.
The lapse of an hour or two will not.
! it is thought, make the new antidote
useless, though the counteraction must
necessarily be slower and less satisfac-
tory in such cases.
poisons, and death seldom ensues for
/ some hours. 1t is this which leads to
/ the hope that the scope of the new dis
covery may be far greater than can yet
/ be seen.