Report of the committee of the Westminster Medical Society, on arsenicated candles.

  • Westminster Medical Society (London, England)
Date:
1837
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the committee of the Westminster Medical Society, on arsenicated candles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/68 (page 10)
    Appendix, page 42. attention. He first experimented on arseniferous gases, and afterwards instituted some direct trials with a mass of fat, in which arsenious acid was mixed, and which by means of a wick was set on fire. In watching the operation in both cases, Mr. Bird convinced himself^of the fact, that ac¬ cording as the combustion is impeded or free that is, according as more or less oxygen has access to the flame—metallic arsenic—or the so called black oxyde of arsenic(?)—or arsenious acid is given out and deposited under their respective characteristic forms. According to Mr. Golding Bird^s experiments, there might be a point of such low combustion in the burning of arsenicated fats, as to give rise to that most deleterious and fatal gas called arsenuretted hydrogen gas. In the course of their analytical inquiries, your Committee received specimens of candles for ex¬ amination from clubs, institutions, and private families, some of which were found to be arseni¬ cal, while others were not so. And in order not to leave any point undetermined, the analysis, in some instances, was extended to wax, spermaceti, and the old-fashioned composition candles, in none of which the noxious material was detected. It would be superfluous to specify more mi¬ nutely or technically to the Society, the several operations gone through by your Committee, with a view to settle the chemical question of the pre¬ sence of arsenic in the above candles. It is sufi*