Twenty-one grains of antimony administered to "a strong young man," though a fatal result may be inducted by a fraction of a single grain! Poisoning with Alcohol. With this substance, Dr. Ringer tells us he made a great many observations "every quarter of an hour for several hours ON PERSONS OF ALL AGES.... After poisonous doses, the depression (of temperature) in one instance reached nearly three degrees." Does this sinister confession mean that even infants were the objects of his scientific zeal? It is certain that some children were subjected to this experiment, for he says: "In a boy aged ten, who had never in his life before taken alcohol in any form, I found through A LARGE NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS, a constant and decided reduction of temperature." Is there any parent who would be willing to have his ten-year-old boy subjected to an experiment like this? Poisoning with Nitrate of Sodium. "To eighteen adults, fourteen men and four women, we ordered 10 grains of pure nitrate of sodium in an ounce of water, and of these, seventeen declared they were unable to take it.... One man, a burly strong fellow, suffering from a little rheumatism only, said that after taking the first dose, he felt giddy as if he `would go off insensible.' His lips, face, and hands turned blue, and he had to lie down an hour and a half before he dared moved. His heart fluttered, and he suffered from throbbing pains in the head. He was urged to try another dose, but declined on the ground THAT HE HAD A WIFE AND FAMILY...."[1] [1] The London Lancet, November 3, 1883, p. 767 When this account of hospital experimentation first appeared in the Lancet, another medical journal made the following comment: