Legal Chemistry: A Guide to the Detection of Poisons, Examination of Tea, Stains, Etc., as Applied to Chemical JurisprudenceNaquet, Alfred
Science
Legal Chemistry: A Guide to the Detection of Poisons, Examination of Tea, Stains, Etc., as Applied to Chemical Jurisprudence
Naquet, Alfred
Chemistry, Forensic; Poisons
arsenic, and
68 per cent. copper. Reinsch's test possesses the advantage of
requiring but little time for its execution, of being applicable to
complex organic mixtures, and of effecting the detection of a very
minute trace of the poison.--_Trans._
DETECTION OF ANTIMONY.
Strictly speaking the salts of antimony are more therapeutic than
poisonous in their action. In fact they usually act as emetics and,
under certain circumstances, may be taken in large doses without
incurring serious results. There are instances, however, in which their
action is truly toxical, and it becomes necessary to effect their
detection in the organs of a body. It should be remarked that these
salts, if absorbed, remain by a kind of predilection in the liver and
spleen. A special examination of these organs should therefore be
instituted, particularly if the fluids of the alimentary canal are not
at hand, which is frequently the case when some time has elapsed before
the investigation is undertaken.
The remarks made in the preceding article concerning the distinctive
properties of arsenic and antimony need not be repeated here. The search
for antimony is likewise executed by aid of Marsh's apparatus. We will
confine ourselves to a description of a modification to this apparatus
proposed by _MM. Flandin_ and _Danger_, and employed in the separation
of antimony and arsenic, when a mixture of these metals is under
examination. Another process, by means of which we arrive at the same
result with greater certainty and by the use of a less expensive
apparatus, will then be mentioned. We will, however, first indicate the
preferable method of destruction of the organic substances.
Were the decomposition performed by means of sulphuric acid, sulphate of
antimony, a slightly soluble salt and one not well adapted to the
subsequent treatment with nascent hydrogen, would be formed. In order to
obtain the metal in a soluble state, the formation of a double tartrate
of antimony and soda is desirable. This may be accomplished in the
following manner:
1. A cold mixture of nitrate of soda, sulphuric acid, and the suspected
materials is prepared in the proportion of 25 grammes of the nitrate to
39 grammes of the acid, and 100 grammes of the substance under
examination. This mixture is heated and evaporated to dryness, and the
decomposition of the organic matter completed in the usual manner. The
carbonaceous residue obtained is pulverized, and then boiled with a
solution of tartaric acid. By this treatment the antimonate of soda
present is converted into a double tartrate of antimony and soda, which
is easily soluble in water. The solution is filtered and then introduced
into Marsh's apparatus.
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