Studies on metallic poisoning have been undertaken in syphilitic patients who were given routine treatment with arsenic preparations. The main object of the studies has been to determine whether or not certain organs respond to the administration of arsenicals, even though no clinical symptoms of metallic lesions appear in the patients examined. This was considered a starting point on which later studies could be based as to whether or not certain organs, particularly the skin, and their disturbances are responsible for the well-known symptoms of acute and chronic metallic poisoning.
THE INVOLUNTARY NERVOUS SYSTEM
Preliminary investigations along these lines have shown that a reaction of the involuntary nervous system occurs immediately after the injection of arsphenamine or neoarsphenamine in healthy as well as in syphilitic patients.1 It is not yet known whether this reaction of the involuntary nervous system is essential for the therapeutic effect of the arsphenamines or