At an early period, Andral experimented with bromine upon man and animals; and the following statement of the results of its exhibition to the human subject was published by M. Fournet. in the first patient, two drops of bromine, taken internally, caused at the moment of exhibition, a peculiar strong, not unpleasant sensation in the mouth and fauces, compared by the patient to that produced by swallowing a glass of rum. in another patient, a feeble dose of the same medicine produced no observable effect, and no special sensation. Lastly, a third patient, who had taken a somewhat stronger dose, experienced, fifteen minutes afterward, tingling in the fingers, and muscular startings in the feet and about the knees. Fifteen minutes after these first sensations, he was affected with borborygmi and colicky pains. From a dose of ten drops, he felt, at the end of a quarter of an hour, an enormous weight on the stomach, with a desire to sleep, eructations, colic, and rumbling in the bowels. An hour later there was, from the wrist to the elbow, a feeling of strong pressure as if from a vice, succeeded by lancinating pains which spread to the fingers, and around the head. Somewhat later still, these symptoms were entirely dissipated, and the patient experienced a state of remarkable calm. When the dose was increased to 45 drops, the feeling of heat and acrimony became so violent, as to occasion convulsive movements of the face and limbs. Nausea followed, with violent but unsuccessful efforts to vomit. Finally, these symptoms rapidly disappeared, and, at the end usually of five minutes, the patient returned to his ordinary condition. After these symptoms had disappeared, each day, he never afterward experienced during the same day, any feeling of weight, uneasiness, or heat in the stomach. The appetite was good and the digestion perfect; and no other phenomenon was observed. The general health was improved during the treatment, and the patient gained flesh. [Traite de Therapeutique, etc., par MM. Trousseau et Pidoux, Paris, 1851, p. 256.) it is obvious, I think, from the above details, that the action of the bromine taken, was, so far as could be observed, that simply of a gastric irritant; the nervous symptoms being such as frequently attend a disordered state of the stomach. [Note to the third edition.)

Associated with other substances, bromine has been used with asserted success in the treatment of snake poisoning. An instance of recovery is recorded by Dr. Charles H. Hughes in the American Journal of Medical Sciences (Jan. 1864, p. 132), and others have given their testimony of the efficacy of the remedy. The mixture, called Bibron's antidote from its original proposer, consists of bromine, iodide of potassium, and corrosive sublimate dissolved in diluted alcohol.*

Bromine is now much more employed as an external remedy than internally. So early as 1838, Dr. Fournet employed it in the treatment of tumours, in the form of cataplasms, made with a solution containing from 15 to 30 drops of bromine in from 100 to 120 grammes (f^iij to f^iijss) of distilled water. A solution of from 20 to 40 minims in a pint of water has been used as a wash for ulcers. Within a few years, attention has been called to the local use of bromine as an excellent remedy in hospital gangrene. This was first employed by Dr. M. Goldsmith, surgeon of the U. S. volunteers during the late war, in the U. S. Hospital at Louisville; and the first published account of it was given by Dr. J. H. Brinton, Surgeon U. S. V., in a report to the Surgeon General. Of 88 patients treated in this method only two died, and these were complicated with very extensive inflammation of the cellular tissue. The bromine was applied, either pure or in solution,* to the surface of the sloughing ulcer; care having been previously taken to remove the sloughs as far as possible, so as to permit the contact of the remedy with the living structure. it was thought desirable that the whole surface should be touched; and, when this was impossible, in consequence of extensive or deep-seated burrowing, Dr. Goldsmith resorted to hypodermic injection of bromine around the circumference; the punctures being made at intervals of one-half or three-quarters of an inch, and one drop of the pure liquid thrown in at each operation. Dr. Goldsmith thought that the specific character of the ulcer could always be destroyed in 48 hours by a thorough application of the remedy. (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., July, 1863, p. 279.) The frequency of the application varied, with the different army surgeons who employed it in the West, from one to three times in 24 hours; and, when the surface began to granulate, the solution of bromine was weakened. (ibid., Oct. 1863, p. 566.)

* The following formula is used in the U. S. Army. R Brominii ^ijss, Potassii Iodid. gr. ij; Hydrarg. Chlorid. Corrosiv. gr. i; Alcohol. Dilut. f'gxxx. Misce. The dose is a fluidrachm with half a fluidounce of wine or brandy, to be repeated if required. The formula of Bibron was somewhat different, though embracing the same medicines. (Am. J. of Med. Sci., Jan. 1864, p. 134.) - Note to the third edition.

Bromine was also found very useful in erysipelas, being applied, in dilute solution, to the inflamed surface. For this purpose, from 15 to 40 drops of bromine were dissolved, with the aid of bromide of potassium, in a fluidounce of water. it is affirmed that in almost all cases in which the remedy was employed, the disease began to yield in from 12 to 24 hours, and scarcely in any instance continued to spread longer than two or three days. (ibid.) Dr. R. Stanford, Surgeon U. S. V., adds diphtheria to the two diseases mentioned, and states, from his experience, that all of them may be cured by the use of bromine properly applied. (ibid.)