2 lb.

Whiting (or powdered chalk), 3 lb.

Camphor or tincture of musk, 2 oz.

Place the arsenic in an old saucepan (which is not to be used for any
other purpose whatever); put the whiting over it, next pour sufficient
water over it to make it into a thick paste, then add the soft soap,
stir the whole well together, add a little water, and place on the
fire to boil, adding from time to time water sufficient to render the
whole mass of the consistence of gruel. When it boils up it is
sufficiently well done; take it off the fire, and place outside in the
open air to cool, as the fumes, if given off in a close room, are
highly prejudicial to health. When nearly cold, stir in the camphor,
previously pounded to a fine powder by the addition of a few drops of
any spirit--spirits of wine, gin, rum, turpentine, etc. If musk is used
it is sufficient to stir it in the mass, or 1 oz. of pure carbolic
acid (previously melted) may be substituted for either the camphor or
musk.

The reason for stirring in the camphor, musk, or carbolic acid, when
the arsenical paste is nearly cold, is twofold--first, to prevent the
inhaling of the metallic fumes, which readily attack the lungs; and
secondly, to prevent the said fumes or heated air carrying off with it
the volatile essences of those drugs. The quantities given are
sufficient to fill two six-pound Australian meat tins, which form
capital receptacles for arsenical paste, and should be soldered up,
only to be opened as required for use. As this quantity is, however,
perhaps too much for the amateur, the proportions may be decreased,
and what is not in actual use had better be soldered up in the tins
just referred to, and which may be found very useful, besides, for
such purposes as paint pots, etc. Carefully label this preparation
"Poison," and place it out of the reach of children.

I have given the foregoing formulae, not because I have the slightest
faith in any of them, but simply for the benefit, or otherwise, of
those persons who elect to use arsenical preparations in defiance of
the teachings of common sense, and in deference to the prevailing
notion that arsenic is the only poison extant which has extraordinary
preservative powers. This I flatly deny, after an experience of more
than five and twenty years. Let us dissect the evidence as to the
claim of arsenic to be considered as the antiseptic and preservative
agent par excellence.

Its advocates clai