Arsenite of Copper as 
an Antispasmodic. 
By W. Blair Stewart, A. M., M. D. 
Lecturer in Therapeutics; Lately Instructor on Practice of 
Medicine in the Medico-Chirurgical College of 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
Reprint from 
THE AMERICAN THERAPIST, 
August, 1894. Reprint from “The American Therapist,” 
August, 1894. 
Arsen ite of Copper as 
an Antispasmodic. 
By W. Blair Stewart, A. M., M. D. 
Lecturer in Therapeutics: Lately Instructor on Practice ot 
Medicine in the Medico-Chirurgical College ot 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
After all that has been written upon this 
subject by Dr. Boardman Reed, Dr. John 
Aulde, and many others, it would be en- 
tirely out of place to enter into any long 
dissertation upon its preparation, general 
physiological action and therapy. It is 
my desire to relate several clinical experi- 
ences with this valuable drug, inasmuch as 
the results were so well defined. It is my 
custom to use a tablet triturate containing 
one one-hundredth of a grain, and when 2 
referred to in this article that strength is 
understood. Unless the tablet-mass is trit- 
urated many hours and done by reliable 
parties your results are uncertain, for, as 
arsenite of copper is merely held in sus- 
pension in the water with which it is mixed, 
the more intimate the trituration the great- 
er will be the power of suspension. 
During the past spring and early sum- 
mer my attention was demanded by a 
number of very obstinate and severe cases 
of whooping-cough which developed in 
very young children. May mainstay has 
been bromoform in full doses, given with 
alcohol, glycerin and tincture cardamom 
comp.; but in spite of this remedy com- 
plications arose which demanded other 
medication, and it occurred to me to try the 
efficacy of arsenite of copper as an anti- 
spasmodic, and, happily, the results were 
surprising. 
Case I. Ann Lewis G—., aged three 
weeks, contracted whooping-cough from 
children in the house. It developed very 
rapidly, and in one week she had a hard 3 
paroxysm almost every hour and some- 
times two or more each hour. Bromoform 
was given in one-half drop doses and in- 
creased to one drop with good effect for 
several days, when bowel trouble devel- 
oped and threatened cholera-infantum. 
The paroxysms became so hard and vio- 
lent that each one seemed to be its last, 
and the whole body became cyanotic at 
the time. One tablet of arsenite of copper 
was dissolved in fifteen teaspoonfuls of 
boiled water, and to it was added five drops 
of tr. nux vomica. One teaspoonful was 
given every half-hour for six consecutive 
hours, and then every hour afterward. 
Diarrhea and colic were checked in twelve 
hours, and the number of paroxysms di- 
minished. This remedy was continued 
alone for one week, at intervals of two 
hours, with the result that the paroxysms 
diminished in number and severity, and 
in four weeks from the onset the child 
was entirely cured. 
Other cases followed, and the arsenite of 
copper was used in two of them in which 4 
the paroxysms were well defined. The 
tablet was mixed as before in 15 teaspoon- 
fuls of water, the nux vomica omitted; and a 
dose given every hour until the effects were 
manifested, and then every two hours. The 
results were equally satisfactory; the par- 
oxysms diminished both in number and 
severity, and the process was checked in 
about four weeks. Parallel cases, treated 
with bromoform, averaged about twenty- 
one to twenty-four days in duration. 
While it is impossible to draw definite 
deductions from such a small number of 
cases and go on record as to its exact re- 
sults in every case, yet it suggests to me 
the propriety of putting this remedy to a 
thorough test as an antispasmodic in per- 
tussis. It has led me to mix treatment, 
and alternate every one or two hours be- 
tween bromoform and the arsenite of cop- 
per, with more satisfactory results than 
from either drug alone. It possesses the 
advantage ofbeingavery acceptable drug 
to children, and can be given with perfect 
impunity. 5 
During the summer of 1890, Dr. Board- 
man Reed and I experimented with the 
arseniteof copper in the treatment of after- 
pains in confinement, and published our 
results in the Times and Register of that 
year. I have followed up this line of in- 
vestigation in sixteen typical cases, with 
the following results: Nine cases received 
absolute relief; six were greatly benefited, 
and one received no relief. One tablet 
was dissolved in ten or fifteen spoonfuls 
of water and one spoonful given every 
ten, twenty, thirty or sixty minutes as in- 
dicated. 
Having seen the great antispasmodic 
action of the preparation in so many cases, 
its use was suggested in two cases of 
threatened miscarriage, and with success. 
Mrs. M. M., aged thirty-five, mother of 
four children, in her seventh month, did 
a heavy day’s washing which was follow- 
ed by regular labor pains of the first stage. 
The pains came regularly about every 
three to five minutes; os uteri was slightly 
dilated and relaxed; vagina and vulva 6 
thoroughly lubricated with glairy mucous, 
and head could be felt presenting high up. 
She was placed in bed at once; given a 
hypodermatic injection of morphine, one 
quarter grain, and atropine, one one-hun- 
dred-and-fiftieth. One tablet of arsenite 
of copper was prepared as usual and one 
spoonful given every ten minutes for three 
hours. The pains began to diminish in 
severity and interval, and in twenty-four 
hours had completely disappeared, leaving 
the woman weak and prostrated, but the 
child was saved. One day later the bowels, 
which had not been moved for ten days 
according to her story, became active and 
developed into a regular attack of cholera 
morbus, which was soon controlled by the 
constant use of the arsenite and two hy- 
podermic injections of morphine to relieve 
the severe pain. This occurred ten days 
ago, and to-day the woman is moving 
around the house and says the movement 
of the child is very active. 
In dysmenorrhea, delayed menstrua- 
tion, scanty menstruation or ovarian irrita- 7 
tion and pain, it is my custom to prepare 
and give the following in teaspoonful doses 
every half hour or hour, with very satisfac- 
tory results. 
R. Cupri arsenitis (trit.).. .gr. */)00. 
Tr. pulsatillae gtt. viij. 
Tr. nucis vomicae gtt. iv. 
Aquae f. § ij.—M. 
Each dose of arsenite of copper is so 
small (gr. ya# ) that it is impossible to 
claim that its good effects result from its 
antiseptic action. Arsenite of copper in 
large doses is an irritant, antiseptic and 
toxic agent. A small dose is also irritant, 
but that action is small and necescarily 
limited, and the irritation is only sufficient 
to stimulate the weakened cells of the 
gastro-intestinal canal to greater functional 
and physiological action and place them 
in a more favorable position for resisting 
the inroads of disease or aborting it when 
acquired. It is a typical example of cel- 
lular-therapy, for the effect is obtained 
indirectly through cell action and impres- 
sion. 8 
Arsenite of copper has given me good 
results in treating diarrheas in children, 
providing the bowels have been thorough- 
ly emptied by calomel, magnesia or aro- 
matic syrup of rhubarb. Failing in this, 
small doses of calomel and ipecac (gr. 
Vioo)> thoroughly triturated and admin- 
istered every two hours, will almost in- 
variably give satisfactory results. Nursing 
children respond rapidly to its action and 
are relieved of colic, nausea and diarrhea. 
If good results do not follow the arsenite 
of copper, do not be too ready to condemn 
it but rather satisfy yourself that you have 
obtained a proper preparation and have 
carefully applied it to such cases as would 
in all probability be benefited by its use. 
Let it be understood that its action is en- 
tirely unreliable in organic pains and pains 
of acute inflammations. 
Atlantic City, N. J. Jhe 
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