A good deal of debate has taken place about the fate of ionic silver after it makes contact with the blood and/or gastric acid. It might be interest to note a remark of Dmitri Mendeleyev on this point. He wrote:
"Silver chloride is almost perfectly insoluble in water, but is somewhat soluble in water containing sodium chloride or hydrochloric acid, or other chlorides, and many salts, in solution. Thus at 100 degrees, 100 parts of water saturated with sodium dissolve 0.4 part of silver chloride." (Principles Of Chemistry, Part IV, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleyev, P.F. Collier & Son, NY, 1901, p. 428) 0.4 parts in 100 parts is equivalent to 4 parts in 1000 parts, or 4000 ppm, at the temperature of boiling water, 100 degrees celsius. This would explain why salt water (or blood) peptises AgCl, insoluble in pure water, back into solution. Best regards, Matthew
