Part 3 — MINERAL POISONS. (continued 4)

The bitter almond itself, in consequence of the manner in which its deleterious principle is modified by the natural state of combination in which it exists with sweet oil and albumen, does not produce an effect corresponding with the proportion of essential oil which it yields. The experiments of Orfila, however, prove that the almond, in doses of a drachm, is destructive to cats; and there can be no doubt but that it would be equally deleterious to the human species; but the quantity required for the production of such an effect must ever prevent the bitter almond from becoming either the accidental or criminal instrument of death.

Physiological action of Prussic acid.

The numerous experiments, which have been made with this poison, have clearly established that its action is upon the nervous system, whose energies it would seem to extinguish without any ostensible injury to respiration and circulation; for in all those 405animals which were killed by it, in the experiments of Orfila, Brodie, and others, the heart was found acting regularly, and circulating dark coloured blood, and in some cases this phenomenon was visible for many minutes after the animal was in other respects apparently dead. Orfila considers that he has fully demonstrated that these effects depend on the absorption of the poison, and its transmission to the brain through the medium of the circulation. We have accordingly placed Prussic acid in the second division of our classification. The essential oil of bitter almonds would, according to the experiments of Mr. Brodie, appear to act through the medium of the nerves, and it has accordingly been referred to our first division. This is undoubtedly an anomaly, which it is not easy to reconcile; the experiments, however, which led Mr. Brodie to the conclusion appear to us to warrant such a deduction; the instantaneousness with which the poisonous effects were produced, and the fact of its acting more speedily when applied to the tongue, than when injected into the intestines, although the latter presents a better absorbing surface, seem to oppose the idea of the oil requiring to be absorbed, before it can display its energies. M. Vogel, of Munich, has lately discovered some facts respecting the composition of this oil, which may perhaps hereafter lead to the true explanation of this apparent anomaly; this distinguished chemist succeeded in separating the Prussic acid from the volatile oil with which it is combined, by agitating the whole in a concentrated solution of potass, and distilling to dryness; the oil volatilized together with the water, while the residuum in the retort was found to contain cyanide of potassium. The oil, thus separated from the Prussic acid, is 406without odour, and heavier than water; its taste is extremely acrid and burning; in order to discover whether it was still poisonous, M. Vogel put a drop of it on the tongue of a sparrow, when it died in a few seconds, after a very violent convulsion; he also poisoned a dog, two months old, with four drops of it; whence he concludes that the volatile oil, divested of its hydro-cyanic acid is still a poison, although less energetic than that which has not undergone such a change. Do there exist then two independent principles of activity in the bitter almond? If such a fact were established it would not be solitary, for we shall hereafter shew that the energies of tobacco are dependant upon an analogous arrangement; and that our ignorance of the fact, at first, occasioned apparent anomalies, as embarrassing as those which at present involve the physiological history of the oil of almonds.

Antidotes.

Orfila, in his celebrated Toxicology, informs us that vinegar, or the vegetable acids; coffee; a solution of chlorine in water; camphor; emollient drinks; and bleeding, have been successively, but not successfully recommended.^[441] With respect to the first of these pretended antidotes, it deserves notice, that instead of palliating the symptoms, it actually quickens, and gives more energy to the action of the poison. Coffee, as far as it may stimulate, might be employed with advantage; but its powers are not sufficient to meet the exigency of the case. Bleeding seems decidedly 407a fatal measure. The authors of the paper on Prussic acid, inserted in the American Recorder, consider at length the claims of every substance which has been proposed as an antidote to it; and they conclude by saying that, we are entirely ignorant of a counter-agent of this poison. There is every reason, says Dr. Granville, to believe that the Prussic acid taken in large quantities, and in its concentrated state, is partially, if not wholly absorbed ere it reaches the stomach;—else how happens it that scarcely a minute after its exhibition, I have, in common with others, been unable to detect its presence within that organ. If so, then all chemical attempts must be nugatory, no decomposition, or fresh combinations can be produced to render it harmless; nor will an emetic, although so much recommended, be of much more service in freeing the system of its presence. But although chemical remedies are thus shewn to be of no avail, we may derive from the class of vital agents some powerful antidotes; all medicines taken from the class of diffusible stimuli will be useful in supporting the powers of the system against the sedative influence of the poison. Hot brandy and water, with ammonia, camphor, and other similar stimulants, are the resources to which we should fly upon such occasions.

Organic lesions discovered on Dissection.

The recorded dissections of persons, who have been poisoned by Prussic acid, are too few and vague to furnish any satisfactory generalization. In the case related by M. Foderé, of two servants who died after a draught of laurel-water, the dead bodies were carried to the University at Turin, and examined, 408when the stomach was found slightly inflamed, but the other parts were in a sound state. We feel much hesitation in giving credit to this report, the death was too immediate to allow the access of inflammation; we are rather disposed to consider the appearances of the stomach to have arisen from that species of sanguineous congestion, which we have before alluded to, as sometimes occurring in cases of sudden death. In other cases the coats of the stomach are said to have been black and relaxed; the vessels of the brain injected; the lungs have also been described as presenting unnatural congestions, and purple spots; and the smell of Prussic acid seemed as if it pervaded the whole system, and was embodied, as it were, with the very substance of the muscles. In other cases, again, not the slightest trace of any morbid appearance could be discovered. Some authors have stated that in cases of death by this poison the cornea of the eye does not collapse, but retains its fulness, and even its lustre, for a considerable period.

Chemical processes by which the presence of hydro-cyanic acid may be ascertained.

The strong odour yielded by the body on dissection, will furnish a satisfactory proof of the presence of this poison. Instances may occur, when the practitioner will be called before a tribunal to answer, from his professional knowledge, whether a particular case of death can have happened from the action of the hydro-cyanic acid, or any of the compounds in which it may enter as an ingredient; it therefore becomes an object of great importance to inquire whether any farther tests might be made subservient to our purpose. Dr. Granville, who has directed a 409great share of his attention to the history of this poison, has given some directions upon this point, which appear to us to be useful and judicious; we shall, therefore, present them to our readers. “After collecting the blood contained in the ventricles of the heart, a portion of the contents of the stomach, and of the superior intestines, together with a certain quantity of any fluid which may chance to be present within the cavity of the head, chest, or abdomen; and having agitated the mixture for some time in distilled water, and filtered the liquid, taking care to keep the whole at a low temperature, proceed to the following experiments.

A. To a small quantity of the liquid add a few drops of a solution of caustic potass in alcohol.

B. To this, a few drops of a solution of sulphate of iron must be added, when a cloudy and reddish precipitate, of the colour of burnt Terra-Sienna will fall down.

C. Some sulphuric acid is now to be introduced into the tube, when the colour of the precipitate will instantly change to that of a bluish-green, which by a permanent contact with the atmosphere, becomes gradually of a beautiful blue, assuming at the same time a pulverulent aspect.

OR

A. Treat the filtered liquid with carbonate of potass.

B. Add a solution of sulphate of iron with a small quantity of alum: a precipitate, as in the former method, will fall down, which if treated by free sulphuric acid, will also become 410blue and pulverulent. During this latter part of the experiment, there is a disengagement of carbonic acid.

Evidence may be pushed still farther, and the existence of the Prussic acid proved in a most positive manner by decomposing the precipitate, above described, and which is a true Prussian blue, so as to separate the acid. For this purpose, heat the precipitate with an equal quantity of tartaric acid, in a glass retort, at the temperature of 150°, when the hydro-cyanic vapours will soon exhale from the mixture, and may be received in water.”^[442]

Cl. V. NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS.

We have already stated our objections to this division, and our apology for adopting it. See page 205.

Deadly Nightshade. Atropa Belladonna. (Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Luridæ Linn. Solanaceæ. Juss.)

This plant is an indigenous perennial, found in many parts of Great Britain, particularly in shady places where the soil is calcareous, in large ditches, and on the edge of hilly woods; flowering in June, and ripening its berries in September. Every part of the plant is poisonous; and numerous instances have occurred where children, and the ignorant, or those suffering from hunger, allured by the beautiful and tempting appearance of the berries, have fallen victims to their deadly power. The root of this plant 411partakes also of the same qualities as the leaves and berries, but is perhaps less virulent.

“Or have we eaten of the insane root,

That takes the reasoner prisoner.”—Macbeth.

The inspissated juice (Extractum Belladonnæ Pharm. Lond.) is also extremely poisonous, when properly prepared; but, as usually met with in commerce, it is of very variable strength; when prepared according to the improved process of Mr. Barry, its activity is so considerable that a dose of two grains is followed by unpleasant effects. (See an account of its effects in the Pharmacologia, vol. 2, p. 199.) M. Brandes has lately ascertained that the active principle of this plant is a peculiar alkaline body, to which he has assigned the name of atropia.

Symptoms of poisoning by Belladonna.

Shortly after the ingestion of the berries, leaves, or root, of this plant, the patient complains of extreme dryness of the lips, tongue, palate, and throat; the deglutition becomes difficult, and the pupil of the eye immoveably dilated; nausea, rarely followed by vomiting; symptoms of intoxication succeed, accompanied with fits of laughter, dreadful ravings, violent gestures of the body, and continual motion of the hands and fingers; sometimes the patient sinks into a state of fatuity, but rarely of stupor; redness and tumefaction of the face, a low and feeble pulse, paralysis of the intestines, livid spots on different parts of the body, profuse sweats, convulsions, and death. In the cases where recovery has taken place, there has been an insensible restoration to health and reason, without any recollection of the preceding state.

412 Physiological action of Belladonna.

The results of the experiments of Orfila authorise us to arrange the nightshade under the second division of our classification; for it is evidently absorbed, carried into the circulation, and is thus enabled to act upon the nervous system, and particularly on the brain. At the same time it exerts a local action upon the stomach, although less violent than that occasioned by the acrid poisons. It, moreover, appears on some occasions to act directly through the medium of the nerves, like those substances which constitute our first class; or else how shall we explain the fact of the pupil of the eye becoming permanently dilated, by the contact of the belladonna with the tunica conjunctiva? It would, therefore, appear that this plant unites within itself all the three great modes of action, upon which we have attempted to found our physiological arrangement of poisons, as expressed by the tabular classification at page 207.

Organic lesions discovered on dissection.

The bodies of those who have perished by belladonna, are extremely prone to decomposition; they soon putrefy, swell remarkably, and are covered with livid spots; blood flows from the mouth, nose, and eyes, and the stench is insufferable. The stomach and intestines will sometimes display extensive marks of inflammation, extending in some cases to the mesentery and liver; and several cases are recorded in which the stomach appeared ulcerated. The lungs are usually found livid, gorged with venous blood, and studded with black spots; the heart has been also observed to be livid.

413 Modes of detecting the presence of Belladonna.

Where the berries of this plant have been swallowed, we shall generally detect them in the matter vomited; or, in the event of death, in the stomach, on dissection, for they would appear to be very indigestible; in a case of poisoning by this plant, recorded in the history of the French Academy for the year 1706,^[443] the stomach was found to contain some berries of the belladonna crushed, and some seeds. Where the quantity of the plant is sufficient, we may proceed to identify it, by obtaining atrophia^[444] from it. For this purpose, the leaves, or the crushed berries, or any other part of the suspected plant, must be boiled in distilled water; the decoction must then be pressed out, and filtered; after the albumen has been thrown down by a little sulphuric acid, potass must be added as long as any precipitate is produced; when the precipitate is to be washed in pure water, re-dissolved in muriatic acid, and re-precipitated by ammonia. This last result will be atropia. It is white, and collects in acicular crystals, insipid, little soluble in cold water, or even in alcohol, but very soluble in this latter fluid at a boiling temperature, from which, however, it is deposited on cooling.

Stramonium. Thorn-Apple. James-town Weed. Datura Stramonium (Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Solanaceæ, Linn. Solaneæ, Juss.)

The thorn apple is an annual plant, a native of America, which gradually diffused itself, from the 414south to the north, and is now naturalized to this country, and is to be found very commonly about London growing on dunghills, and by road sides. It flowers in July and August. Every part of this plant is a strong narcotic poison, producing vertigo, and most of those symptoms which we have described as the effects of belladonna, although the former plant appears to excite the brain more violently. Dr. Barton mentions the case of two British soldiers, who ate it by mistake, for the chenopodium album; one became furious, and ran about like a madman; and the other died, with the symptoms of genuine tetanus. In the fifth volume of the Edinburgh Medical and Philosophical Commentaries, two cases are related by Dr. Fowler; and others are to be found in the writings of Haller, Krause, Sproegel, Gmelin, and Orfila, illustrative of the effects of this plant upon the human species. There is reason to believe that this plant has been long known, and that it has been very generally used by uncivilized nations, on account of the narcotic effects which it occasions.

Tobacco. Nicotiana Tabacum. (Pentandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Luridæ, Lin. Solaneæ, Juss.)

Tobacco is an annual plant, a native of America, from whence it was imported into Europe. We learn from Humboldt that it has been cultivated from time immemorial by the native people of the Oroonoko; and was smoked all over America at the time of the Spanish conquest. Hermandez de Toledo sent it into Spain and Portugal in 1559, when Jean Nicot^[445] 415was Ambassador at the court of Lisbon, from Francis II, and he transmitted, or carried either the seed, or the plant to Catherine de Medicis, as one of the wonders of the new world, and which, it was supposed, possessed virtues of a very extraordinary nature. This seems to be the first authentic record of the introduction of this plant into Europe. In 1589 the Cardinal Santa Croce, returning from his nunciature in Spain and Portugal to Italy, carried thither with him tobacco; and we may form some notion of the enthusiasm with which its introduction was hailed, from a perusal of the poetry which the subject inspired. It is said that the smoking tobacco was first introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh on his return from America; and the avidity with which the custom was immediately adopted is shewn by the philippic written against it by King James, entitled the “Counterblaste to Tobacco.”

As an object of Medical Jurisprudence, its claims to our attention are numerous and important; not only as having occasionally been the means of destroying human life, but as furnishing, in its most romantic history, a striking illustration of the triumph of popular opinion over a series of legislative enactments^[446] which had no other origin than that of ignorance and prejudice.

416Tobacco was at one period of our history raised to a considerable extent in Yorkshire; but the cultivation of it for the purposes of trade have been long prohibited; and this country, as well as the greater part of Europe, is chiefly supplied from Virginia, where the plant is cultivated in the greatest abundance. The recent leaves do not possess any considerable odour, nor have they much flavour; when dried, however, their odour becomes strong, narcotic, and somewhat fœtid; their taste bitter, and extremely acrid. We have stated, upon another occasion,^[447] that tobacco would appear to contain two independent elements of activity, an essential oil, and a proximate principle, of an acrid nature, to which Vauquelin has bestowed the name of Nicotin. The essential oil is an extremely virulent poison. Mr. Barrow, speaking of the use which the Hottentots make of it for destroying snakes, says, “A Hottentot applied some of it from the short end of his wooden tobacco-pipe to the mouth of a snake, while darting out his tongue. The effect was as instantaneous as an electric shock; with a convulsive motion that was momentary, the snake half untwisted itself, and never stirred more; and the muscles were so contracted, that the whole animal felt hard and rigid, as if dried in the sun.” The author has ventured a conjecture in his Pharmacologia,^[448] with respect to this virulent 417oil, which he takes this opportunity of repeating, that “the juice of cursed hebenon,” by which, according to Shakspeare, the King of Denmark was poisoned, was no other than the essential oil of tobacco.

----“Sleeping within mine orchard,

My custom always of the afternoon,

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,

With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,

And in the porches of mine ears, did pour

The leperous distilment.”

In the first place, the learned commentator Dr. Gray observes, that the word here used (hebenon) was more probably designated by a metathesis, either of the poet or transcriber, for henebon, i. e. henbane. Now it appears from Gerarde that tabaco was commonly called “henbane of Peru” (Hyoscyamus Peruvianus); and when we consider how high the prejudice of the court ran against this herb, as so strikingly evinced by the ‘Counterblaste’ of King James, it seems very likely that Shakspeare, who was fond of playing the courtier, should have selected it, as an agent of extraordinary malignity, upon such an occasion. No preparation of the hyoscyamus with which we are acquainted, would produce death by an application to the ear; whereas the essential oil of tobacco might, without doubt, occasion a fatal result. The term distilment has also called forth a remark from Steevens, which is calculated to add a little farther weight^[449] to our conjecture; “surely” says he, “this expression signifies, that the preparation was the result of a distillation.”

418 Symptoms of poisoning by Tobacco.

The leaves of tobacco, whether whole, or reduced to powder, as they are daily met with in commerce, or in the form of infusion in water or wine, or in the state of smoke, are endued with poisonous properties of extreme energy. Their administration is shortly followed by vertigo; severe nausea; vomiting; a general tremor of the body, which is rarely the result of any other poison; cold sweats; syncope; and death. The author remembers witnessing a lamentable exemplification of the action of tobacco upon a person labouring under a strangulated hernia. The patient had been under the care of a medical practitioner in the vicinity of London, who after repeated and fruitless efforts to return the intestine, injected an infusion of tobacco into the rectum, and sent him in a carriage to the Westminster hospital, for the purpose of undergoing the operation; but the unfortunate man expired very shortly after his arrival, in consequence of the effects of the tobacco clyster. The external application of tobacco, in the form of cataplasm, or infusion, will occasion all the effects above related. A woman applied to the heads of three children afflicted with tinea capitis, a liniment consisting of powdered tobacco and butter, soon after which they experienced vertigo, violent vomiting, and fainting.^[450]

It was formerly a practice to inject the smoke of tobacco into the anus, by means of a bellows of a peculiar construction, in cases of suspended animation, with a view to stimulate the rectum, and thereby to revive the vital powers; we have already commented 419upon this most dangerous and mistaken notion, (see page 88.)

In the process of smoking tobacco, the oil is separated, and being rendered empyreumatic by heat, it is thus applied to the fauces in its most active form; whence vertigo, nausea, and all its characteristic symptoms speedily arise upon that occasion; although the system becomes easily habituated to the action of this narcotic, and we continually see a large portion of the community using it daily, in various ways, and in great quantities, as a luxury, without experiencing any other bad effect than that which arises from their inability to relinquish the habit.

The well known errhine, snuff, is prepared from the dried leaves of tobacco, and possesses all the powers of the plant. The celebrated Santeuil experienced vomiting and horrible pains, amidst which he expired, in consequence of having drank a glass of wine, into which some Spanish snuff had been introduced.^[451]

Physiological action of Tobacco.

The deleterious effects of this plant appear to depend on an especial action upon the nervous system; but farther experiments are required to establish through what medium its powers are conveyed to the sensorium. Orfila concludes that the active part of the plant is absorbed, and carried into the circulation. Mr. Brodie’s experiments, however, would lead to the conclusion that it operates through the medium of the nerves; and, what is extremely singular, they shew that the essential oil operates very differently 420from the infusion of tobacco; for that while the former appears to act exclusively on the brain, leaving the power of the circulation unimpaired, the latter acts on the heart at once, suspending its action even before the animal ceases to respire, and kills by producing syncope. This apparent anomaly at first led Mr. Brodie, as he has since informed the author, to suspect the accuracy of his experiments; but their careful repetition rendered this impossible. We suggested to him, whether a probable explanation might not be found in the late chemical results respecting the composition of tobacco, which seemed to shew that this plant possesses two active elements.^[452]

Hemlock. Cicuta.^[453] Conium^[454] Maculatum (Pentandria Digynia. Nat. Ord. Umbellatæ.)

Hemlock is a biennial, umbelliferous, indigenous plant, growing very commonly about the sides of fields, under hedges, and in moist shady places. It is at once distinguished from other umbelliferous plants, with which it may be confounded, by its large and spotted stem, the dark and shining colour of its lower leaves, and their disagreeable smell; which, when fresh and bruised is said to bear a strong resemblance to that of the urine of a cat. Many^[455] cases of 421persons who have been poisoned by this plant are to be found in the writings of different toxicologists. The extract, if properly prepared, is a very energetic substance, and gives rise, in large doses, to all the symptoms which we have so often described as the result of narcotic poisons. In those fatal cases, where the bodies have been examined, post mortem, inflammation of the stomach, and sanguineous congestion in the brain, have been the most prominent phenomena. It would appear that the active element of this plant is absorbed and carried into the circulation, through which medium it exerts its action on the nervous system, and more particularly on the brain. At the same time it seems to excite a local irritation, capable of producing an inflammation more or less violent. The best antidote is vinegar, after the stomach has been evacuated, and the cerebral excitement reduced by bleeding and purging.

The Cicuta Virosa, or water hemlock, with which the conium maculatum has been often confounded, is still more virulent; it is however to be distinguished from the latter, by having its hollow roots always immersed in water, while those of the conium never are. M. Orfila has related several cases of poisoning by the water hemlock.

Nux Vomica. This is the seed of the Strychnus Nux Vomica (Pentandria Monogynia, Nat. Ord. Apocyneæ, Juss.)

The tree^[456] which produces these seeds grows in Ceylon, upon the coast of Coromandel, and in Malabar. The nux vomica is round and flat, about an inch broad, and nearly a quarter of an inch thick, 422with a prominence in the middle on both sides, of a grey colour, covered with a kind of woolly matter, but internally hard and tough. The kernel discovers to the taste a considerable bitterness, but makes little or no impression on the organs of smell. There is a popular belief that this substance is poisonous to all animals, except man. Instances, however, are not wanting to illustrate its deleterious effects upon the human species. It proves fatal to dogs in a very short period; it has also poisoned hares, foxes, wolves, cats, rabbits, and even some birds. Loureiro relates that a horse died in four hours after taking a drachm of the seed in an half roasted state. Its effects, however, on different animals, and even on those of the same species, are somewhat uncertain, and not always in the proportion to the quantity given. With some animals it produces its effects almost instantaneously: with others, not until after the lapse of several hours, when laborious respiration, followed by torpor, tremblings, coma, and convulsions usually precede the fatal spasms, or Tetanus, which so especially distinguishes the operation of this poison. Hoffman reports the case of a young girl of ten years of age, who, labouring under an obstinate quartan fever, took, at two doses, fifteen grains of nux vomica, and died very shortly afterwards. MM. Pelletier and Caventou have discovered in these seeds, a peculiar proximate principle, to which their virulence is owing; it was originally named Vauqueline, in honour of the celebrated French philosopher, but in deference to the opinion of the French Academy of Sciences, the discoverers have substituted the name Strychnia,^[457] because “a name dearly loved, ought not to be applied to a noxious principle!”

423Strychnia is highly alkaline, and crystallizes in very small four-sided prisms, terminated by four-sided pyramids; its taste is insupportably bitter, leaving a slight metallic flavour, and is so powerful as even to be perceptible when a grain is dissolved in eighty pounds of water;^[458] it has no smell. So extreme is its activity upon the animal system, that in doses of half a grain it occasions serious effects, and in larger ones, convulsions and death. It is, perhaps, the most powerful, and, next to hydro-cyanic acid, the most rapid of poisons. M. Majendie has killed a dog with one-eighth of a grain; and the editor of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal has seen one die in two minutes after the injection of one-sixth of a grain into the cavity of the pleura.

Nux vomica is supposed by Orfila to exert a specific action on the spinal marrow, thereby producing tetanus, immobility of the thorax, and consequently asphyxia, of which the animal dies. That this effect is produced by the absorption of the poison, and its passage into the circulation, is clearly established by the interesting and important experiments of M. Majendie.^[459]

Cocculus Indicus.

This is the fruit of a shrub (Menispermum Cocculus) which grows naturally in the sand, in the midst of the rocks, on the coast of Malabar, in the island of Ceylon, and in other parts of the East Indies. 424The berries are imported into this country in a dry and shrivelled state. In India they are employed for killing fish, which they intoxicate and poison, when thrown into fish ponds. M. Goupil, a physician of Nemours, communicated to the Society of Medicine some interesting facts on the subject of this poison;^[460] and he has shewn that it is not only destructive to fishes, but also to different carnivorous quadrupeds, and, very probably, to man. He also states that the poisonous principle of this substance is not sensibly changed by the gastric juices, and the vital action of the organs of digestion; but, on the contrary, that it passes into the absorbent system with all its properties unimpaired; and that the flesh of those fishes which have eaten it, irritates the stomach and bowels of the animals to which it is given, nearly in the same manner as the Cocculus Indicus itself. All the fishes who eat it do not die in an equal space of time. Roach, pollard, breme, perch, tench, and barbel, are affected in an order corresponding with that in which they are here arranged; the roach is killed the easiest of all; the barbel is the last to die, and is moreover said to be, of all fish, the one whose flesh the most frequently occasions accidents in those animals who eat it; probably, says M. Goupil, because these fish, taking a longer time to die, the poison is longer subjected to the action of the digestive juices, and a considerable quantity of it is consequently absorbed.^[461]

Late experiments^[462] have shewn that the active principle of the cocculus Indicus is an alkaline body, 425crystallizable, bitter, and extremely poisonous; to this principle, M. Boullay has given the name of picrotoxine, and the experiments of M. Orfila have confirmed the idea of its constituting the only active element of the seeds.

Poisonous Mushrooms.

The common mushroom, or champignon, (Agaricus Campestris) has been long esteemed an article of epicurean delicacy; and is eaten in its fresh state either stewed or boiled; and as a preserve, in the form of pickle or powder. Its juice, moreover, furnishes the sauce so well known by the name of ketchup,^[463] or catsup. Mr. Miller informs us that the true eatable mushroom may be easily distinguished from the poisonous and unpleasant species by the following characters. “When young, it appears of a roundish form, smooth, like a button; which together with its stalk, is white, especially the fleshy part of the button; the gills within, when broken, are livid. As it grows larger, it expands its head by degrees into a flat form; the gills underneath are at first of a pale flesh-colour, but become blackish on standing.” There are besides a vast number of species which may be eaten with perfect impunity; the Agaricus Procerus, or tall mushroom, is sometimes exposed for sale in Covent Garden market, and is quite harmless; although, when preserved in pickle, it is very apt to run into the vinous fermentation. With equal safety the Agaricus Pratensis, or Scotch bonnet, as it has been called, may be eaten; it occurs in those patches which are 426well known by the popular name of fairy rings. The Agaricus deliciosus is considered by Withering to have been the mushroom which formed the vehicle of poison to Claudius Cæsar, as related at page 134 of this volume, and which has been celebrated by the satiric pen of Juvenal, and the epigrammatic muse of Martial; a species of mushroom, observes Withering which is still highly esteemed in modern Italy, as it was in ancient Rome. Schæfer and Clusius, however, consider the plant in question to have been the Agaricus Xerampelinus, a species which although esculent, has a strong, and by no means an agreeable flavour. The common champignon has never, as far as we can learn, produced any mischief, although a popular opinion prevails that soil, shade, and other local circumstances, may render it virulent. If any unpleasant symptoms were to follow its ingestion, we should be inclined to regard them as the result of the peculiar idiosyncrasy of the individual, rather than as the consequence of an absolute poison; indeed a question has been raised how far such an explanation may not apply to all the cases of poisoning from this tribe of plants; for it has been observed that in many parts of Europe several of those species of mushroom are eaten with impunity, that are regarded by us as most virulent poisons; of this number we may reckon the Agaricus Piperatus, or Pepper Agaric, which is eaten in great quantity by the Russians, who fill large vessels with them in the autumn, seasoning or pickling them with salt, and then eating them in the ensuing lent.^[464] There is, however, too much direct evidence in favour of the existence of an acrid poison in certain Agarics, to allow the supposition of their 427being relative^[465] in their operation, as exemplified in the history of the Agaricus Muscarius, or Bugagaric, which is so called from its power in destroying these insects; and for which purpose the inhabitants of the north of Europe infuse it in milk, and set it in their windows. It constitutes the Mouchomore of the Russians, Kamtschadales, and Koriars, who use it for the sake of intoxication; upon some occasions they eat it dry, but generally it is steeped in a liquor made with the Epilobium Angustifolium; upon drinking which, they are seized with convulsions in all their limbs, followed by raving delirium: an effect which renders it a desirable potation^[466] to those who intend to accomplish any desperate act, or premeditated assassination. It is also stated that those who drink the urine of persons intoxicated by this agaric, experience the effects of the mushroom. Withering,^[467] who has been very assiduous in the display of this species, acknowledges ten varieties, all of which are natives of Britain. The Agaricus Semi-globalus of this botanist, and which is identical with the A. Glutinosus of Curtis, is extremely poisonous, and has proved fatal in several instances in this country. There are a great many other species equally destructive, but notwithstanding the labour that has been bestowed upon this branch of natural knowledge, much remains to be explained. The ancients appear to have taken considerable pains in discriminating between esculent and poisonous fungi; among the moderns, Clusius has furnished a mass of information. Withering has described with 428great botanical minuteness and accuracy the different species and varieties of this extensive genus of the cryptogamia; but he has failed in pointing out the poisonous, from the esculent and harmless species. Orfila, in his late lessons on Poisons,^[468] has bestowed considerable labour with a view to establish a practical distinction, and has enriched his work with highly illustrative engravings. Upon the present occasion, it is scarcely necessary to observe, that it would be foreign to the plan of this work to enter into such botanical details as the full elucidation of this subject would require; the research would, in itself, occupy a quarto volume; we must therefore rest satisfied with general observations. The following indications should excite a suspicion of mushrooms. A marshy and shady locality; an ugly or lurid physiognomy; a glairy or moist surface; a change of colour when cut, and a soft, porous, and moist texture; a virulent smell; a bright colour, or a combination of distinct colours. We ought also to reject as dangerous all those which have bulbous and soft stems, or which have fragments of skin glued to their surface.

Symptoms of poisoning by Mushrooms.

Exhilaration of spirits, laughter, vertigo, sickness, griping pains, vomiting, and purging, suffusion of the eyes, stupor, cold sweats, syncope, convulsions, death. Numerous records of sickness and death might be adduced in illustration of this subject. The celebrated musician, Schobert, and, with the exception of one child, his whole family, together with a friend and a physician who dined with him, 429were all fatally poisoned by a dish of mushrooms, which he had himself gathered in the fields of Saint Gervais, a village in the environs of Paris. It is not known to what species the plants belonged. In the Gazette de Santé, for August 1812, we have the following narrative. “M. Dufour, a physician of Montargis, gathered in the neighbouring forest some mushrooms, which were stripped of their skin, and their stem, cut into pieces, and cooked in their juice with butter and fine herbs, under a camp oven. They were served up at table. The servant girl, aged twenty years, who had eaten the greatest quantity, very shortly complained of confusion of the head, giddiness, and a slight heaving of the stomach; her face was red and inflamed, the eyes starting and lively, the pulse full and undulating. The eldest daughter of M. Dufour experienced the same symptoms without any nausea. A little child, eighteen months old, that had only eaten some bread dipped in the gravy, slept quietly for sixteen hours, contrary to his usual custom, and exhibited no other remarkable phenomenon. The other child, aged eleven years, complained of confusion of the head and intoxication; the parents did not experience any ill effects. Upon investigation it was discovered that two mushrooms of the Agaricus Muscarius, having been confounded with the proper one, had entered into the composition of the dish.”

Amongst the cases which have occurred in this country, we may particularize that related by Mr. E. Brande, in the third volume of the London Medical and Physical Journal, p. 41, “J. S. gathered early in the morning of the third of October, in the Green Park, what he supposed to be small mushrooms; these he stewed with the common additions in a tinned 430iron^[469] saucepan. The whole did not exceed a tea-saucer full, which he, and four of his children ate the first thing, about eight o’clock in the morning, as they frequently had done without any bad consequence; they afterwards took their usual breakfast of tea, &c., which was finished about nine, when Edward, one of the children (eight years old) who had eaten a large proportion of the fungi, was attacked with fits of immoderate laughter, nor could the threats of his father or mother restrain him. To this succeeded vertigo, or stupor; the pupils of his eyes were, at times, dilated to nearly the circumference of the cornea, and scarcely contracted at the approach of a strong light; his breathing was quick, his pulse very variable, at times imperceptible, at others too frequent and small to be counted, latterly very languid; his feet were cold, livid, and contracted; he sometimes pressed his hands on different parts of his abdomen, as if in pain, but when roused and interrogated respecting it, he answered yes, or no, evidently without any relation to what was asked. About the same time the father, aged forty, was attacked with vertigo, and complained that every thing appeared black, then wholly disappeared; to this succeeded loss of voluntary motion and stupor; in about ten minutes he gradually recovered, but complained of universal numbness and coldness, with great dejection, and a firm persuasion that he was dying; in a few minutes he relapsed, but recovered as before, and had several similar fits during three or four hours, each succeeding one being less violent, and with longer intermission than that preceding. 431Harriet, twelve years old, who had eaten but a very small quantity, was also attacked at the time with slight vertigo. Charlotte, a delicate little girl, ten years of age, who had eaten a considerable quantity, was suddenly attacked in the presence of Dr. Burges and myself, with vertigo and loss of voluntary motion. Martha, aged eighteen, who had eaten a small proportion, was attacked with similar symptoms.” By judicious treatment they all recovered. Upon investigation Mr. Sowerby determined the mushroom to have been a variety of the A. glutinosus of Curtis (Flora Londinensis) the same with Dr. Withering’s A. semi-globatus; and yet no notice of its deleterious properties is taken by either of these botanists.

A less fortunate case of poisoning by Fungi is related in the twentieth volume of the same journal by Mr. Parrott, surgeon of Mitcham, of which the following is a sketch. The subject of the history was a family of six persons, viz. William Attwood, ætat. 45; Eliza, his wife, 38; and their daughters, Mary, æt. 14; Hannah, 11; Sarah, 7; Eliza, 5. They all ate stewed champignons, at one o’clock, on Monday the 10th of October, which stew was made in an iron vessel, and consisted of the articles already mentioned with the addition of butter and flour, pepper, salt, and water only; and each of the parties (Hannah excepted) was supposed to have eaten more than half a pint. Within ten minutes after they had eaten their meal, they felt their spirits exhilarated, and the eldest daughter said to her mother “how funny you look.” All the parties continued cheerful till about six o’clock, when having taken their tea, they were attacked with stupor, which was soon succeeded, by severe pains in the bowels, accompanied with violent vomiting, and copious purging, which continued 432till the following afternoon, when the parents became alarmed and sent for the surgeon. The treatment which was pursued appears to have been, in every respect, judicious, and Mary had so far recovered on the following day (Wednesday) that she walked into the village about a quarter of a mile from home; in the evening, however, the symptoms returned; on Thursday evening she became convulsed, and died on Friday morning at two o’clock. Eliza did not complain much of her sufferings, but became convulsed at the same time as her sister, and died half an hour after her. Sarah never complained of pain in the head, but was continually suffering under extreme pain in the bowels, which was aggravated by pressure, but no tension existed; she died on Saturday morning, in the same convulsed state as her sisters. A dog which had partaken of the stew died on the Wednesday night, apparently in great agony. The father recovered, the mother, who was two months advanced in pregnancy, miscarried, but ultimately became convalescent. Mr. Wheeler, of St. Bartholomew’s hospital, a gentleman who has been long known to the profession as an eminent botanist, no sooner heard of the event than he repaired to the spot where the mushrooms had been gathered, when he immediately recognised the Agaricus semi-globatus, which had nearly proved fatal in the instance related by Mr. E. Brande, and which, upon being shewn to the father, he instantly pronounced to be similar to those, of which the family had so unfortunately eaten.

433 Organic Lesions discovered on Dissection.

In the above case of the family of Attwood, the body of Mary was examined, but no morbid appearance whatever could be discovered. In collecting the different phenomena exhibited in other recorded cases, they may be reduced to the following: “violet coloured spots over the integuments; abdomen extremely bulky; the tunica conjunctiva of the eye as if it were injected; the pupil contracted; stomach and intestines inflamed, and scattered over with gangrenous spots; and, in some cases, they have exhibited very considerable contractions, so much so as almost to obliterate the canal. In no case have any remains of the mushroom been found. The lungs have been observed inflamed, and gorged with black blood.”

There cannot, however, be any doubt but that the different species of poisonous agarics act very differently.

Antidotes.

In all cases, the first object is to evacuate the offensive matter by emetics. After which, stimulants, especially ammonia, will be found highly serviceable.

Alcohol.

In treating of the action of this substance upon the human body, it may be considered as a slow, or quick poison; as one which, according to the circumstances of its administration, may either implant the seeds of disease and death, by an insidious, and scarcely perceptible operation, or extinguish the principle of animation in the space of a few hours.

434Its effects as an accumulative^[470] poison are principally interesting to the physician in their relations to therapeutics, although their history may perhaps suggest some few points of interest to the founders of medical police.

We shall, therefore, observe, with regard to the habitual use of fermented liquors, that the bodily evils which arise from the custom rather depend upon the quality, or, in other words, the state of combination in which the alcohol exists in such liquors, than on the absolute quantity of the libation, or the frequency with which it is repeated. Daily experience convinces us that the same quantity of alcohol applied to the stomach under the form of wine, and in a state of mixture with water, will produce very different effects upon the living body, as well with reference to the immediate symptoms, as to the remote consequences of the potation; it has, for instance, been clearly demonstrated that port, madeira, and sherry, contain from one-fourth to one-fifth their bulk of alcohol;^[471] so that a person who takes a bottle of either of these wines, will thus take nearly half a pint of pure alcohol, which is equivalent to a pint of brandy! The remote consequences too of alcohol in these different states, are as striking and distinct as their immediate effects. It is well known that diseases of the liver are the most common, and the most formidable of those produced by the use of ardent spirits; it is equally certain that no such disorders follow the intemperate use of wine that is perfectly pure; let it be remembered that the greater 435proportion of that which is drunk in this country contains uncombined brandy, purposely added to meet the demand of the British market; and Dr. MacCulloch thinks that it is to the unwitting and concealed consumption of this uncombined spirit, that we ought to attribute the prevalence of those hepatic affections which are comparatively little known to our continental neighbours. But although wine, in a state of purity, may be thus fairly excluded from the general obloquy which attaches to spirituous potations, it must not be regarded as entirely free from imputation. “The effects of wine,” says Rush “like those of tyranny in a well formed government, are first felt in the extremities; while spirits, like a bold invader, seize at once upon the vitals of the constitution.” And even with respect to ardent spirits, although they can only be regarded as diluted alcohol, still each species appears to possess a peculiarity of operation; owing, no doubt, to the modifying influence of the other elements of the liquid; thus brandy^[472] is said to be cordial and stomachic; rum more heating and sudorific; gin and whiskey, diuretic; and arrack, styptic, heating, and narcotic. It seems also that a modified effect is produced by the addition of various other substances, such as sugar and acids; which latter bodies, besides their anti-narcotic powers, appear to act by favouring a more perfect combination and mutual penetration of the particles of spirit and water. The effects also which are produced by the habitual use of fermented liquors differ essentially 436according to the kind that is drunk; thus ale and porter, in consequence of the nutritive matter, and perhaps the invigorating bitter with which they are charged, and the comparatively small proportion of alcohol which they contain, dispose to plethora, which is sometimes terminated by apoplexy.^[473]

Symptoms of Poisoning by Alcohol.

The ordinary effects of an excessive dose of any spirituous liquor are too well known to require description; and generally pass off without the necessity of professional interference. In cases, however, where the draught has been very large, the person has suddenly fallen down in a state of complete insensibility, and has exhibited all the phenomena of apoplexy; or, in some instances, he has expired almost immediately. The insensibility of the patient may render it difficult for the practitioner to distinguish the immediate cause of the symptoms; although his history for the last few hours, and the spirituous odour of his breath, will generally announce the true nature of his situation. Mr. Brodie observes that there is a striking analogy between the symptoms arising from the ingestion of spirits, and those produced by injuries of the brain; concussion of the brain, which may be considered the slightest degree of injury, occasions a state of mind resembling intoxication; pressure on the brain, which is a more severe injury than concussion, produces loss of motion, insensibility, dilation of the pupils, laborious and stertorous respiration, and death.

437 Physiological Action of Alcohol.

We shall not enter into the history of the slow operation of repeated doses of spirit upon the human body; but limit our present inquiry to the modus operandi of this agent, as a quick and destructive poison.

Large draughts of liquids containing alcohol, would appear to destroy, at once, the functions of the brain, without occasioning that previous stage of excitement, which is produced by smaller quantities of spirit—whence coma and insensibility are the immediate consequences; and the nervous energy being no longer conveyed to the muscles of respiration, the breathing becomes laborious, and the patient dies, as he does in apoplexy, for want of those changes in the blood which are produced by the respiratory functions.^[474] In the greater number, however, of fatal cases of inebriety, life has been destroyed by circumstances purely accidental; such as improvident 438exposure to cold, as explained at page 59, or suffocation from an imperfect act of vomiting, during which a portion of the contents of the stomach are forced into the trachea, (see page 58,^[475].) It having then been clearly established that the brain is the organ principally affected by a large dose of alcohol, it remains to be explained in what manner, and through what medium such an effect is produced; upon this question we are inclined to concur with Mr. Brodie, and to consider that alcohol acts sympathetically on the brain by means of the nerves of the stomach; for it has been observed that animals which die under such circumstances, exhibit a decided inflammation of the stomach; and, in the next place, the effects produced by this agent are too instantaneous to admit the possibility of absorption, while repeated instances have shewn that vomiting will often restore the intoxicated individual to his senses. At the same time, we think it very probable that, upon some occasions, the alcohol passes into the current of the circulation, and is thus carried to remote organs. Dr. Cooke^[476] has related a case, on the authority of Sir A. Carlisle, of a person who was brought dead into the Westminster hospital, in consequence of having drunk a quart of gin for a wager, at a draught; and that upon examination, a considerable quantity of a limpid fluid was found within the lateral ventricles of the brain, distinctly impregnated with gin. We well remember this case, for it occurred during the period that the author of the 439present work held the situation of physician to that hospital. See Pharmacologia, vol. 1, p. 138.

Treatment of Persons in a State of Inebriety.

In the first instance we should endeavour to evacuate the stomach; for which purpose a brisk emetic of sulphate of zinc, or tartarised antimony may be administered. Blood should also be taken from the jugular vein, or temporal artery; more especially if there appear a considerable determination of blood to the head. The head should be also washed with cold water, or some evaporating lotion.

For reasons which we have already explained, the patient should be carefully preserved in a warm atmosphere; and his body should be placed in an easy reclining posture, and be disencumbered of all tight bandages. These precautions are of the utmost moment, for many of those cases of inebriety which stand recorded in our journals, have terminated fatally, for want of attention to them.

440

ANIMAL POISONS.

This extensive kingdom of Nature presents us with a variety of objects destructive to human life; their agency, however, is on many occasions involved in impenetrable obscurity, and we are not even able to discover whether their deleterious effects depend upon certain definite principles, or upon the combination of circumstances connected with the individuals upon whom they act; and which thus render many substances relatively poisonous, that are innocuous to the general mass of mankind. With regard to the chemical laws by which animal compounds are governed, and the principles upon which their analysis may be conducted, the same observations will apply as those with which we introduced the consideration of vegetable poisons.

Cl. IV. SEPTIC POISONS.

The Bites of Venomous Animals.

Of the whole class of serpents, which according to Linnæus contains 132 species, Plenck assures us that only 24 are venomous. Of these, Europe has only 5, and England but 2; all of which are vipers, viz. Coluber Aspis; C. Chersea; C. Prester (black viper, peculiar to England); C. Illyricus (inhabits the mountains of Sclavonia); C. Berus, (the common viper of Germany, Spain, Italy, and England.)

The venom of the viper is contained in a bag situated on both sides of the head, beneath the muscle 441of the superior jaw; it is secreted from the blood by a gland which lies just behind the orbit of the eye; from which a duct proceeds to the above-mentioned bag; in the upper jaw are situated two moveable teeth, very sharp towards the point, and hollowed nearly throughout their length. When the animal intends to bite, he presses the bag by means of the muscle, the venom comes out, arrives at the base of the tooth, passes through the sheath which envelopes it, and enters into its cavity by a hole which is found at this base; then it flows along the hollow of the tooth, and issues into the wound by the opening which is near its end, for the point itself is solid and sharp, in order that it may better penetrate the flesh of its victim. If these fangs be removed, or their structure destroyed, the viper is necessarily rendered harmless; whence Galen has observed that the mountebanks used to stop these perforations of the teeth with some kind of paste, whenever they suffered the vipers to bite them before spectators.

Symptoms occasioned by the Bite of a Viper.

Acute pain in the wounded part, attended with almost immediate tumefaction; the part appears first red, and then livid; the local affection extends itself, and the surrounding skin becomes similarly affected. The pulse is small, frequent, and irregular; the respiration is disturbed; the patient complains of great debility, and faintness which often amounts to syncope; vomiting takes place; pain is felt in the umbilical region, and he becomes jaundiced; and, in fatal cases, the wound assumes a malignant character, and gangrene takes place.

442In this country the affection is rarely mortal,^[477] although the circumstances of constitutional debility, unusual heat of season, and injudicious treatment, have in several instances led to a fatal issue.

Physiological action of the Poison of Vipers.

The result of numerous experiments justify us in referring this poison to the second division of our classification. The symptoms which it produces evidently depend on its absorption, and its passage into the circulation, when it exerts its peculiar action on the blood. It is somewhat singular that this poison should be perfectly inert when taken into the stomach; a fact, however, which appears to have been well known from the earliest periods; whence such wounds were commonly sucked^[478] with impunity; and we learn that when Cato marched the remains of Pompey’s army through Africa, he very wisely informed the soldiers, who, although dying from thirst, feared to drink the waters which contained serpents, that no evil could arise from such indulgence.^[479]

“Noxia Serpentum est admisto sanguine Pestis,

Morsu Virus habent, et Fatum Dente minantur,

Pocula Morte carent”----

Among the insects of Britain some will be found to possess fluids highly stimulant, and sometimes, although rarely, occasioning death. These British insects, however, cannot be compared in virulence with the Furia Infernalis, Pulex Penetrans, the Scorpion, and the Tarantula; but their natural history 443is nevertheless interesting, and the instances of mischief arising from an application of their venom are not unimportant. Of the genus Vespa we have three species, each of which possesses the property of producing violent and painful inflammation, sometimes followed by considerable danger, where the injury has been inflicted on parts of great sensibility, and in irritable habits, viz. Vespa Crabro, the hornet; V. Vulgaris, common wasp; C. Coarctata, small wasp. Instances are recorded of the wasp, having been introduced into the mouth with fruit, and produced by its sting on the velum palati a sudden swelling which has so intercepted the respiration as to occasion suffocation.^[480] Of the Apis there are seven British species; the most remarkable of which are the Apis Rufa, or small field bee; A. Mellifica, the common hive bee; A. Terrestris, humble bee; and A. Subterranea, or great humble bee.

The sting of a single bee cannot be regarded as attended with danger, except in certain constitutions; but there are many instances of men and animals having suffered most terribly, and even fatally, by an attack of a swarm of these insects.

The supposed poison of the toad is a subject which we have already disposed of, under the literary history of poisons, page 139.

Putrescent Animal Matter.

A question has long since arisen, how far the ingestion of animal matter, in a state of putrefaction, is liable to affect the health? On the one hand it has 444been maintained that the custom of eating game, venison, and other species of animal food, in a state of incipient putrescence, has never been attended with any inconvenience; but appears, on the contrary, to afford a repast of easier digestion, than the flesh of recently killed animals. On the other hand, it has been asserted by Foderé,^[481] and corroborated by the testimony of others, that corrupted meat, fish, and eggs, are undoubted poisons; if, through inadvertence, necessity, or extreme hunger, they are taken in any quantity. The same distinguished writer relates that, during the siege of Mantua, several persons who were shut up in the town were seized with gangrene of the extremities, and scurvy, in consequence of having been driven to the alternative of eating the half putrid flesh of horses. In Crantz’s history of Greenland we read an account of the death of thirty-two persons, at a missionary station, called Kangek, shortly after a repast upon the putrid brains of a Walrus.

It would appear that under circumstances not hitherto understood, certain parts of animal bodies become poisonous; and the virus would not seem to be connected with any stage of putrefaction, nor with any previous disease in the animal. As far as our limited experience upon this subject will allow us to generalize, the brain and the viscera would appear to be particularly susceptible of such a change. Some curious and highly interesting observations have lately been published by Dr. Kerner, of Wurtemberg, respecting the probable existence of a species of animal poison not hitherto known. He informs us that the smoked sausages, which constitute so 445favourite a repast to the inhabitants of Wurtemberg, often cause fatal poisoning. The effects of the poison occasionally manifest themselves in the spring, generally in the month of April, in a degree more or less alarming. He states that out of seventy-six persons, who became sick from having eaten such sausages, thirty-seven died in a short time, and that several others remained ill for years. Upon these occasions it has been observed, that the most virulent sausages were made of liver. M. Cadet, of Paris, analysed all the meats, examined all the vessels in which they had been prepared; and inspected the matters vomited, or found in the stomach after death, without being able to trace the vestige of any known poison; nor was there the slightest evidence in these cases of malevolence or negligence. Similar accidents have occurred at different periods in Paris; upon which occasions, the police officers visited the pig dealers, and were perfectly assured that the animals had never been fed with unwholesome food; the use of poison for rats, with which these places abound, was interdicted, and every precaution taken. What then, asks M. Cadet, is this poison found in sausage meats—is it Prussic acid—is it a new matter? It is evidently not the effect of putrefaction, since it exists in meats perfectly well preserved. To the above queries of M. Cadet, the author of the present work begs to add one more—may not the skin enclosing the sausage meat be the part in which the poison resides? It is well known that the bodies of animals who die of various diseases, are capable of communicating fatal diseases to the human species; and experience has shewn that such animal poison is particularly energetic in those parts that are commonly called the offals, in which term are included the 446intestines; in the history of fish-poison, which will hereafter offer itself to our notice, we shall find numerous instances of dogs, cats, hogs, and birds, dying from eating these parts, while persons, who have partaken of the fish to which these offals belonged, remained uninjured. But to account for the deleterious change of which these parts appear to be occasionally susceptible, it does not appear necessary to suppose that the animal died in a state of disease. Captain Scoresby, in his “Account of the Arctic regions,”^[482] states that although the flesh of the bear is both agreeable and wholesome, the liver of that animal is poisonous; sailors who had inadvertently eaten it, were almost always sick afterwards, and some actually died; while in others the cuticle has peeled off their bodies. The ancients appear to have entertained a fear with regard to the wholesomeness of the viscera of certain animals, and of the fluids which they secrete. Pliny says that the gall of a horse was accounted poison; and, therefore, at the sacrifices of horses in Rome, it was unlawful for the Flamen (priest) to touch it. Mr. Brodie has lately favoured the author with the communication of a fact, which goes far to support the theory we have offered with respect to the possible source of poison in sausages. He states that he has twice met with evidence of the acrid and poisonous nature of “dog’s meat,” as sold in the streets of London, which manifested itself by producing ulcerations, of a peculiar character, on the hands, and swelling in the axillæ, of the venders! May we venture to ask whether the prosecution of this inquiry might not possibly lead to some new and important conclusions respecting the origin of hydrophobia?

447Where animals have died from disease, their flesh has undoubtedly produced affections by external contact, as well as by its ingestion. At the Somerset assizes in 1819, a case was tried, whose merits wholly turned upon the question now under discussion. A cow, having died of some disease, was thrown into the river Yeo, and several cattle that afterwards drank of the water died of a similar complaint. An action was accordingly brought against the owner of the cow for damages. The defendant, however, obtained a verdict, apparently from the evidence of a medical person, who asserted that animal matter in a state of putrefaction will not communicate contagion. But we must here beg to observe that this is quite another and distinct question; the merits of which we have already considered.^[483] The physiological question involved in the preceding case, is whether the carcase of an animal, whose fluids have been depraved by antecedent disease, is capable, or not, of producing morbid and fatal affections in the living animals with which it may come in contact? The facts collected by MM. Enaux and Chaussier, in their work entitled “Methode de traiter les Morsures des Animaux enragés,” prove in a very satisfactory manner that the Anthrax, or Malignant Pustule, has for its cause a septic virus engendered in diseased animals, and transmitted to man.^[484] The following are amongst the more striking examples cited from these authors by Orfila. “A shepherd bled one of his sheep, which had just died suddenly; he carried it home on his shoulders; but the blood penetrated his shirt, and was rubbed upon his loins. Two days after, a malignant pustule appeared upon this spot.”

448“A boy employed in skinning an ox which had been killed at an inn at Gatinais, because it had been sick, put the knife into his mouth. Shortly after which the tongue swelled; he experienced a tightness of the chest; the whole body was covered with pustules, and he died on the fourth day, in a state of general gangrene. The inn-keeper, who was pricked in the middle of the hand by a bone of the same animal, suffered great pain; gangrene seized the arm, and he expired on the seventh day. The servant girl received on her right cheek a few drops of the blood of the same ox, which produced inflammation, followed by gangrene.”

In this country, a case has occurred highly illustrative of the present subject. A pupil of the veterinary college accidentally inoculated himself, during his dissection, with the matter of a glandered horse; the student soon experienced the usual symptoms of a septic poison; abscesses formed in various parts of his body, and he sank under the disease. Upon inoculating a healthy horse with some of the matter from the abscesses, the animal was attacked with the glanders.

This subject necessarily leads us to the notice of those effects which are frequently produced in the anatomist, by a puncture made during dissection. From the history of those cases which stand recorded, it does not appear that the poisonous effects are either connected with the putrefactive state of the body under dissection, or with the peculiar disease of which it died; but rather with the depraved state of the operator’s health; for it has been repeatedly remarked that those students who enjoy high health universally escape the evil, however repeatedly they may have been exposed to its causes.

449

Poisonous Fishes.

The number and validity of recorded cases establish the fact, beyond dispute, that certain fish, especially the muscle, (Mytilus Edulis) and others of the shell tribe, have occasionally proved fatal to those who have eaten them; but it has been doubted whether such effects have arisen from a specific poison, or from the peculiar state of the stomach,^[485] or idiosyncrasy of constitution, in the persons affected. In other words, ought we to consider the fish, so circumstanced, as an absolute or relative poison? Each of these theories has met with its advocates, and many striking facts and illustrations have been adduced in their support. The weight of authority, however, as well as of argument, strongly inclines in favour of the existence of a specific virus, generated under circumstances which we are at present unable to appreciate. At the same time, it would be vain to deny, that certain fishes are more obnoxious to the stomach of one individual than to that of another; there are, for instance, those persons who are disordered whenever they eat a muscle; others who are incapable of taking an oyster without considerable disturbance of the digestive functions. This is obviously Idiosyncrasy, and must not be confounded with those cases where a number of persons have been simultaneously affected from a particular food, which, on all former occasions, had been eaten by the same individuals with perfect security. We must, therefore, at the very outset of our inquiry, admit the occasional action 450of these articles of diet as relative poisons; although it is evident to demonstration, that an absolute virus is generated in particular fishes, by the operation of causes hitherto unknown.

As a subject, highly important in its relations to maritime œconomy, the history of fish-poison constitutes an interesting branch of naval hygiene; instructions, therefore, for its investigation, ought always to be given to the naturalists and chemists who may be appointed to attend voyages of discovery. The notice of the scientific men who accompanied Peyrouse was officially directed to this important object; but the unhappy fate of that celebrated adventurer rendered the commission fruitless. The obscurity which attends this branch of toxicology has in many cases occasioned a corresponding degree of credulity; and sailors, as well as others, entertain an unfounded prejudice against various fish, that are not only innocuous, but even useful as articles of food. It would, however, appear that those which are harmless in one latitude may prove poisonous in another; it may be stated generally, that fish are more deleterious within the tropics, than in other seas. In torrid regions the softest kinds are the most susceptible of that change which renders them poisonous, and hence the policy of the Hebrew legislator becomes apparent; “whatsoever has no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.” Levit. c. xi, v. 12, and Deut. cxiv, v. 9, 10.

The most complete history of this intricate subject, and of the dissertations to which it has given rise, is to be found in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,^[486] by Dr. Chisholm, who has brought together, 451and cited a great number of authorities, biblical and classical, foreign and domestic, for its illustration. An interesting paper is also published on the same subject in the Medical Repository,^[487] by Dr. Burrows. To the above sources we must beg to refer the reader who is desirous of farther information than can be afforded him by the present work.

Symptoms of Fish-poisoning.

Nausea; thirst; tormina of the bowels; vomiting; an eruption on the skin, resembling the nettle-rash; tumefaction of the face; head-ache; difficult respiration; distention of the abdomen; sometimes cholera morbus; vertigo; delirium; cold sweats; convulsions; death. Such is the train of symptoms, liable of course, to variation in the order of succession, which are produced by the ingestion of fish-poison, as occasionally existing in salmon, herrings, eels, mackarel, many of the testaceous and most of the crustaceous fish of this country; and in a great number of fish^[488] inhabiting the tropical seas.

The species of fish, from which deleterious effects have more commonly arisen in this country, are the Mytilus Edulis, or muscle. Dr. Burrows has given us an account of two cases of death from eating these fish, which occurred at Gravesend, under the care of Mr. Rogers, surgeon of that place, upon whose 452authority the statement is drawn up.^[489] The subjects of the history were two youths of the ages of nine and fourteen, who had each eaten about a dozen of small muscles, which they had picked from the side of a fishing smack, in a dead and tainted state. In the Gazette de Santé,^[490] and in the works of Fodéré,^[491] and Behren,^[492] similar cases are recorded. Vancouver,^[493] in his voyage to the coast of America, relates that several of his men were ill from eating some muscles which they had collected and roasted for breakfast; in an hour after which they complained of numbness of the face and extremities, sickness, and giddiness. Three were more affected than the others, and one of them died.

Origin of Fish-poison.

If we admit that the symptoms which are occasionally produced by the ingestion of certain fish, depend upon the presence of poison, we have next to inquire into its nature and origin. Dr. Burrows considers that all the opinions which have been advanced upon this subject may, for the greater perspicuity and facility of discussion, be arranged under seven heads, viz. does the poison exist—1. In the skin?—2. In the stomach and intestinal canal?—3. In the liver or gall bladder?—4. In the entire substance of the fish?—5. In the food of fishes?—6. Is it a morbid change in the system of the fish?—7. Is it a poison, sui generis?

453Upon these several questions Dr. Burrows has offered some observations. There do not appear to be any facts which can induce us to consider that the poison resides only in the skin.

Experience has shewn that the virus is particularly energetic in the viscera, commonly called the offals; and yet there are no grounds for concluding that it exclusively belongs to these parts. Captain Cook, and Messrs. Forster were poisoned by eating a piece of the liver only of a species of tetrodon; yet they who ate of its substance were also poisoned.

An opinion has long prevailed that the poisonous principle is derived from the substances upon which the fish feeds; and that of muscles, in particular, from copper; this latter hypothesis has received the sanction of Dr. Chisholm. We however agree with Dr. Burrows in considering that it has neither the support of observation or analogy. Dr. Beune has supposed that the acrid principle is no other than the spawn of the stella marina, an insect which very commonly lodges in the muscle. It seems, however, more probable that it is a product of decomposition, but which requires the concurrence of certain circumstances for its developement.

Before we conclude the history of septic poisons, there appears to be a species of death, particularly noticed by Dr. Gordon Smith,^[494] which merits our attention, as having some relation to this class of agents—the fact of persons having been “eaten to death by maggots!” Such a death has been assigned to Sylla, by Plutarch; and to Antiochus Epiphanes, by Josephus, and the writer of the book of Maccabees. The fate of Herod is ascertained by Scripture. In 454modern history we have similar instances in Charles IX of France, and Philip II of Spain.

Numerous cases are recorded, in different medical works,^[495] of the generation of maggots, i. e. the larvæ of different species of fly, not only in external sores and excoriations, but in the internal cavities of the human body. Dr. Lempriere^[496] has related the case of an officer’s lady, who had gone through an acute fever, but in whom these maggots were produced, which burrowed, and found their way by the nose through the os cribriforme, into the cavity of the cranium, and afterwards into the brain itself, to which she owed her death. But of all the cases of this kind, that related by Dr. Gordon Smith is of the most revolting kind. “In the month of July 1809, a man was found near Finglas, in Ireland, lying under the wall of a lime-kiln, at an early hour in the evening, with his face on the ground, apparently dead. On turning him on his back to ascertain the real state of the case, it was discovered that he was yet alive, but under the most appalling circumstances. On removing his coat, the whole surface of his body appeared to be a moving mass of worms. His face was considerably injured as if from a fall, or bruises; his eyes were dissolved, and their cavities, as well as those of the ears, nose, and mouth, were filled with a white living mass, from which such innumerable quantities of maggots were continually pouring out, that the skull seemed to be filled with nothing else. After some time he recovered strength enough to walk, and regained recollection and voice sufficient to tell who he was, where he lived, and how 455he had been brought into that situation. It appeared that he was returning home upon a car the evening before; having drank to excess, he fell off, and remained in a state of insensibility until he was discovered. He could neither account for the wounds in his head, nor for his being so far from the road; but it appeared probable that he had received the contusion from the fall, and had insensibly crawled to the place where he lay. It was conjectured that the state of the atmosphere, as to humidity and temperature, had brought on a solution of the solids in the bruised parts, already disposed to putrescency, and now in close contact with the moist earth. In these, the eggs of innumerable insects being deposited, their generation proceeded with rapidity under circumstances so favourable. Every attention was paid to the unfortunate individual; he was removed to shelter, the parts were washed with spirits and vinegar, and the loathsome objects removed, as far as was possible. Cordials were poured down his throat, but he swallowed with difficulty; and in a very short time spasms took place which prevented him from swallowing altogether. The putrescence advanced; in a short time he became insensible; and about noon the following day he died, in a state of total putrisolution.”

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AERIAL POISONS.

Under this division we include all those deleterious substances which can be administered through the medium of the atmosphere.

Those gases, the respiration of which occasions death by the negative operation of excluding oxygen, are not ranked under the class of poisons, for the history of such bodies involves physiological views peculiar to themselves, and belongs more correctly to the subject of suffocation, under which head it has already met with full consideration, vol. 2, p. 48.

Aërial poisons are of very undefined extent, and their history is involved in considerable obscurity. Every poison, capable of volatilization, may be admitted into the division; and even those substances which are generally regarded as fixed, may be mechanically suspended in the air, and thus produce their effects on the living system, through the medium of the lungs, stomach, or nerves. In the present state of our knowledge, we have, perhaps, only an imperfect idea of the distinction between a fixed and a volatile body. A very interesting paper on this subject was read before the Royal Academy of Berlin, by Professor Hermbstaed,^[497] in which he observes that, generally speaking, we might consider all bodies as volatile, as it is most probable that, could we produce a sufficient degree of heat, no substance could resist it. The professor also states that many bodies, hitherto considered as fixed, are actually volatilized at the temperature of boiling water; such he found to be lime, baryta, strontia, and potass. We apprehend, however, that the professor has, in these instances, 457mistaken a phenomenon for volatility, which it is highly important to distinguish from it, viz. the elevation of a certain portion of a fixed body, by the carrying power of a vapour; thus, fixed oil may, in a minute proportion, be carried up with the steam of water. Certain bodies, however, which have been long considered as perfectly fixed at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, have been lately discovered to undergo a slow and almost imperceptible evaporation under such circumstances; and the discovery has led to a very satisfactory solution of several problems which were previously unintelligible. We shall adduce a striking exemplification of this truth, under the consideration of mercurial vapours.

The substances, included under the head of Aërial poisons, may be conveniently arranged in two orders, viz.

I. Those, whose particles exist mechanically suspended in the atmosphere.

II. Those, which are presented to us in a vaporous or gaseous form.

Of the first division the various arts will furnish ample illustration, as for instance the occupations of the colour-maker, plasterer, cotton-spinner, dry-grinder,^[498] stone-cutter, hatter, furrier, miller, &c. &c. In all of which a subtle matter is given off, 458which becoming mechanically suspended in the air, penetrates the structure of the pulmonary organs, and excites disease, and even death.^[499] In illustration of the second division, we have the trades of water-gilders, acid manufacturers, night-men, bleachers, and various others, many of which have been already noticed under the medical and chemical consideration of nuisances, vol. I, p. 330.

In the present chapter we cannot attempt an enumeration of every substance which may act as an aërial poison; we shall confine our attention to the history of a few bodies which are calculated to afford general elucidation, and are likely to become objects of forensic interest.

Mercurial Vapours.

It is not the least interesting fact in the history of aërial poisons, that substances, which are found to be extremely slow in their action, or even quite inert, when administered in their solid or liquid state, exert a very rapid and energetic operation when they are presented to the human body in the attenuated form of vapour. This fact is well illustrated by the subtlety and activity of metallic mercury in the state of vapour; a substance which, according to the highest authorities, is quite inactive when introduced in its grosser form into the stomach. It is thus that the workmen employed in gilding, silvering looking-glasses, constructing barometers, &c. experience such dreadful effects; that such effects arise from the metal in a state of vapour, and not, as some have supposed, from the oxide,^[500] is a fact capable of demonstration, for 459the artists at Birmingham affix an apparatus in their chimneys as a system of economy, in order to collect the mercury, which is always found in its metallic state.^[501] From the late interesting experiments of Mr. Faraday,^[502] it appears that mercury rises in vapour at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere; the knowledge of which fact will afford a very satisfactory explanation of several phenomena, which were previously unintelligible. Dr. Hermbstaed, in the memoir, above mentioned, “on the volatility of substances hitherto considered as fixed bodies,” relates the following curious fact with regard to the volatility of mercury. “At the Royal Manufactory of looking-glasses in Berlin, during a severe winter, the artificers who worked in a room, which had originally served for the process of silvering the glasses, lighted a fire, and thus heated the apartment to between 86° and 96° Fah. In a few days the whole of them were, to their great surprise, affected by a strong salivation, 460as there was no trace of mercury in, or near the room. They consulted on the subject, and suspecting the real cause of the event, had the flooring of the room taken up, when about 40 lbs of the metal were found spread about in different parts, where it had fallen at various times during the operation of silvering, which had been executed in that room before.” With such facts before us, we shall no longer be unable to explain the effects which were produced on board his majesty’s ship Triumph, off Cadiz, in April 1809, by the bursting of leathern bags containing quicksilver, and the consequent dispersion of not less than three tons of the metal through the vessel. The interest excited by this case has been very great, and as the facts, involved in its history, are of high medical importance, we were induced to apply for permission to search the journals of the ship; and, through the kindness of Dr. Burnett, one of his majesty’s commissioners for victualling the navy, and the assistance of Mr. Plowman, who held the situation of surgeon to the Triumph, we have been enabled to obtain a correct and detailed history of the event. Previous to the circumstances we are about to describe, “the ship’s company had been tolerably healthy, when unfortunately a quantity of quicksilver was received on board, and diffused over the ship in consequence of the bursting of the leathern bags, in which it had been enclosed; when its effects were soon displayed upon the crew, by occasioning ptyalism, partial paralysis, affections of the bowels; so that in three weeks, no less than two hundred men were in a state of salivation. In consequence of which two transports were taken up as hospital ships, in which the slighter cases soon recovered; but as many fresh cases occurred daily, Vice-Admiral Pickmore 461ordered a survey on the ship, and ship’s company, by the surgeons of the squadron, on the third of May, who reported the necessity of sending the ship into port, in order to clear her hold, change part of her provisions, into which the quicksilver had insinuated itself, and to purify her by means of ablution. This was accordingly done; but on stowing the hold afresh, every man so employed, as well as those engaged in the steward’s room, were attacked with ptyalism. Fresh cases happened daily, until they took their departure from Cadiz on the 13th of June; after which but few occurred, which was attributed by the surgeon to the coldness of the weather, the fresh breezes from the north-east, from the men having been kept constantly on deck, and not allowed to sleep on the orlop, and from not suffering those affected with ptyalism to lie on the lower deck; as well as from the constant attention paid in the ventilation of the ship by means of wind-sails. But, notwithstanding all these precautions, the ship had not been more than ten days at sea, when many of the men became worse, and it was found necessary to send twenty-four seamen on board the Goshawk, and two transports. On the arrival of the Triumph in Cawsand Bay, on the 5th of July, there did not remain one case of ptyalism on their list. During this extraordinary visitation two men died from excessive ptyalism, one of them at Cadiz, having previously lost his teeth, and both cheeks at the time of his decease being in a state of sphacelation; the other, who died at Gibraltar, had lost the whole of his teeth, two-thirds of his tongue, and, at the time of his death, the lower lip was in a state of gangrene. To the interesting facts above related, Mr. Plowman adds, that the interior of the ship was covered 462with a black powder, and that the copper bolts displayed the mercurial influence. The mercurial vapours proved fatal to the living stock on board, for nearly all the poultry, sheep, pigs, mice,^[503] goats, cats, a dog, and even a canary bird, died from its influence.”

Sulphuretted Hydrogen Gas.

This gas is transparent and colourless; it has the property of inflammability, and when set on fire in the open air, burns with a bluish flame, and deposits a certain portion of sulphur. It is distinguished by an excessively fœtid smell, which has been aptly compared to that of rotten eggs. Its habitudes with other gases are interesting and important; by admixture with chlorine, it immediately undergoes decomposition, yielding its hydrogen, so as to form hydro-chloric acid (muriatic acid), and consequently depositing its sulphur; with ammoniacal gas it combines, and forms an hydro-sulphuret of ammonia; when mingled with sulphurous acid gas, the hydrogen of the former combines with the oxygen of the latter, and the sulphur of both is precipitated; when passed over ignited charcoal it is converted into carburetted hydrogen gas, and sulphur is deposited.

It is soluble in water, and the solution precipitates the different metals from their saline solutions, in the 463form of sulphurets; a property which at once distinguishes this gas from every other.

It has been long considered a very energetic poison, and it would, at the same time, appear to be a very insidious one; for sensibility is quickly destroyed by it, without any previous suffering. We are acquainted with a chemist who was suddenly deprived of sense, as he stood over a pneumatic trough, in which he was collecting the gas. It would seem to act upon the nervous system through the medium of the blood, in which it is extremely soluble. It constitutes the particular gas of privies, and is the immediate cause of those accidents which we have already described in a former part of this work, vol. 1, page 100; since the printing of which we have heard of the death of four persons from emptying a privy at Brompton. This gas will be sometimes developed during the imperfect combustion of wet coals^[504]; and it was probably owing to its presence, or to that of carburetted hydrogen, that the accident arose which is recorded by Mr. Sutleffe in the Medical Repository. “He was hastily summoned to a neighbouring family at bed-time, where he found a female domestic labouring under a shrill, laborious inspiration; she had taken up from a good kitchen fire, a panful of live coals, from which a sudden suffocating blast seized her.”

464 Carburetted Hydrogen Gas.

This gas is developed by several chemical processes. We have just stated that if, during the burning of charcoal, moisture be present, it is evolved in abundance. It appears to be particularly fatal to animal life. Dr. Beddoes made many experiments upon the subject, from which it would seem to destroy life by rendering the muscular fibre inirritable without producing any previous excitement. In order to decide this question, Sir Humphry Davy^[505] ventured to take three inspirations of the gas produced from the decomposition of water by charcoal. “The first inspiration produced a sort of numbness and loss of feeling in the chest, and about the pectoral muscles; after the second,” says he, “I lost all power of perceiving external things, and had no distinct sensation, except a terrible oppression on the chest; during the third expiration, this feeling disappeared; I seemed sinking into annihilation, and had just power enough to drop the mouth-piece from my unclosed lips. There is every reason to believe, that if I had taken four or five inspirations, instead of three, they would have destroyed life immediately, without producing any painful sensation.”

Chlorine—Oxy-muriatic Acid Gas.

This gas, which is now considered as an elementary body, has received from Sir Humphry Davy the name of chlorine, from the green colour which characterises 465it. Its odour is so penetrating and insupportable that it is impossible to respire it, even when considerably diluted with atmospheric air, and yet it will support combustion. It discharges vegetable colours, whence it forms the basis of various bleaching preparations. According to the experiments^[506] of M. Nysten, this gas is not absorbed when respired pure, but appears to act only by irritating the bronchiæ locally; and so energetic is its action, that the animal dies before there is sufficient time for asphyxia to take place from the circulation of black blood. When it is respired in a dilute form, it produces a severe cough, and, according to Fourcroy, it occasions a phlegmonic inflammation of the bronchial membranes. The death of the ingenious and indefatigable Pelletier was occasioned by his accidentally inhaling a proportion of this gas; a consumption was the consequence, which in a short time proved fatal. In the London Medical and Physical Journal for November, 1821, a case of a person is recorded who was poisoned by bleaching liquor.

Sulphurous Acid Gas.

The gas is generated by the combustion of sulphur. It is colourless; has a pungent smell, resembling that of burning sulphur, and is very soluble in water. It would appear to destroy life by a peculiar action on the blood.

466