Part 5 (2/2)
The _post-mortem appearances_ after death by phosphorus are very peculiar. If the case has proved rapidly fatal there will be the ordinary signs of irritant poisoning, with, in addition, softening of the stomach, b.l.o.o.d.y or gangrenous patches, blood in the intestines and bladder, and b.l.o.o.d.y serum in the peritoneal cavity. In many respects the lesions resemble those of the worst forms of sea scurvy; but the most marked changes are the remarkable fatty degeneration of the liver, kidneys, heart and other muscles, especially of the first, which is often greatly atrophied.
The diagnosis will depend on the peculiar odor of garlic exhaled by the patient and the luminosity of the vomited matters, in addition to the other signs referred to.
_Treatment._-There is no regular antidote for phosphorus; early evacuation by the stomach-pump and the free promotion of vomiting are the main points. Magnesia or its carbonate should be given freely in mucilaginous fluids. Oils had better be avoided, except for the purpose of removing all traces of the poison by the stomach-pump. Prompt treatment is all in all.
_Detection._-There is but one really satisfactory plan for detecting phosphorus in organic mixtures, that invented by Mitscherlich. The suspected material is introduced into a retort, and acidulated with sulphuric acid. The stem of the retort is conducted into a gla.s.s vessel kept cool by a stream of water on the outside. The retort is heated, and distillation allowed to go on in the dark. If phosphorus be present it pa.s.ses over as vapor, and is condensed in the cool vessel beyond. At each condensation a flash of light is perceived, which is the test relied on.
CHRONIC POISONING by phosphorus used to be exceedingly common among match manufacturers, but is now, comparatively speaking, rare, allotropic or amorphous phosphorus being much more generally employed than it used to be, and the ventilation of the workshops being better.
Its subjects used to be attacked with caries of the gums, gradually extending and implicating the jaw, and giving rise to great deformity.
CHAPTER XV.
a.r.s.eNIC.
a.r.s.eNIC is by far the most important of metallic poisons, whether we consider the deadliness of its effects or the fatal frequency with which they are made manifest. a.r.s.enic exists as an impurity in several metallic ores, notably in iron pyrites, which being commonly employed as a material for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, renders a.r.s.enic one of the most frequent impurities of commercial oil of vitriol. This should never be forgotten in testing any substance for the poison. To the common medicinal preparation of a.r.s.enic, consisting of _a.r.s.enious acid_, or _a.r.s.enites_, and the so-called _chloride of a.r.s.enic_, must be added the _a.r.s.eniates of potash and soda_; the sulphides of a.r.s.enic-as, the _red sulphide_, or _realgar_, and the _yellow sulphide_, or _orpiment_; the _a.r.s.enite of copper_, or _Scheele's green_, and others.
They all produce similar symptoms, and poisoning by either of them requires nearly the same treatment.
According to Von Tschudi, some of the peasants in parts of Styria and Hungary eat a.r.s.enic, taking from two to five grains daily; the men doing so in order that they may gain strength, and be able to endure fatigue, the women that they may improve their complexions. These statements are so contrary to all that we know of the power of this poison, that they have been regarded as unworthy of credit. Evidence has, however, been brought forward by Dr. Craig Maclagan, of Edinburgh, which shows clearly that a.r.s.enic-eating is something more than a mere fiction. This gentleman gave, and saw a Styrian eat, a piece of a.r.s.enious acid, weighing over four grains, and afterwards determined the presence of a.r.s.enic in urine pa.s.sed in his presence by the said peasant. Advantage was taken of these reports in the trial of Miss Madeline Smith (Edinburgh, July, 1857), when the court was asked to believe that a.r.s.enic found in the possession of the prisoner was used by her as a cosmetic.
_a.r.s.enite of Copper_, in one form or another, either as Scheele's green, emerald green, Brunswick green, &c., is unfortunately largely employed in the manufacture of green paper-hangings, artificial flowers, toys, and even some kinds of confectionery. Too many cases of ill-health caused by this practice have been recorded to permit any doubt as to its deleterious effects. These may be manifested by people living in rooms furnished with such paper-hangings. The chief symptoms are, sneezing, lachrymation, frontal headache, nausea, and loss of appet.i.te, with colicky pains, thirst, &c. Among those employed in preparing the paper-hangings more serious symptoms manifest themselves. The irritation of the pigment gives rise to circular patches of ulceration on the alae of the nose, in the folds of the arm, in the groin and s.c.r.o.t.u.m-in short, wherever dirt tends to lodge. These prove very untractable, except the employment be abandoned. In November, 1861, a young woman died in London from the poisonous effects of a.r.s.enite of copper used in dusting wax leaves. The workmen who employ the pigment in its dry state suffer, while those who use it in a moist condition are probably unaffected by it. A simple method for roughly detecting a.r.s.enite of copper in these fabrics was published in the _Chemical News_ (vol. 1, p.
12). A small portion of the suspected material is to be put into a test tube with strong ammonia. If a blue tint be produced, a salt of copper is shown to be present. Withdraw the object, and drop a piece of nitrate of silver into the ammonia; if a.r.s.enic be there, the nitrate of silver will be covered with a yellow coating of a.r.s.eniate of silver, which will disappear on stirring. On igniting a.r.s.enical paper and allowing it to smoulder, the odor of garlic may be detected in the fumes given off.
Another mode in which the noxious effects of a.r.s.enic are produced is by the use of bright green tarlatans as ball dresses. One could hardly conceive a more deadly amus.e.m.e.nt than dancing in an a.r.s.enicated dress, sweeping against an a.r.s.enicated wall-paper. When both are lightly adherent the a.r.s.enic is scattered in showers about the room.
a.r.s.eNIOUS ACID (_White Oxide of a.r.s.enic_, _White a.r.s.enic_, _a.r.s.enic_).-This is the preparation of a.r.s.enic most frequently used as a poison; the facility with which it used to be procured, its cheapness (twopence an ounce), and the ease with which it may be administered, all tended to recommend it to the murderer or suicide. According to a parliamentary report, the number of fatal cases of poisoning in England in the years 1837, 1838, amounted to 543, of which no less than 186 were caused by a.r.s.enic, 185 arising from the use of the a.r.s.enious acid, and 1 from orpiment or yellow a.r.s.enic.
Since the Act of 1851 (14 Vict. cap. xiii.) the deaths from this agent have greatly decreased. This statute chiefly enacts that a.r.s.enic is not to be sold without the seller entering the transaction in a proper book, without a witness, nor without its being mixed with soot or indigo, unless such admixture would render it unfit for the purchaser's business.
a.r.s.enious acid is found in commerce in the form of a white powder or in small opaque cakes. It is very feebly acid, tasteless, or slightly sweet in small doses, though not very soluble, an ounce of cold water dissolving about one grain. The quant.i.ty so held in solution may, however, be increased by dissolving the a.r.s.enic in boiling water and allowing it to cool. The shortest period within which it was believed a.r.s.enic would cause death was two hours; but Dr. Taylor gives a case where death with tetanic symptoms followed the fatal dose in twenty minutes. The smallest quant.i.ty known to have proved fatal is two grains.
Two grains and a half killed a girl nineteen years of age in thirty-six hours. Half a grain will produce alarming symptoms; and yet recovery has ensued after doses of half an ounce or an ounce.
_Symptoms._-These commence within half an hour or an hour of swallowing the poison. There is faintness, nausea, incessant vomiting, and a burning pain in the epigastrium, increased on pressure, and gradually extending over the whole abdomen, followed by headache, diarrha, a sense of constriction and heat in the fauces and throat, great thirst, and catching, painful respiration. The heart's action becomes depressed, the pulse is quick and feeble; there is great restlessness and anxiety; cold, clammy skin, and perhaps coma are present; and death usually occurs within twenty-four hours.
These symptoms are liable to great variety, the pain and vomiting being occasionally absent, and the patient being affected as if by a narcotic poison. In some instances there is troublesome tenesmus, with heat and excoriation about the a.n.u.s. Convulsive movements in the extremities often occur, with cramp in the legs, especially if the diarrha is severe. Death sometimes takes place calmly from collapse, sometimes it follows on convulsions.
The vomited matters may be red or brown from admixture with blood or bile; or they may be blue or black, if the a.r.s.enic has been colored with indigo or soot. Although the vomiting, pain, &c., are generally continuous, yet sometimes all the symptoms remit, and the patient rallies for a time, only to sink more rapidly.
The symptoms of _chronic_ poisoning by a.r.s.enic are loss of appet.i.te, a silvery coating to the tongue, thirst, nausea, colicky pains, diarrha, frontal headache, langor, sleeplessness, cutaneous eruptions, soreness of the edges of the eyelids, emaciation, anaemia, convulsions, and death. In some cases, when small doses have been administered for many days in succession, with the intent to destroy life, the symptoms have been masked by other substances. The most marked results of this practice have been sickness and vomiting, pain in the bowels, nervous irritability, and emaciation. The pract.i.tioner must be careful not to mistake these symptoms for those due to simple gastritis or enteritis.
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