Treatise on Poisons by Sir Robert Christison
3. Poisons may not be found, because the excess has been decomposed.
710 words | Chapter 27
Vegetable and animal poisons may be altogether destroyed by the process
of digestion. This observation will explain why sometimes no poison
could be found in cases of poisoning with crude opium or other vegetable
solids. A French physician, M. Desruelles, has related the case of a
soldier, who died six hours and a half after swallowing two drachms of
solid opium, and in whose stomach nothing was found but a yellowish
fluid, quite destitute of the smell of the drug.[98]
Some mineral poisons, such as corrosive sublimate, lunar caustic, and
hydrochlorate of tin, are also decomposed in the stomach. But they are
not removed beyond the reach of chemical analysis. The decomposition is
the result of a chemical, not of a vital process; and the basis of the
poison may be found in the solid contents of the stomach under some
other compound form. Other poisons again may be apt to elude detection
by altering their form, by combining with other substances, without
themselves undergoing decomposition. Thus it appears from a case related
by Mertzdorff of Berlin, that, in poisoning with sulphuric acid, after
the greater part of the poison is discharged by vomiting, the remainder
may escape discovery by being neutralized: For, although he could not
find any free acid in the contents of the stomach, he discovered 4½
grains in union with ammonia by precipitation with muriate of
baryta.[99]
It may be also right to mention another kind of decomposition which may
render it impossible to detect a poison that has been really
swallowed—namely, that arising from decay of the body. In several recent
cases bodies have been disinterred and examined for poison months or
even years after death. In these and similar cases it would be
unreasonable to expect always to find the poison, even though it existed
in the stomach immediately after death. Some poisons, such as oxalic
acid, might be dissolved and then exude; others, such as the vegetable
narcotics, will undergo putrefaction; and others, such as prussic acid,
are partly volatilized, partly decomposed, so as to be undistinguishable
in the course of a few days only. The mineral poisons, those at least
which are solid, are not liable to be so dissipated or destroyed. Some
authors, indeed, have said that arsenic may disappear in consequence of
its uniting with hydrogen disengaged during the progress of
putrefaction, and so escaping in the form of arseniuretted-hydrogen gas;
and they have endeavoured to account in this way for the non-discovery
of it in the bodies of the people who had been killed by arsenic, and
disinterred for examination many months afterwards.[100] But the
supposition is by no means probable: at least arsenic has been detected
in the body fourteen months, nay, even seven years, after interment. For
farther details, on this curious topic, the reader may turn to the
article Arsenic.
On the whole, the result of the most recent researches is that the
effect of the spontaneous decay of dead animal matter in involving
poisons in the general decomposition appears to be much less
considerable than might be anticipated. For this most important
medico-legal fact, the toxicologist is indebted to the experimental
inquiries of MM. Orfila and Lesueur.[101] The poisons tried by them
were—sulphuric and nitric acids, arsenic, corrosive sublimate,
tartar-emetic, sugar of lead, protomuriate of tin, blue vitriol,
verdigris, lunar caustic, muriate of gold, acetate of morphia, muriate
of brucia, acetate of strychnia, hydrocyanic acid, opium, and
cantharides. They found that after a time the acids become neutralized
by the ammonia disengaged during the decay of animal matter;—that by the
action of the animal matter the salts of mercury, antimony, copper, tin,
gold, silver, and likewise the salts of the vegetable alkaloids, undergo
chemical decomposition, in consequence of which the bases become less
soluble in water, or altogether insoluble;—that acids may be detected
after several years’ interment, not always, however, in the free
state;—that the bases of the decomposed metallic salts may also be found
after interment for several years;—that arsenic, opium, and cantharides
undergo little change after a long interval of time, and are scarcely
more difficult to discover in decayed, than in recent animal
mixtures;—but that hydrocyanic acid disappears very soon, so as to be
undistinguishable in the course of a few days.
Chapters
1. Chapter 1
2. PART II.—OF INDIVIDUAL POISONS.
3. CHAPTER I.
4. 1. _On the Action of Poisons through Sympathy._ In the infancy of
5. 2. _Of the Action of Poisons through Absorption._—If doubts may be
6. 1. _Quantity_ affects their action materially. Not only do they produce
7. 2. _As to state of aggregation_,—poisons act the more energetically the
8. 3. The next modifying cause is _chemical combination_. This is sometimes
9. 4. The effect of _mixture_ depends partly on the poisons being diluted.
10. 5. _Difference of tissue_ is an interesting modifying power in a
11. 6. With respect to differences arising from _difference of organ_, these
12. 7. _Habit and Idiosyncrasy._—The remarks to be made under the present
13. 8. The last modifying cause to be mentioned comprehends certain
14. CHAPTER II.
15. 1. The first characteristic is the _suddenness of their appearance and
16. 2. The next general characteristic of the symptoms of poisoning is
17. 3. Another characteristic is _uniformity in the nature of the symptoms_
18. 4. The fourth characteristic is, that _the symptoms begin soon after a
19. 5. Lastly, _the symptoms appear during a state of perfect health_. This
20. 1. As to the _suddenness of their invasion and rapidity of their
21. 2. As to the uniformity or _uninterrupted increase of the symptoms_, it
22. 3. It was stated above, that the third character, _uniformity in kind_
23. 4. In the next place, it was observed that some reliance may be placed
24. 5. Little need be said with regard to _the symptoms beginning, while the
25. 1. It may have been discharged by vomiting and purging. Thus on the
26. 2. The poison may have disappeared, because it has been all absorbed. It
27. 3. Poisons may not be found, because the excess has been decomposed.
28. 4. Lastly, the poison which has been absorbed into the system, and may
29. 1. The evidence derived from _the effects of suspected food, drink, or
30. 2. In the case of _the vomited matter_ or _contents of the stomach_
31. 3. The effects of _the flesh of poisoned animals_, eaten by other
32. 3. The next article, which relates to the proof of the administration of
33. 4. The next article in the moral evidence relates to the intent of the
34. 5. The next article among the moral circumstances,—the simultaneous
35. 6. The next article of the moral evidence relates to suspicious conduct
36. CHAPTER III.
37. CHAPTER I.
38. 1. _Arsenical_ White arsenic 185
39. 2. _Acids_ Sulphuric acid 32
40. 3. _Mercurials_ Corrosive sublimate 12
41. 4. _Other mineral irritants_ Tartar-emetic 2
42. 5. _Veget. irritants_ Colchicum 3
43. 7. _Opium_ Opium or Laudan. 180
44. 8. _Hydrocyanic acid_ Med. Hydroc. acid 27
45. 9. _Other veget. Narcotics_ Nux-vomica 3
46. 11. Unascertained 22
47. CHAPTER II.
48. 1. _Distension of the Stomach._—Mere distension of the stomach from
49. 2. _Rupture of the Stomach_ is not a common occurrence; but it sometimes
50. 3. _Rupture of the Duodenum_ is a very rare accident from internal
51. 4. Under the next head may be classed rupture of the other organs of the
52. 5. The next accident which may be noticed on account of its being liable
53. 6. _Of Bilious Vomiting and Simple Cholera._—Of all the diseases which
54. 7. _Of Malignant Cholera._—The history of this disease affords a fair
55. 8. _Of Inflammation of the Stomach._—Chronic inflammation of the stomach
56. 9. _Inflammation of the Intestines_ in its acute form is more common
57. 10. _Inflammation of the Peritonæum_, or lining membrane of the belly,
58. 11. The subject of _Spontaneous Perforation of the Stomach_ is an
59. 12. The _gullet_ may be perforated in a similar manner either with or
60. 13. _Perforation of the alimentary canal by worms_ may here also be
61. 14. The next diseases to be mentioned are melæna and hæmatemesis, or
62. 15. The last are _colic_, _iliac passion_, and _obstructed intestine_.
63. CHAPTER III.
64. 1. _When concentrated_ it is oily-looking, colourless, or brownish from
65. 2. _When diluted_, it may be distinguished from all ordinary acids by
66. 3. It is seldom that the medical jurist is called on to search for
67. 1. The most ordinary symptoms are those of the first variety,—namely,
68. 2. The second variety of symptoms belong to a peculiar modification of
69. 3. The third variety includes cases of imperfect recovery. These are
70. 4. The last variety comprehends cases of perfect recovery, which are
71. 1. _When concentrated_, nitric acid is easily known by the odour of its
72. 2. _In a diluted state_ this acid is not so easily recognised as the
73. 3. _When in a state of compound mixture_, nitric acid, like sulphuric
74. 1. Hydrochloric acid, _in its concentrated state_, is colourless, if
75. 2. _When diluted_, it is recognised with facility, first by
76. 3. In the last edition of this work I proposed for the detection of
77. CHAPTER IV.
78. CHAPTER V.
79. CHAPTER VI.
80. 1. In the form of a pure solution, its nature may be satisfactorily
81. 2. The only important modifications in the analysis rendered necessary
82. CHAPTER VII.
83. CHAPTER VIII.
84. CHAPTER IX.
85. CHAPTER X.
86. CHAPTER XI.
87. CHAPTER XII.
88. CHAPTER XIII.
89. 3. The arsenite of copper, or _mineral green_. 4. The arsenite of potass
90. 2. _Of the Tests for Arsenious Acid._
91. 7. After the precipitate has thoroughly subsided, the supernatant liquid
92. introduction as a poison into the body. This topic, one of paramount
93. 1. _Arsenic may exist as an adulteration in some reagents._—It must be
94. 2. _Arsenic may be present in some articles of chemical
95. 3. _Arsenic may have existed in antidotes administered during life._—It
96. 4. _Arsenic sometimes exists naturally in the human body._—This
97. 5. _Arsenic may exist in the soil of churchyards._—This proposition too
98. 3. _Arsenite of Copper_.
99. 4. _Arsenite of Potass_.
100. 5. _Arseniate of Potass._
101. 6. _The Sulphurets of Arsenic._
102. 7. _Arseniuretted-Hydrogen._
103. 1. In one order of cases, then, arsenic produces symptoms of irritation
104. 2. The second variety of poisoning with arsenic includes a few cases in
105. 3. The third variety of poisoning with arsenic places in a clear point
106. CHAPTER XIV.
107. 1. _Of Red Precipitate._
108. 2. _Of Cinnabar._
109. 3. _Of Turbith Mineral._
110. 4. _Of Calomel._
111. 5. _Of Corrosive Sublimate._
112. 1. _Hydrosulphuric acid gas_ transmitted in a stream through a solution
113. 1. _Lime-Water_ throws down the binoxide of mercury in the form of a
114. 6. _Of Bicyanide of Mercury._
115. 7. _Of the Nitrates of Mercury._
116. 1. The symptoms in the first variety are very like what occur in the
117. 2. The second variety of poisoning with mercury comprehends the cases,
118. 3. The third variety of poisoning with mercury comprehends all the forms
119. introduction of corrosive sublimate into the stomach. The poison then
120. CHAPTER XV.
121. 1. _Mineral Green._
122. 2. _Natural Verdigris._
123. 3. _Blue Vitriol._
124. 1. _Ammonia_ causes a pale azure precipitate, which is redissolved by an
125. 2. _Sulphuretted hydrogen gas_ causes a dark brownish-black precipitate,
126. 3. _Ferro-cyanate of potass_ causes a fine hair-brown precipitate, the
127. 4. A polished rod or plate of _metallic iron_, held in a solution of
128. 4. _Artificial Verdigris._
129. 1. Should the subject of analysis not be a liquid, render it such by
130. 2. If the copper be extremely minute in quantity, sulphuretted hydrogen
131. CHAPTER XVI.
132. 1. _Caustic potass_ precipitates a white sesquioxide, but only if the
133. 2. _Nitric acid_ throws down a white precipitate, and takes it up again
134. 3. The _Infusion of Galls_ causes a dirty, yellowish-white precipitate;
135. 4. The best liquid reagent is _Hydrosulphuric acid_. In a solution
136. 5. When the solution is put into Marsh’s apparatus for detecting arsenic
137. 1. Subject a small portion of the liquid to a stream of hydrosulphuric
138. 2. If hydrosulphuric acid do not distinctly affect the liquid, or if no
139. 3. If antimony be not indicated in either of these ways in the fluid
140. CHAPTER XVII.
141. CHAPTER XVIII.
142. 1. _Of Litharge and Red Lead._
143. 2. _Of White Lead._
144. 3. _Of Sugar of Lead._
145. 1. _Hydrosulphuric acid_ causes a black precipitate, the sulphuret of
146. 2. _Chromate of potass_, both in the state of proto-chromate and
147. 3. _Hydriodate of potass_ causes also a lively gamboge-yellow
148. 4. _A rod of zinc_ held for some time in the solution displaces the
149. 4. _Goulard’s Extract._
150. introduction of lead into the body; and in the last the whole course of
151. introduction of lead into the body may be presumed to be the real cause.
152. introduction of lead into the system. Dr. Burton thinks it will when the
153. CHAPTER XIX.
154. CHAPTER XX.
155. CHAPTER XXI.
156. CHAPTER XXII.
157. CHAPTER XXIII.
158. CHAPTER XXIV.
159. CHAPTER XXV.
160. CHAPTER XXIV.
161. 1. Apoplexy is sometimes preceded at considerable intervals by warning
162. 2. Apoplexy attacks chiefly the old. It is not, however, confined to the
163. 3. The next criterion is, that apoplexy occurs chiefly among fat people.
164. 4. A fourth criterion is drawn from the relation which the appearance of
165. 5. Another criterion relates to the progress of the symptoms. The
166. 6. Although there is a great resemblance between the symptoms of
167. 7. In the last place, a useful criterion may be derived from the
168. 1. The epileptic fit _is sometimes preceded by certain warnings_, such
169. 2. The symptoms of the epileptic fit _almost always begin violently and
170. 3. As in apoplexy, so in epilepsy the patient _in general cannot be
171. 4. When a person dies in a fit of epilepsy, _the paroxysm generally
172. 5. M. Esquirol, a writer of high authority, says that epilepsy _very
173. CHAPTER XXVII.
174. 1. If there be any solid matter, it is to be cut into small fragments,
175. 2. Add now the solution of acetate of lead as long as it causes
176. 3. The fluid part is to be treated with hydrosulphuric acid gas, to
177. 4. It is useful, however, to separate the meconic acid also; because, as
178. 5. If there be a sufficiency of the original material, Merck’s process
179. 546. There is little doubt that poisoning with opium may cause
180. CHAPTER XXVIII.
181. CHAPTER XXIX.
182. CHAPTER XXX.
183. CHAPTER XXXI.
184. 1. M. Chomel of Paris has related a case of poisoning with the gas
185. 2. The fumes of burning charcoal have been long known to be deleterious.
186. 3. It is probable that in some circumstances a very small quantity of
187. 4. The vapours from burning coal are the most noxious of all kinds of
188. 5. Somewhat analogous to the symptoms now described are the effects of
189. CHAPTER XXXII.
190. CHAPTER XXXIII.
191. CHAPTER XXXIV.
192. CHAPTER XXXV.
193. CHAPTER XXXVI.
194. CHAPTER XXXVII.
195. CHAPTER XXXVIII.
196. CHAPTER XXXIX.
197. CHAPTER XL.
198. CHAPTER XLI.
199. 1. When the dose is small, much excitement and little subsequent
200. 2. When the effect is sufficiently great to receive the designation of
201. 160. In twenty-four hours more the breathing became laborious and
202. 3. The third degree of poisoning is not so often witnessed, because, in
203. CHAPTER XLII.
204. 1. _Poisoning with Arsenic and Alcohol._—A man, after taking twelve
205. 3. _Poisoning with Tartar-Emetic and Charcoal Fumes._—Under the head of
206. 4. _Poisoning with Alcohol and with Laudanum._—Under the head of
207. 5. _Poisoning with Laudanum and Corrosive Sublimate._—Of all the cases
208. 6. _Poisoning with Opium and Belladonna._—A lady, who used a compound
209. 7. In the following cases, the active poisons to which the individuals
210. 2. Apparatus for the distillation of fluids suspected to contain
211. 3. Tube for reducing very small portions of arsenic or mercury. The
212. 4. A small glass funnel for introducing the material into the tube
213. 5. The ordinary apparatus for disengaging sulphuretted-hydrogen. The
214. 6. Instrument for washing down scanty precipitates on filters. It is a
215. 7. Tubes of natural size for collecting small portions of mercury by
216. 8. Pipette, one-fourth the natural size, for removing by suction
217. 9. Apparatus for reducing the sulphurets of some metals by a stream of
218. 36. Quoted by Marx, die Lehre von den Giften, I. ii. 163.
219. 92. Vicarius, Ibidem, Obs. 100. Riselius, Ibidem, Dec. i. An. v. Obs.
220. 1762. See Marx, i. ii. 29.
221. 1. P. 476, changed “exasperated by the use of oil” to “exacerbated by
222. 2. P. 513, changed “I may here add a very opposite instance of
223. 6. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
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