TOXICOLOGY

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) Poisons have been divided by Orfila and Christ is on into irritants, narcotics, and narcoticoacrids: the first cla including those whose sole or predominating symptoms are those of irritation or inflammation; the second, those which produce stupor, delirium, and other affections of the brain and nervous system; and the third, those which are of a mixed character. » The chief eff"ects of irritants are upon the alimentary canal, exciting inflammation, and sometimes ulceration of the tongue, fauces, and oesophagus, difficult deglutition, nausea, vomiting, and heat and pain of the stomach, with more or le tension of the abdomen, and pain on pre ure. The sickne is generally accompanied by extreme anxiety and anguish, and the matters vomited consist, in the first instance, of any food that may have been in the stomach, with portions of the poison itself, and afterwards of viscid mucus, often streaked with blood and tinged with bile; the pain afterwards extends throughout the intestines, and mucous, bilious, and often bloody diarrhoea succeeds. The skin is cold and clammy, the pulse quick and feeble, the breathing often difficult, and the countenance expre ive of extreme anxiety. Narcotic poisons induce a train of symptoms of a very distinct character: headach, vertigo, confused vision, stupor, convulsions, paralysis, and coma, are their leading effects; but each particular poison is usually attended by certain peculiarities in the succe ion, violence, or generic character of the symptoms, which a ist the experienced practitioner not only in determining the nature 1247 TOXICOLOGY. of the poison, but in discriminating between its effects and those of disease. The symptoms of the narcotico-acrid poisons usually consist of those of the two former cla es blended, and are often of a very complicated character; for the most part, however, their narcotic and irritant effects appear to be incompatible. In large doses, narcotic ism predominates; in smaller, irritation: it is rarely that both are coexistent. In the following tabular view of the principal poisons of the above cla es, they are enumerated in the order in which they are described by Dr. Christ is on, to whose Treatise on Poisons the reader is referred for details which would be quite incompatible with the space which can be allotted to the subject in this work. Under the heads, however, of many of the individual substances mentioned in the following list, we have elsewhere given particulars respecting their composition and properties, and sometimes referred to their toxicological history. I. Irritant Poisons. Mineral acids. Phosphorus. Acetic acid. Oxalic acid. Fixed alkalies. Nitre. Alkaline and earthy chlorides. Lime. Ammonia and its salts. Alkaline sulphurets. Barytes. Vegetable acrids. Cantharides. Venomous serpents. Arsenic and its compounds. Mercurial compounds. Salts of copper. Antimonial poisons. Salts of tin. Salts of gold. Salts of silver. r Salts of bismuth. Salts of chromium. Salts of zinc. Lead poisons. Diseased and decayed animal matter. Mechanical irritants. II. Narcotic Poisons. Hydrocyanic acid. Carb azotic acid. Poisonous gases. Opium. Hyoscyamus. Lactuca. Solan um. III. Narcotico-ackid Poksons. Nightshade. Strychnia. Thorn apple. Cocculus Indicus. Tobacco. Upas. Hemlock. Poisonous fungi. Monkshood. Poisonous grain. Hellebore. Alcohol. Squill. Ether. Meadow saff"ron. Empyreumatic oils. The treatment of cases of poisoning must, of course, vary with the nature of the poison, the quantity taken, and the peculiarities of the individual. In almost all cases, copious vomiting should be excited as soon as po ible by tickling the throat, and by emetics, such especially as sulphate of zinc, or ipecacuanha with emetic tartar; the former, however, in ten. grain doses di olved in a little warm water, and repeated every ten or fifteen minutes till it freely operates, is generally most effectual. The use of the stomach-pump should also be resorted to. The vomiting should be kept up, and the stomach washed out with bland albuminous or mucilaginous fluids, such as milk, barley-water, flour and water, or thin paste, .; sometimes sugar and water. The following is a short summary of the antidotes which may be resorted to, in reference to particular poisons. They should, of course, be administered as speedily as po ible. 1. For Mineral Acids, or Acetic and Oxalic Acid: Chalk, or whiting and water; magnesia and water; soap and water; followed by albuminous diluents, such as milk, and white of egg mixed with water. 2. Alkalies, Soda, Potash, Ammonia, : Vinegar, or any mild acid and water, or even very dilute mineral acids, such as water acidulated by them; olive oil, almond oil. 3. Arsenic: Emetics; and then milk, gruel, thick barley-water, and other similar diluents, in large quantities. 4. Corrosive Sublimate: White of egg and water; milk and cream; decoction of cinchona; infusion of galls. 5. Sulphate of Copper and other Cupreous Poisons: Sugar and water; white of egg and water. 6. Antimonial Poisons: Warm milk, gruel, or barley water; infusion of galls; decoction of cinchona. 7. Nitrate of Silver: Copious draughts of warm salt and water. 8. Sulphate of Zinc: Solution of carbonate of soda in water, with milk, and mucilaginous or farinaceous liquids. 9. Acetate of Lead: Emetics; solution of sulphate of soda in water; milk; white of egg and water. 10. Opium and its Preparations: Emetics; strong VI. Strychnia diwA Vegetable Alkaloids: Infusion of gall nuts; decoction of cinchona; emetics. [s. 1260]