A general system of toxicology

Front matter

The Library of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine

MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

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Author's Preface

OF all the branches of Medicine, the study of Toxicology is, without contradiction, that which excites the most general interest. Allied as it is by numberless relations with almost all the natural Sciences, it has occupied the attention of all Philosophers, who are zealous of contributing to the progress of human knowledge. The Naturalist, placed in the midst of a multitude of poisonous substances, attentively examines the varied forms which they present, their distinguishing characters and their mode of developement, and arrives easily at a method of pointing them out. The Physiologist, inflamed with the desire of unveiling the most secret mysteries of our organization, seeks to explain the mode of action of the most energetic poisons, the deleterious influence which they exert, and the immediate cause of the sudden death they occasion. The Medical Practitioner, aware of the fatal and instantaneous effects, produced by the poisons of the three kingdoms of Nature, constantly directs his attention to the search of means capable of destroying at once their fatal action, and of re-establishing the dif-

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ferent functions of the animal economy in their natural order. The Chemist, revolting from the horrid crime of homicide, brings to perfection the process necessary for establishing the case of poisoning, in order to lay open the crime, and to enlighten the Magistrate whose duty it is to punish the guilty. The private individual, sensible to the misfortunes of his fellow-creatures, is fond of discoursing on the fatal properties of poisonous substances, and of the astonishing phenomena they give rise to: alarmed at their destructive consequences, he never ceases to deplore the fate of those who are the victims of negligence or mistake, and to feel for the misfortune of the unhappy wretches whom despair has hurried on to suicide. Incensed at the most cowardly of crimes, he regards with horror the execrable assassin ; and loudly demands the punishment of a monster, by so much the more dangerous, as he always commits his ravages in silence, and often even upon his benefactors.

Having given myself up for a long time to the pursuit of this beautiful part of natural history, it appeared to me a useful undertaking to collect into one work, and that not very voluminous, the most prominent objects that belong to it. Such a work is altogether wanting to Science; I may affirm more; a very considerable number of the facts which should serve for its basis, are still unknown, or badly studied.

The Treatises on Toxicology by Plenck and

PREFACE, xi

Franck, which were published a long time back, are no longer on a level with the present state of knowledge, and can only be considered as very imperfect sketches of this important Science. The Treatises written particularly on arsenic, sublimate, copper, lead, nitric acid, prussic acid, opium, &c, furnish only the solution of certain problems in Toxicology, and ought only to be regarded as so many separate tracts, proper for furnishing excellent materials to the arrangement of some of the materials for a work of this kind.

I must confess I have been often discouraged by the blanks I had to fill up, and should several times have abandoned my undertaking, had I not been convinced that it is always useful to attempt to clear the path, even when imperfectly marked out.

This Treatise, consisting of two volumes, 8vo. will be divided into two sections, preceded by an introduction, in which will be pointed out in a succinct manner, the end of Toxicology, its relations with the other Sciences, and the means to be pursued for bringing the study to perfection ; lastly, the division of poisons into six principal classes : The Corrosive, the Astringent, the Acrid, the Narcotic, the Narcotico-acrid, and the Putrifying.

The first section will contain the particular history of the different poisonous substances, drawn from the three kingdoms of Nature, and considered under their relations with Chemistry, Physiology, Pathology, and Medical Jurisprudence.

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In giving this history, we shall begin by establishing some generalities in each of the six classes. For instance, the action of corrosives upon the animal economy will be explained, with the different causes of the death which they produce, the general symptoms they exhibit, the lesions of texture they occasion, finally, the treatment proper to be pursued in order to relieve the symptoms to which they give rise. Afterwards each of the Poisons will be separately treated of, attending more particularly, to those which present the greatest interest. Their history will be comprised in the six following paragraphs.

1st. An Explanation of their Chemical Properties^ and of their external Characters.

This part, which has been neglected by all the writers on Toxicology and Medical Jurisprudence, will be laid down with the greatest care. Among the different characters proper for recognizing these substances, those will be selected which are the most constant, and the easiest to verify. The precipitates furnished by the mineral poisons, when mixed with the different Chemical Re-agents, will be particularly attended to: their colour, their nature, and the mode of analysing them, will be explained. The theory of the formation of those precipitates, being alone able to enlighten the Juridical Physician on the poison he is desirous of being acquainted with, care will be taken to explain it

PREFACE.

xiii after having laid down the phenomena which they present; by this means, the person called on to decide, far from proceeding empirically, will judge always with a knowledge of the cause, and thus arrive at sure results. The botanical and zoological characters of the different vegetable and animal poisons, will be laid down according to the principles of the two Sciences to which they belong.

2nd. Their Physiological Action.

In this paragraph will be determined, the effects of poisonous substances when administered in doses capable of producing serious accidents: the experiments will be reported, which have been made upon living animals, with the intention of ascertaining the phenomena they produce when introduced into the stomach, when injected into the veins, or when externally applied. By the help of the phenomena resulting from these kind of researches, it will be explained, as far as the present state of Physiology will allow, by what mechanism death supervenes in the animals poisoned.

3rd. Their general Symptoms.

The enumeration of these symptoms will be preceded by some cases and-observations on the kind of poisoning. These observations, which will be drawn from the works of Dioscorides, Pare, xiv

PREFACE.

Manget, Morgagni, Hoffmann, Sydenham, De Haen, &c. will enlighten the practitioner on the diagnosis, and on the mode of treatment which he ought to pursue.

4th. The Lesions of Texture ivhich they produce.

The nature of the alterations produced by the poison, their situation, their extent and intensity, will form the subject of this paragraph ; in which it will be attempted to demonstrate, from the appearances on dissection, that it is impossible to be able to recognize, by the simple inspections of lesions of this description, the poisonous substance which has produced them.

5th. The Application of the Facts established in the four preceding paragraphs, to the different Cases of Medical Jurisprudence.

A. The course which the person called upon ought to pursue when the patient poisoned is living, and that the rest of the poison whether solid or liquid is found, whether alone or mixed with aliments and medicines.

B. The means he ought to employ should the patient be alive, the whole of the poison swallowed, and the matter vomited can be examined.

C. The conduct he ought to pursue in ease the whole of the poison has been swallowed, and that

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XV it is impossible to procure the matter vomited, the patient being still alive.

D. The mode of analysis which must be had recourse to when the patient is dead.

6th. The Treatment of Poisoning.

As it is of the utmost importance that the practitioner should be acquainted with the different counter-poisons, and beside that a multitude of re-agents have been extolled, which do not in any manner deserve the name of Antidote, we shall begin by resolving the following problem.

Does there exist any substance which possesses the properties required to act as an antidote ?

The numberless experiments which have been made upon living animals, with the design of throwing a light upon this question, will be here reported. It will be made to appear that it is useless, and often dangerous, to have recourse to a very considerable number of those things which have been extolled ; and others will be substituted in their room, the employment of which does not present any inconvenience, and may be followed with success ; which we shall demonstrate by some facts peculiar to ourselves.

After having thus fixed the respective value of the substances considered as counter-poisons, the course which the Physician ought to pursue in order to xvi

PREFACE.

relieve the symptoms developed by the poison will be pointed out, in making the different means understood, which he may employ according to the nature and violence of the symptoms.

The second section will comprise all that relates to poisoning generally considered. This section will contain two chapters.

In the first, the means proper for ascertaining the existence of poison in a person while living, will be treated of.

The first article of this chapter will be set apart for the purpose of making known those symptoms, which distinguish acute poisoning from several other diseases; such as the Cholera morbus, the melana, &c. : of explaining the variations of those symptoms, according as vomiting shall, or shall not have taken place: lastly, of determining the degree of confidence which ought to be attached to the experiments, in which animals are made to swallow the matter vomited by the patient suspected of being poisoned.

In the second article, an important question will be treated of, namely, to what class the poison belongs; and if it be a Corrosive Poison, what is its peculiar nature, and consequently, what is the mode of analysis that should be employed for discovering it; what are the precautions that ought to be taken in this important operation ; in what order the re-agents ought to be employed, when the poison happens to be in a very small quantity; in what manner, proceeding on from a known to

PREFACE.

an unknown point, we may at length be able to decide upon its composition.

In the third article will be given the history of slow poisoning ; cases will be communicated, which prove how difficult the diagnosis is; and the different means will be pointed out, by the aid of which, the Juridical Physician maybe able to pronounce a judgment that is certain, and beyond the reach of all reproach.

In the second chapter, whatever relates to the examination of the dead body of a person poisoned, will be treated of.

The first article of this chapter will have for its object, the manner of proceeding in the opening of bodies; the importance that the Juridical Physician ought to attribute to the lesions of texture produced by the different classes of poisons; the different states of these lesions in bodies already corrupted, and in those examined shortly after death ; whether the poison has been taken during the life of the person, or has been introduced after his decease.

The second article will comprise all the researches proper for establishing a distinction between sudden deaths produced by an internal cause, and those which are the result of the agency of poisons. The lesions of texture exhibited by the dead bodies under these two circumstances, which are altogether different, will likewise be compared.

The work will be concluded with a code of xviii

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directions upon the art of preparing the different tests spoken of in the particular history of the six general classes of poisons. By this means, the Juridical Physician will be able to employ with advantage, the substances of which he knows the composition; he will have it in his power to procure them under all circumstances; lastly, he will know what is their degree of purity, and what confidence ought to be placed in the results obtained from their employment.

Table Of Contents

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

Page

Section I

Of Poisons in particular, their chemical properties, their physiological action, the symptoms to which they give rise, the lesions of contexture which they produce, and the treatment of poisoned persons 13

Chap. 1st. Class 1st.

Of Corrosive Poisons 13

General Action of Corrosive Poisons 14

General symptoms produced by Corrosive Poisons . . . ibid. Lesions of texture produced by the Corrosive Poisons . . 15 General treatment of persons poisoned by Corrosive Substances 18

Article 1st. Species 1st.

Mercurial Poisons

XX CONTENTS. *

Page

Chemical History of Mercurial Poisons . 21

Of Mercury . . . . . .ibid.

Of the Mercurius Dulcis ....... -22

*

Chemical History of Corrosive Sublimate . .... . 25

Action of Corrosive Sublimate taken internally .... 47

Symptoms peculiar to Corrosive Sublimate 51 *

Observation 3d , . . t • .... 56

Observation 7th ibid.

Other Observations ibid. *

Lesions attributed especially to the Corrosive Sublimate . 61 Application of all that has been said to the various Cases of

poisoning by Corrosive Sublimate 63

First Case. — The person is living : the remainder of the poison can be procured 64

Second Case. — The person is living : all the poison has been swallowed : the matter vomited can be examined . . . 66

Third Case. — The person is living : the whole of the poison has been swallowed : the matter vomited cannot be examined 71 *

Fourth Case. — The person is dead . ibid. "

Treatment of poisoning by Corrosive Sublimate .... 74

Antidotes to Corrosive Sublimate proposed by M. Navier . 75 Examination of other substances proposed as Antidotes to

this Salt 78

Conclusions drawn from the experiments made with Albu-

mine 84r

Of the Red Precipitate and Precipitate per se ..... 90

Of Turbith Mineral 91

Of other Mercurial Salts 93

Mercurial Vapours, and Mercury in a state of extreme

division . ibid.

CONTENTS. XXi

Page

Article 2nd. Species 2nd.

Arsenious Poisons 99

Of Arsenic . 101

Chemical History of Arsenious Acid 108

Action of Arsenious Acid upon the Animal Economy . .113 Symptoms of poisoning produced by the Arsenious Acid.

Lesions of texture attributed especially to the Arsenious

Acid 127

Application of all that has been said to the various cases of

poisoning by the Arsenious Acid 130

First Case. — The patient is living : the remainder of the

> poison can be procured ibid.

Second Case. — The patient is living : the whole of the poison has been swallowed: the matter vomited maybe submitted to experiment 132

Third Case. — The patient is living : the whole of the poison has been swallowed : the vomitings cannot be procured 134

Fourth Case. — The patient is dead ibid.

Process of Hahnemann ibid.

Process of Rose 135

Process of Roloff 136

Process of Fischer 137

A method of discovering the Arsenious Acid after the death

of a patient poisoned by this substance ibid.

The treatment of persons poisoned by the Arsenious

Acid 141

Of the Arsenites 153

Of the Arsenic Acid 154

Of the Arseniates 156

Of the yellow and red Sulphurets of Arsenic * . . . .ibid.

VOL. i. c xxii

Contents

Pagt

Of the Black Oxyde of Arsenic 159

Of Fly Powder 160

Chap. Ii.— Class II. Astringent Poisons

ARTICLE I.— SPECIES I.

Page

The Compounds of Lead 444

Of the Acetate of Lead of Commerce (Sugar of Lead) . . 448

Of the Red Oxyde of Lead and Litharge 451

Of the Carbonate of Lead 454

Of Wines sweetened by Lead ibid.

Of Water impregnated with Lead 455

Of Food cooked in Leaden Utensils ibid.

Of Syrups and Spirits clarified with the Acetate of Lead . 456 Action of the different Compounds of Lead upon the Animal Economy ibid.

Causes of the Symptoms produced by Saturnine Emanations, 457 Causes of the Symptoms produced by the injection of Saturnine Preparations into the Veins 459

Causes of the Symptoms produced by the Acetate of Lead

introduced into the Stomach 461

Symptoms of Poisoning by Saturnine Preparations . . . 466

Lesions of Texture produced by Saturnine Preparations . 478 Application of all that has been said lo the different Cases of

Poisoning by Saturnine Preparations . 480

First Case.— The Patient is living: the rest of the Poison

can be procured ibid.

Second Case.— All the Poison has been swallowed : the Matter vomited, and that found in the Digestive Canal after the Death of the Patient, can be acted upon .... 483

CONTENTS. XXXi

Page

Treatment of Poisoning by the Compounds of Lead . . . 484

Additions ; . 493

Of lode . ibid.

Action of lode on the Animal Economy 495

On the Antidotes of Arsenic and Corrosive Sublimate . . 500

Super Oxygenated Muriate of Mercury 501

Arsenious Acid ; . . 502

Of Hydrogenated Sulphuret of Potash 511

GENERAL SYSTEM

OF

TOXICOLOGY.