Poisons, Their Effects and Detection
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Title: Poisons, Their Effects and Detection
Author: Alexander Wynter Blyth
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POISONS:
THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
_Fourth Edition. At Press._
FOODS:
THEIR COMPOSITION AND ANALYSIS.
_With numerous Tables and Illustrations._
=General Contents.=
History of Adulteration--Legislation, Past and Present--Apparatus
useful to the Food Analyst--“Ash”--Sugar--Confectionery--Honey--
Treacle--Jams and Preserved Fruits--Starches--Wheaten-Flour--Bread--
Oats--Barley--Rye--Rice--Maize--Millet--Potato--Peas--Chinese Peas--
Lentils--Beans--MILK--Cream--Butter--Cheese--Tea--Coffee--Cocoa and
Chocolate--Alcohol--Brandy--Rum--Whisky--Gin--Arrack--Liqueurs--Beer--
Wine--Vinegar--Lemon and Lime Juice--Mustard--Pepper--Sweet and Bitter
Almond--Annatto--Olive Oil--Water. _Appendix_: Text of English and
American Adulteration Acts.
“Will be used by every Analyst.”--_Lancet._
“STANDS UNRIVALLED for completeness of information. . . . A really
‘practical’ work for the guidance of practical men.”--_Sanitary
Record._
“An ADMIRABLE DIGEST of the most recent state of knowledge. . . .
Interesting even to lay-readers.”--_Chemical News._
_In Large 8vo, Handsome Cloth._ 21_s._
FORENSIC MEDICINE
AND
TOXICOLOGY.
BY J. DIXON MANN, M.D., F.R.C.P.,
Professor of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology in Owens College,
Manchester; Examiner in Forensic Medicine in the University of London,
and in the Victoria University; Physician to the Salford Royal Hospital.
PART I.--Forensic Medicine. PART II.--Insanity in its Medico-legal
Bearings. PART III.--Toxicology.
“By far the MOST RELIABLE, MOST SCIENTIFIC, and MOST MODERN book on
Medical Jurisprudence with which we are acquainted.”--_Dublin
Medical Journal_.
“A MOST USEFUL work of reference. . . . Of value to all those who,
as medical men or lawyers, are engaged in cases where the testimony
of medical experts forms a part of the evidence.”--_The Law
Journal._
LONDON: CHARLES GRIFFIN & CO., LTD., EXETER ST., STRAND.
POISONS:
THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION.
A MANUAL FOR THE USE OF ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTS AND EXPERTS.
_WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE GROWTH OF
MODERN TOXICOLOGY._
BY
ALEXANDER WYNTER BLYTH,
M.R.C.S., F.I.C., F.C.S., &c.,
BARRISTER-AT-LAW; PUBLIC ANALYST FOR THE COUNTY OF DEVON; AND MEDICAL
OFFICER OF HEALTH AND PUBLIC ANALYST FOR ST. MARYLEBONE.
THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
With Tables and Illustrations.
LONDON:
CHARLES GRIFFIN AND COMPANY, LIMITED,
EXETER STREET, STRAND.
1895.
(_All Rights Reserved._)
D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY,
NEW YORK.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
The present edition, which appears on the same general plan as before,
will yet be found to have been in great part re-written, enlarged, and
corrected.
Analytical methods which experience has shown to be faulty have been
omitted, and replaced by newer and more accurate processes.
The intimate connection which recent research has shown to exist between
the arrangement of the constituent parts of an organic molecule and
physiological action, has been considered at some length in a separate
chapter.
The cadaveric alkaloids or ptomaines, bodies playing so great a part in
food-poisoning and in the manifestations of disease, are in this edition
treated of as fully as the limits of the book will allow.
The author, therefore, trusts that these various improvements,
modifications, and corrections will enable “POISONS” to maintain the
position which it has for so many years held in the esteem of
toxicologists and of the medical profession generally.
THE COURT HOUSE, ST. MARYLEBONE, W.
_June, 1895_.
CONTENTS.
PART I.--INTRODUCTORY.
I. THE OLD POISON-LORE.
Section Page
1. The History of the _Poison-lehre_--The Origin of Arrow-Poison--
Greek Myths, 1
2. Knowledge of the Egyptians relative to Poisons--Distillation of
Peach-Water, 2
3. Roman and Greek Knowledge of Poison--Sanction of Suicide among
the Ancients--The Classification of Poisons adopted by
Dioscorides, 2-4
4. Poisoning among Eastern Nations--Slow Poisons, 4, 5
5. Hebrew Knowledge of Poisons, 5
6. The part which Poison has played in History--Statira--Locusta--
Britannicus--The Rise of Anatomy--The Death of Alexander the
Great--of Pope Alexander VI.--The Commission of Murder given by
Charles le Mauvais--Royal Poisoners--Charles IX.--King John--A
Female Poisoner boiled alive, 5-9
7. The Seventeenth Century Italian Schools of Criminal Poisoning--
The Council of Ten--John of Ragubo--The Professional Poisoner--
J. B. Porta’s Treatise on _Natural Magic_--Toffana and the
“_Acquetta di Napoli_”--Organic Arsenical Compounds--St. Croix
and Madame de Brinvilliers--Extraordinary Precautions for the
Preservation from Poison of the Infant Son of Henry VIII., 9-13
II. GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN METHODS OF CHEMICALLY
DETECTING POISONS.
8. Phases through which the Art of Detecting Poisons has passed, 13
9. Treatise of Barthélémy d’Anglais--Hon. Robert Boyle--Nicolas
l’Emery’s _Cours de Chimie_--Mead’s _Mechanical Theory of
Poisons_--Rise of Modern Chemistry--Scheele’s Discoveries, 13, 14
10. History of Marsh’s Test, 14, 15
11. Orfila and his _Traité de Toxicologie_--Orfila’s Method of
Experiment, 15
12. The Discovery of the Alkaloids--Separation of Narcotine,
Morphine, Strychnine, Delphinine, Coniine, Codeine, Atropine,
Aconitine, and Hyoscyamine, 15, 16
13. Bibliography of the Chief Works on Toxicology of the Nineteenth
Century, 16-19
PART II.
I. DEFINITION OF POISON.
14. The Legal Definition of Poison--English Law as to Poison, 20, 21
15. German Law as to Poisoning--French Law as to Poisoning, 21, 22
16. Scientific Definition of a Poison--The Author’s
Definition, 22, 23
II. CLASSIFICATION OF POISONS.
17. Foderé’s, Orfila’s, Casper’s, Taylor’s, and Guy’s Definition of
Poisons--Poisons arranged according to their Prominent
Effects, 23, 24
18. Kobert’s Classification, 24, 25
19. The Author’s Arrangement, 25-28
III. STATISTICS.
20. Statistics of Poisoning in England and Wales during the Ten
Years 1883-92--Various Tables, 28-31
21. German Statistics of Poisoning, 31-33
22. Criminal Poisoning in France, 33, 34
IV. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TOXIC ACTION AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION.
23. The Influence of Hydroxyl--The Replacement of Hydrogen by a
Halogen--Bamberger’s Acylic and Aromatic Bases, 35, 36
24. The Replacement of Hydrogen by Alkyls in Aromatic Bodies, 36-38
25. The Influence of Carbonyl Groups, 39
26. Oscar Loew’s Theory as to the Action of Poisons, 39-41
27. Michet’s Experiments on the relative Toxicity of Metals, 41, 42
V. LIFE TESTS: OR THE IDENTIFICATION OF POISON BY EXPERIMENTS
ON ANIMALS.
28. The Action of Poisons on Infusoria, Cephalopoda, Insects, 42-44
29. Effect of Poisons on the Heart of Cold-blooded Animals, 44, 45
30. The Effect of Poisons on the Iris, 45, 46
VI. GENERAL METHOD OF PROCEDURE IN SEARCHING FOR POISON.
31. Concentration in a Vacuum--Drying the Substance--Solvents--
Destruction of Organic Matter, 46-50
32. Autenrieth’s General Process--Distillation--Shaking up with
Solvents--Isolation of Metals--Investigation of Sulphides
Soluble in Ammonium Sulphide--of Sulphides Insoluble in Ammonium
Sulphide--Search for Zinc and Chromium--Search for Lead, Silver,
and Barium, 50-53
VII. THE SPECTROSCOPE AS AN AID TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF
CERTAIN POISONS.
33. The Micro-Spectroscope--Oscar Brasch’s Researches of the Spectra
of Colour Reactions--Wave Lengths, 54-56
_Examination of Blood or of Blood-Stains._
34. Naked-eye Appearance of Blood-Stains--Dragendorff’s Process for
Dissolving Blood, 56, 57
35. Spectroscopic Appearances of Blood--Spectrum of Hydric Sulphide
Blood--of Carbon Oxide Hæmoglobin--Methæmoglobin--of Acid
Hæmatin--Tests for CO Blood--Piotrowski’s Experiments on CO
Blood--Preparation of Hæmatin Crystals--The Guaiacum Test for
Blood, 57-62
36. Distinction between the Blood of Animals and Men--The Alkalies
in various Species of Blood, 62, 63
PART III.--POISONOUS GASES: CARBON MONOXIDE--CHLORINE--HYDRIC
SULPHIDE.
I. CARBON MONOXIDE.
37. Properties of Carbon Monoxide, 64
38. Symptoms--Acute Form--Chronic Form, 64-66
39. Poisonous Action on the Blood--Action on the Nervous
System, 66, 67
40. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 67
41. Mass Poisonings by Carbon Monoxide--The Leeds Case--The
Darlaston Cases, 67-70
42. Detection of Carbon Monoxide--The Cuprous Chloride Method--
Wanklyn’s Method--Hempel’s Method, 70, 71
II. CHLORINE.
43. Chlorine; its Properties--The Weldon Process of manufacturing
“Bleaching Powder,” 71, 72
44. Effects of Chlorine, 72
45. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 72
46. Detection of Free Chlorine, 72
III. HYDRIC SULPHIDE (SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN).
47. Properties of Hydric Sulphide, 72, 73
48. Effects of breathing Hydric Sulphide--Action on the Blood--The
Cleator Moor Case, 73, 74
49. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 74
50. Detection, 74
PART IV.--ACIDS AND ALKALIES.
SULPHURIC ACID--HYDROCHLORIC ACID--NITRIC ACID--ACETIC ACID--AMMONIA
--POTASH--SODA--NEUTRAL SODIUM, POTASSIUM, AND AMMONIUM SALTS.
I. SULPHURIC ACID.
51. Varieties and Strength of the Sulphuric Acids of Commerce--
Properties of the Acid--Nordhausen Sulphuric Acid, 75, 76
52. Properties of Sulphuric Anhydride, 76
53. Occurrence of Free Sulphuric Acid in Nature, 76
54. Statistics--Comparative Statistics of different Countries, 76, 77
55. Accidental, Suicidal, and Criminal Poisoning--Sulphuric Acid in
Clysters and Injections, 77, 78
56. Fatal Dose, 78, 79
57. Local Action of Sulphuric Acid--Effects on Mucous Membrane, on
the Skin, on Blood, 79, 80
58. Action of Sulphuric Acid on Earth, Grass, Wood, Paper, Carpet,
Clothing, Iron--Caution necessary in judging of Spots--
Illustrative Case, 80, 81
59. Symptoms--(1) External Effects--(2) Internal Effects in the
Gullet and Stomach--Intercostal Neuralgia, 81-83
60. Treatment of Acute Poisoning by the Mineral Acids, 83
61. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Rapid and Slow Poisoning--
Illustrative Cases, 83-85
62. Pathological Preparations in the different London Hospital
Museums, 85, 86
63. Chronic Poisoning, 86
_Detection and Estimation of Free Sulphuric Acid._
64. General Method of Separating the Free Mineral Acids--The Quinine
Process--The Old Process of Extraction by Alcohol--Hilger’s Test
for Mineral Acid, 87, 88
65. The Urine--Excretion of Sulphates in Health and Disease--The
Characters of the Urine after taking Sulphuric Acid, 88-90
66. The Blood in Sulphuric Acid Poisoning, 90
67. The Question of the Introduction of Sulphates by the Food--
Largest possible Amount of Sulphates introduced by this Means--
Sulphur of the Bile--Medicinal Sulphates, 90, 91
II. HYDROCHLORIC ACID.
68. General Properties of Hydrochloric Acid--Discovery--Uses--
Tests, 91, 92
69. Statistics, 92, 93
70. Fatal Dose, 93
71. Amount of Free Acid in the Gastric Juice, 93, 94
72. Influence of Hydrochloric Acid on Vegetation--Present Law on the
Subject of Acid Emanations from Works--The Resistant Powers of
various Plants, 94
73. Action on Cloth and Manufactured Articles, 95
74. Poisonous Effects of Hydrochloric Acid Gas--Eulenberg’s
Experiments on Rabbits and Pigeons, 95, 96
75. Effects of the Liquid Acid--Absence of Corrosion of the Skin--
Pathological Appearances--Illustrative Cases, 96, 97
76. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Preparations in the different London
Museums, 97, 98
77. (1) Detection of Free Hydrochloric Acid--Günzburg’s Test--A.
Villiers’s and M. Favolle’s Test--(2) Quantitative Estimation,
Sjokvist’s Method--Braun’s Method, 98-101
78. Method of Investigating Hydrochloric Acid Stains on Cloth,
&c., 101, 102
III. NITRIC ACID.
79. Properties of Nitric Acid, 102, 103
80. Use in the Arts, 103
81. Statistics, 103
82. Fatal Dose, 104
83. Action on Vegetation, 104
84. Effects of Nitric Acid Vapour--Experiments of Eulenberg and O.
Lassar--Fatal Effect on Man, 104, 105
85. Effects of Liquid Nitric Acid--Suicidal, Homicidal, and
Accidental Deaths from the Acid, 105, 106
86. Local Action, 106
87. Symptoms--The Constant Development of Gas--Illustrative
Cases, 106, 107
88. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Preparations in various Anatomical
Museums, 107-109
89. Detection and Estimation of Nitric Acid, 109, 110
IV. ACETIC ACID.
90. Symptoms and Detection, 110
V. AMMONIA.
91. Properties of Ammonia, 111
92. Uses--Officinal and other Preparations, 111, 112
93. Statistics of Poisoning by Ammonia, 112
94. Poisoning by Ammonia Vapour, 112
95. Symptoms--Illustrative Case, 112, 113
96. Chronic Effects of the Gas, 113
97. Ammonia in Solution--Action on Plants, 113
98. Action on Human Beings and Animal Life--Local Action on Skin--
Action on the Blood--Time of Death, 113-115
99. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 115
100. Separation of Ammonia--Tests, 115, 116
101. Estimation of Ammonia, 116
VI. CAUSTIC POTASH AND SODA.
102. Properties of Potassium Hydrate, 116, 117
103. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 117
104. Carbonate of Potash, 117
105. Bicarbonate of Potash, 117
106. Caustic Soda--Sodium Hydrate, 117, 118
107. Carbonate of Soda, 118
108. Bicarbonate of Soda, 118
109. Statistics, 118
110. Effects on Animal and Vegetable Life, 118, 119
111. Local Effects, 119
112. Symptoms, 119
113. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 119-121
114. Chemical Analysis, 121
115. Estimation of the Fixed Alkalies, 121, 122
VII. NEUTRAL SODIUM, POTASSIUM, AND AMMONIUM SALTS.
116. Relative Toxicity of Sodium, Potassium, and Ammonium Salts, 122
117. Sodium Salts, 122
118. Potassium Salts--Potassic Sulphate--Hydropotassic Tartrate--
Statistics, 122
119. Action on the Frog’s Heart, 122
120. Action on Warm-Blooded Animals, 122, 123
121. Elimination, 123
122. Nitrate of Potash, 123
123. Statistics, 123
124. Uses in the Arts, 123
125. Action of Nitrates of Sodium and Potassium--Sodic
Nitrite, 123, 124
126. _Post-mortem_ Appearances from Poisoning by Potassic Nitrate, 124
127. Potassic Chlorate, 124
128. Uses, 124
129. Poisonous Properties, 124
130. Experiments on Animals, 124, 125
131. Effects on Man--Illustrative Cases of the Poisoning of Children
by Potassic Chlorate, 125
132. Effects on Adults--Least Fatal Dose, 126
133. Elimination, 126
134. Essential Action of Potassic Chlorate on the Blood and
Tissues, 126
135. Detection and Estimation of Potassic Chlorate, 126, 127
_Toxicological Detection of Alkali Salts._
136. Natural occurrence of Potassium and Sodium Salts in the Blood
and Tissues--Tests for Potassic and Sodic Salts--Tests for
Potassic Nitrate--Tests for Chlorates--Ammonium Salts, 127, 128
PART V.--MORE OR LESS VOLATILE POISONOUS SUBSTANCES CAPABLE OF BEING
SEPARATED BY DISTILLATION FROM NEUTRAL OR ACID LIQUIDS.
HYDROCARBONS--CAMPHOR--ALCOHOL--AMYL NITRITE--ETHER--CHLOROFORM
AND OTHER ANÆSTHETICS--CHLORAL--CARBON BISULPHIDE--CARBOLIC
ACID--NITRO-BENZENE--PRUSSIC ACID--PHOSPHORUS.
I. HYDROCARBONS.
1. _Petroleum._
137. Petroleum, 129
138. Cymogene, 129
139. Rhigolene, 129
140. Gasolene, 129
141. Benzoline--Distinction between Petroleum-Naphtha, Shale-Naphtha,
and Coal-Tar Naphtha, 129, 130
142. Paraffin Oil, 130
143. Effects of Petroleum--Experiments on Rabbits, &c., 130, 131
144. Poisoning by Petroleum--Illustrative Cases, 131
145. Separation and Tests for Petroleum, 131
2. _Coal-Tar Naphtha--Benzene._
146. Composition of Commercial Coal-Tar Naphtha, 131
147. Symptoms observed after Swallowing Coal-Tar Naphtha, 132
148. Effects of the Vapour of Benzene, 132
_Detection and Separation of Benzene._
149. Separation of Benzene--(1) Purification; (2) Conversion into
Nitro-Benzene; (3) Conversion into Aniline, 132, 133
3. _Terpenes--Essential Oils--Oil of Turpentine._
150. Properties of the Terpenes, Cedrenes, and Colophenes, 133
4. _Oil of Turpentine--Spirits of Turpentine._
151. Terebenthene--Distinction between French and English
Turpentine, 133, 134
152. Effects of the Administration of Turpentine, 134
II. CAMPHOR.
153. Properties of Camphor, 135
154. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 135
155. Symptoms of Poisoning by Camphor, 135
156. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 136
157. Separation from the Contents of the Stomach, 136
III. ALCOHOLS.
1. _Ethylic Alcohol._
158. Chemical Properties of Alcohol--Statistics of Poisoning by
Alcohol, 136
159. Criminal or Accidental Alcoholic Poisoning, 137
160. Fatal Dose, 137
161. Symptoms of Acute Poisoning by Alcohol, 137, 138
162. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 138, 139
163. Excretion of Alcohol, 139, 140
164. Toxicological Detection, 140
2. _Amylic Alcohol._
165. Properties of Amylic Alcohol, 140
166. Experiments as to the Effect on Animals of Amylic
Alcohol, 140, 141
167. Detection and Estimation of Amylic Alcohol, 141
168. Amyl Nitrite--Properties--Symptoms--_Post-mortem_
Appearances, 141
IV. ETHER.
169. Properties of Ethylic Ether, 141, 142
170. Ether as a Poison, 142
171. Fatal Dose, 142
172. Ether as an Anæsthetic, 142, 143
173. Separation of Ether from Organic Fluids, &c., 143
V. CHLOROFORM.
174. Discovery of Chloroform--Properties, Adulterations, and Methods
for Detecting them, 143-145
175. Methods of Manufacturing Chloroform, 145, 146
_Poisonous Effects of Chloroform._
1. _As a Liquid._
176. Statistics, 146
177. Local Action, 146
178. Action on Blood, Muscle, and Nerve-Tissue, 146
179. General Effects of Liquid Chloroform--Illustrative
Cases, 146, 147
180. Fatal Dose, 147
181. Symptoms, 148
182. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 148
2. _The Vapour of Chloroform._
183. Statistics of Deaths through Chloroform--Anæsthesia, 148, 149
184. Suicidal and Criminal Poisoning--Illustrative Cases, 149, 150
185. Physiological Effects, 150
186. Symptoms witnessed in Death from Chloroform Vapour, 150, 151
187. Chronic Chloroform Poisoning--Mental Effects from Use of
Chloroform, 151, 152
188. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 152
189. The Detection and Estimation of Chloroform--Various
Tests, 152, 153
190. Quantitative Estimation, 153
VI. OTHER ANÆSTHETICS.
191. Methyl Chloride--Methene Dichloride, &c., 154
192. Pentane, 154
193. Aldehyde, 154
194. Paraldehyde, 154
VII. CHLORAL.
195. Chloral Hydrate; its Composition and Properties, 154, 155
196. Detection, 155
197. Quantitative Estimation of Chloral Hydrate, 155, 156
198. Effects of Chloral Hydrate on Animals--Depression of Temperature
--Influence on the Secretion of Milk, &c., 156, 157
199. Action upon the Blood, 157
200. Effects on Man, 157, 158
201. Fatal Dose, 158, 159
202. Symptoms, 159
203. Action of Chloral upon the Brain, 159
204. Treatment of Acute Chloral Poisoning, 160
205. Chronic Poisoning by Chloral Hydrate, 160, 161
206. Manner in which Chloral is Decomposed in, and Excreted from, the
Body, 161, 162
207. Separation from Organic Matters--Tests for Chloral, 162, 163
VIII. BISULPHIDE OF CARBON.
208. Properties of Bisulphide of Carbon, 163
209. Poisoning by Bisulphide of Carbon, 163
210. Action on Animals, 163, 164
211. Chronic Poisoning by Bisulphide of Carbon--Effects on the Brain,
&c., 164, 165
212. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 165
213. Separation and Detection of Carbon Bisulphide--Tests, 165
214. Xanthogenic Acid, 165
215. Potassic Xanthogenate, 165
IX. THE TAR ACIDS--PHENOL--CRESOL.
216. Properties and Sources of Carbolic Acid, 165, 166
217. Different Forms of Carbolic Acid--Calvert’s Carbolic Acid Powder
--Carbolic Acid Soaps, 166, 167
218. Uses of Carbolic Acid, 167
219. Statistics Relative to Poisoning by Carbolic Acid, 167-169
220. Fatal Dose, 169
221. Effects on Animals--Infusoria--Fish--Frogs, 169, 170
222. Effects on Warm-Blooded Animals, 170
223. Symptoms Produced in Man--External Application--Action on the
Skin--Effects of the Vapour--Use of Carbolic Acid Lotions--
Injections, &c.--Illustrative Cases, 170-172
224. Internal Administration--Illustrative Cases, 173
225. General Review of the Symptoms induced by Carbolic Acid, 173, 174
226. Changes Produced in the Urine by Carbolic Acid, 174, 175
227. The Action of Carbolic Acid considered Physiologically, 175, 176
228. Forms under which Carbolic Acid is Excreted, 176
229. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 176, 177
_Tests for Carbolic Acid._
230. (1) The Pine-Wood Test--(2) Ammonia and Hypochlorite Test--(3)
Ferric Chloride--(4) Bromine, 177, 178
231. Quantitative Estimation of Carbolic Acid, 178, 179
232. Properties of Cresol, and Tests for Distinguishing Cresol and
Carbolic Acid, 179
233. Properties of Creasote--Tests, 179, 180
234. Separation of Carbolic Acid from Organic Fluids or
Tissues, 180, 181
235. Examination of the Urine for Phenol or Cresol, 181
236. Assay of Disinfectants, Carbolic Acid Powders--E. Waller’s
Process--Koppeschaar’s Volumetric Method--Colorimetric Method of
Estimation, 181-183
237. Carbolic Acid Powders, 183
238. Carbolic Acid Soaps, 183
X. NITRO-BENZENE.
239. Properties and Varieties, 183, 184
240. Effects of Poisoning by Nitro-Benzene, 184
241. Illustrative Cases of Poisoning by Nitro-Benzene Vapour, 184, 185
242. Effects Produced by taking Liquid Nitro-Benzene, 185, 186
243. Fatal Dose, 186, 187
244. Pathological Appearances, 187
245. The Essential Action of Nitro-Benzene, 187, 188
246. Detection and Separation from the Animal Tissues, 188
XI. DINITRO-BENZOL.
247. Properties of Ortho-, Meta-, and Para-Dinitro-Benzol, 189
248. Effects of Dinitro-Benzol, 189, 190
249. The Blood in Nitro-Benzol Poisoning, 191
250. Detection of Dinitro-Benzol, 192
XII. HYDROCYANIC ACID.
251. Properties of Hydrocyanic Acid, 192
252. Medicinal Preparations of Prussic Acid--Various Strengths of the
Commercial Acid, 192, 193
253. Poisoning by Prussic Acid--Uses in the Arts--Distribution in the
Vegetable Kingdom, 193-195
254. Composition and Varieties of Amygdalin, 195
255. Statistics of Poisoning by Prussic Acid, 195-197
256. Accidental and Criminal Poisoning, 197, 198
257. Fatal Dose, 198
258. Action of Hydric and Potassic Cyanides on Living
Organisms, 198, 199
259. Symptoms observed in Animals, 199, 200
260. Length of Interval between taking the Poison and Death in
Animals, 200, 201
261. Symptoms in Man, 201, 202
262. Possible Acts after taking the Poison--Nunneley’s
Experiments, 202, 203
263. Chronic Poisoning by Hydric Cyanide, 203
264. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 203, 204
265. Tests for Hydrocyanic Acid and Cyanide of Potassium--Schönbein’s
Test--Kobert’s Test, 204-206
266. Separation of Hydric Cyanide or Potassic Cyanide from Organic
Matters--N. Sokoloff’s Experiments, 206-208
267. How long after Death can Hydric or Potassic Cyanide be
Detected? 208, 209
268. Estimation of Hydrocyanic Acid or Potassic Cyanide, 209
269. Case of Poisoning by Bitter Almonds, 209, 210
_Poisonous Cyanides other than Hydric and Potassic Cyanides._
270. General Action of the Alkaline Cyanides--Experiments with
Ammonic Cyanide Vapour, 210
271. The Poisonous Action of several Metallic and Double Cyanides--
The Effects of Mercuric and Silver Cyanides; of Potassic and
Hydric Sulphocyanides; of Cyanogen Chloride; of Methyl Cyanide,
and of Cyanuric Acid, 210, 211
XIII. PHOSPHORUS.
272. Properties of Phosphorus--Solubility--Effects of Heat on
Phosphorus, 212, 213
273. Phosphuretted Hydrogen--Phosphine, 213
274. The Medicinal Preparations of Phosphorus, 213
275. Matches and Vermin Paste, 213-215
276. Statistics of Phosphorus Poisoning, 215, 216
277. Fatal Dose, 216
278. Effects of Phosphorus, 217
279. Different Forms of Phosphorus Poisoning, 217, 218
280. Common Form, 218, 219
281. Hæmorrhagic Form, 219
282. Nervous Form, 219
283. Sequelæ, 219, 220
284. Period at which the First Symptoms commence, 220
285. Period of Death, 220
286. Effects of Phosphorus Vapour--Experiments on Rabbits, 220, 221
287. Effects of Chronic Phosphorus Poisoning, 221, 222
288. Changes in the Urinary Secretion, 222
289. Changes in the Blood, 222, 223
290. Antidote--Treatment by Turpentine, 223
291. Poisonous Effects of Phosphine, 223, 224
292. Coefficient of Solubility of Phosphine in Blood compared with
Pure Water, 224
293. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Effects on the Liver, 224-228
294. Pathological Changes in the Kidneys, Lungs, and Nervous
System, 228
295. Diagnostic Differences between Acute Yellow Atrophy of the Liver
and Fatty Liver produced by Phosphorus, 228, 229
296. Detection of Phosphorus--Mitscherlich’s Process--The Production
of Phosphine--Tests Dependent on the Combustion of Phosphine,
229-232
297. The Spectrum of Phosphine--Lipowitz’s Sulphur Test--Scherer’s
Test, 232, 233
298. Chemical Examination of the Urine, 233, 234
299. Quantitative Estimation of Phosphorus, 234
300. How long can Phosphorus be recognised after Death? 234, 235
PART VI.--ALKALOIDS AND POISONOUS VEGETABLE PRINCIPLES
SEPARATED FOR THE MOST PART BY ALCOHOLIC SOLVENTS.
DIVISION I.--VEGETABLE ALKALOIDS.
I. GENERAL METHOD OF TESTING AND EXTRACTING ALKALOIDS.
301. General Tests for Alkaloids, 236
302. Group-Reagents, 236, 237
303. Phosphomolybdic, Silico-Tungstic, and Phospho-Tungstic Acids as
Alkaloidal Reagents, 237-239
304. Schulze’s Reagent, 239
305. Dragendorff’s Reagent, 239
306. Colour Tests, 239
307. Stas’s Process, 239
_Methods of Separation._
308. Selmi’s Process for Separating Alkaloids, 240, 241
309. Dragendorff’s Process, 241-254
310. Shorter Process for Separating some of the Alkaloids, 254, 255
311. Scheibler’s Process for Alkaloids, 255
312. Grandval and Lajoux’s Method, 255, 256
313. Identification of the Alkaloids, 256
314. Sublimation of the Alkaloids, 256-261
315. Melting-point, 261
316. Identification by Organic Analysis, 261, 262
317. Quantitative Estimation of the Alkaloids--Mayer’s Reagent--
Compound of the Alkaloids with Chlorides of Gold and Platinum,
262-264
II. LIQUID VOLATILE ALKALOIDS.
1. _The Alkaloids of Hemlock_ (_Conium_).
318. Botanical Description of Hemlock, 264
319. Properties of Coniine--Tests, 264-266
320. Other Coniine Bases, 266
321. Pharmaceutical Preparations of Hemlock, 266, 267
322. Statistics of Coniine Poisoning, 267
323. Effects of Coniine on Animals, 267, 268
324. Effects of Coniine on Man, 268
325. Physiological Action of Coniine, 268
326. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Fatal Dose, 268, 269
327. Separation of Coniine from Organic Matters or Tissues, 269
2. _Tobacco--Nicotine._
328. General Composition of Tobacco, 269, 270
329. Quantitative Estimation of Nicotine in Tobacco, 270, 271
330. Nicotine; its Properties and Tests, 271-273
331. Effects of Nicotine on Animals, 273, 274
332. Effects of Nicotine on Man, 274, 275
333. Some Instances of Poisoning by Tobacco and Tobacco Juice, 275-277
334. Physiological Action of Nicotine, 277, 278
335. Fatal Dose, 278
336. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 278
337. Separation of Nicotine from Organic Matters, &c., 278, 279
3. _Piturie._
338. Properties of Piturie, 279
4. _Sparteine._
339. Properties of Sparteine, 279, 280
5. _Aniline._
340. Properties of Aniline, 280
341. Symptoms and Effects, 280, 281
342. Fatal Dose, 281
343. Detection of Aniline, 281
III. THE OPIUM GROUP OF ALKALOIDS.
344. General Composition of Opium, 281, 282
345. Action of Solvents on Opium, 282, 283
346. The Methods of Teschemacher and Smith, of Dott and others for
the Assay of Opium, 283, 284
347. Medicinal and other Preparations of Opium, 284-288
348. Statistics of Opiate Poisoning, 288, 289
349. Poisoning of Children by Opium, 289
350. Doses of Opium and Morphine--Fatal Dose, 289, 290
351. General Method for the Detection of Opium, 290, 291
352. Morphine; its Properties, 291, 292
353. Morphine Salts; their Solubility, 292, 293
354. Constitution of Morphine, 293, 294
355. Tests for Morphine and its Compounds--Production of Morphine
Hydriodide--Iodic Acid Test and other Reactions--Transformation
of Morphine into Codeine, 294-296
356. Symptoms of Opium and Morphine Poisoning--Action on Animals,
296-298
357. Physiological Action, 298, 299
358. Physiological Action of Morphine Derivatives, 299
359. Action on Man--(_a_) The Sudden Form; (_b_) the Convulsive Form;
(_c_) a Remittent Form of Opium Poisoning--Illustrative Cases,
299-303
360. Diagnosis of Opium Poisoning, 303, 304
361. Opium-Eating, 304-306
362. Treatment of Opium or Morphine Poisoning, 306
363. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 306, 307
364. Separation of Morphine from Animal Tissues and Fluids, 307
365. Extraction of Morphine, 308, 309
366. Narcotine; its Properties and Tests, 309, 310
367. Effects of Narcotine, 310
368. Codeine--Properties of Codeine, 310, 311
369. Effects of Codeine on Animals--Claude Bernard’s Experiments, 311
370. Narceine--Properties of Narceine--Tests, 312, 313
371. Effects of Narceine, 313, 314
372. Papaverine--Properties of Papaverine--Tests, 314
373. Effects of Papaverine, 314
374. Thebaine; its Properties, 314, 315
375. Thebaine; its Effects, 315
376. Cryptopine, 315, 316
377. Rhœadine, 316
378. Pseudomorphine, 316
379. Opianine, 316
380. Apomorphine, 316, 317
381. Reactions of some of the Rarer Opium Alkaloids, 317
382. Tritopine, 317
383. Meconin (Opianyl), 317
384. Meconic Acid--Effects of Meconic Acid--Tests, 318, 319
IV. THE STRYCHNINE OR TETANUS-PRODUCING GROUP OF ALKALOIDS.
1. _Nux Vomica Group--Strychnine--Brucine--Igasurine._
385. Nux Vomica--Characteristics of the Entire and of the Powdered
Seed, 319
386. Chemical Composition of Nux Vomica, 319
387. Strychnine--Microscopical Appearances--Properties--Medicinal
Preparations--Strychnine Salts, 319-322
388. Pharmaceutical and other Preparations of Nux Vomica, with
Suggestions for their Valuation--Vermin-Killers, 322-324
389. Statistics, 324-325
390. Fatal Dose--Falck’s Experiments on Animals as to the Least Fatal
Dose--Least Fatal Dose for Man, 325-328
391. Action on Animals--Frogs, 328, 329
392. Effects on Man--Symptoms--Distinction between “Disease Tetanus”
and “Strychnos Tetanus,” 329-331
393. Diagnosis of Strychnine Poisoning, 331, 332
394. Physiological Action--Richet’s Experiments--The Rise of
Temperature--Effect on the Blood-Pressure, 332, 333
395. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 333
396. Treatment, 333
397. Separation of Strychnine from Organic Matters--Separation from
the Urine, Blood, and Tissues, 334-337
398. Identification of the Alkaloid--Colour Tests--Physiological
Tests, 337-339
399. Hypaphorine, 339
400. Quantitative Estimation of Strychnine, 339, 340
401. Brucine; its Properties, 340, 341
402. Physiological Action of Brucine--Experiments of Falck, 341, 342
403. Tests for Brucine, 342, 343
404. Igasurine, 344
405. Strychnic Acid, 344
2. _The Quebracho Group of Alkaloids._
406. The Alkaloids of Quebracho--Aspidospermine--Quebrachine, 344
3. _Pereirine._
407. Pereirine, 344, 345
4. _Gelsemine._
408. Properties of Gelsemine, 345
409. Fatal Dose of Gelsemine, 345
410. Effects on Animals--Physiological Action, 345
411. Effects of Gelsemine on Man, 346
412. Extraction from Organic Matters, or the Tissues of the Body, 347
5. _Cocaine._
413. Cocaine; its Properties, 47, 348
414. Cocaine Hydrochlorate, 348
415. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 348
416. Separation of Cocaine and Tests, 348, 349
417. Symptoms, 349
418. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 349, 350
419. Fatal Dose, 350
6. _Corydaline._
420. Properties of Corydaline, 350
V. THE ACONITE GROUP OF ALKALOIDS.
421. Varieties of Aconite--Description of the Flower, and of the
Seeds, 350, 351
422. Pharmaceutical Preparations of Aconite, 351
423. The Aconite Alkaloids, 351
424. Aconitine, 351, 352
425. Tests for Aconitine, 352
426. Benzoyl-Aconine Properties--Recognition of Benzoic Acid,
353, 354
427. Pyraconitine, 354
428. Pyraconine, 354
429. Aconine, 355
430. Commercial Aconitine--English and German Samples of Aconitine--
Lethal Dose of the Alkaloid and of the Pharmaceutical
Preparations, 355-358
431. Effects of Aconitine on Animal Life--Insects, Fish, Reptiles,
Birds, Mammals, 358-360
432. Statistics, 361
433. Effects on Man, 361
434. Poisoning by the Root (_Reg. v. M’Conkey_), 361, 362
435. Poisoning by the Alkaloid Aconitine--Three Cases of
Poisoning, 363, 364
436. Lamson’s Case, 364, 365
437. Symptoms of Poisoning by the Tincture, &c., 365, 366
438. Physiological Action, 366
439. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 366, 367
440. Separation of Aconitine from the Contents of the Stomach or the
Organs, 367, 368
VI. THE MYDRIATIC GROUP OF ALKALOIDS--ATROPINE--HYOSCYAMINE--SOLANINE
--CYTISINE.
1. _Atropine._
441. The _Atropa belladonna_; its Alkaloidal Content, 368, 369
442. The _Datura stramonium_--Distinction between Datura and
Capsicum Seeds, 369, 370
443. Pharmaceutical Preparations--(a) Belladonna; (b)
Stramonium, 370, 371
444. Properties of Atropine, 371, 372
445. Tests for Atropine, Chemical and Physiological, 372-374
446. Statistics of Atropine Poisoning, 375
447. Accidental and Criminal Poisoning by Atropine--Use of
_Dhatoora_ by the Hindoos, 375, 376
448. Fatal Dose of Atropine, 376, 377
449. Action on Animals, 377
450. Action on Man, 377-380
451. Physiological Action of Atropine, 380
452. Diagnosis of Atropine Poisoning, 380
453. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 380
454. Treatment of Cases of Poisoning by Atropine, 380, 381
455. Separation of Atropine from Organic Matters, &c., 381
2. _Hyoscyamine._
456. Distribution of Hyoscyamine--Properties, 381-383
457. Pharmaceutical and other Preparations of Henbane, 383, 384
458. Dose and Effects, 384
459. Separation of Hyoscyamine from Organic Matters, 385
3. _Hyoscine._
460. Hyoscine, 385
4. _Solanine._
461. Distribution of Solanine, 385, 386
462. Properties of Solanine, 386
463. Solanidine, 386, 387
464. Poisoning from Solanine, 387
465. Separation from Animal Tissues, 387
5. _Cytisine._
466. The _Cytisus laburnum_, 387
467. Reactions of Cytisine, 388
468. Effects on Animals, 389
469. Effects on Man--Illustrative Cases, 389, 390
VII. THE ALKALOIDS OF THE VERATRUMS.
470. The Alkaloids found in the _Veratrum Viride_ and _Veratrum
Album_--Yield per Kilogram, 390-392
471. Veratrine--Cevadine, 392
472. Jervine, 393
473. Pseudo-jervine, 393
474. Protoveratridine, 393
475. Rubi-jervine, 394
476. Veratralbine, 394
477. Veratroidine, 394
478. Commercial Veratrine, 394, 395
479. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 395
480. Fatal Dose, 395
481. Effects on Animals--Physiological Action, 395, 396
482. Effects on Man--Illustrative Cases, 396
483. Symptoms of Acute and Chronic Poisoning, 396, 397
484. _Post-mortem_ Signs, 397
485. Separation of the Veratrum Alkaloids from Organic Matters, 397
VIII. PHYSOSTIGMINE.
486. The Active Principle of the Calabar Bean, 397, 398
487. Physostigmine or Eserine--Properties, 398, 399
488. Tests, 399
489. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 399, 400
490. Effects on Animals--On Man--The Liverpool Cases of Poisoning,
400
491. Physiological Action, 401
492. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 401
493. Separation of Physostigmine, 401, 402
494. Fatal Dose of Physostigmine, 402
IX. PILOCARPINE.
495. Alkaloids from the Jaborandi, 402
496. Pilocarpine, 402, 403
497. Tests, 403
498. Effects of Pilocarpine, 403, 404
X. TAXINE.
499. Properties of Taxine, 404
500. Poisoning by the Common Yew, 404
501. Effects on Animals--Physiological Action, 404
502. Effects on Man, 404, 405
503. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 405
XI. CURARINE.
504. Commercial Curarine--Properties, 405-407
505. Physiological Effects, 407
506. Separation of Curarine, 407, 408
XII. COLCHICINE.
507. Contents of Colchicine in Colchicum Seeds, 408, 409
508. Colchicine--Method of Extraction--Properties, 409
509. Tests, 409, 410
510. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 410
511. Fatal Dose, 410, 411
512. Effects of Colchicine on Animals, 411
513. Effects of Colchicum on Man--Illustrative Cases, 411, 412
514. Symptoms Produced by Colchicum--_Post-mortem_ Appearances,
412, 413
515. Separation of Colchicine from Organic Matters, 413
XIII. MUSCARINE AND THE ACTIVE PRINCIPLES OF CERTAIN FUNGI.
516. Description of the _Amanita Muscaria_--Use of it by the Natives
of Kamschatka, 413, 414
517. Cases of Poisoning by the Fungus itself, 414, 415
518. Muscarine--Its Properties and Effects, 415, 416
519. Antagonistic Action of Atropine and Muscarine, 416
520. Detection of Muscarine, 416, 417
521. The _Agaricus Phalloides_--_Phallin_, 417
522. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 417, 418
523. The _Agaricus Pantherinus_--The _Agaricus Ruber_--Ruberine
--Agarythrine, 418
524. The _Boletus Satanus_, or _Luridus_, 418
525. Occasional Effects of the Common Morelle, 418
Division II.--GLUCOSIDES
I. DIGITALIS GROUP.
526. Description of the _Digitalis Purpurea_, or Foxglove, 419
527. Active Principles of the Foxglove--The Digitalins, 419
528. Digitalein, 420
529. Digitonin--Digitogenin, 420
530. Digitalin, 420
531. Digitaletin, 420
532. Digitoxin--Toxiresin, 420, 421
533. Digitaleretin--Paradigitaletin, 421
534. Other Active Principles in Digitalis; such as Digitin,
Digitalacrin, Digitalein, &c., 421, 422
535. Reactions of the Digitalins, 422
536. Pharmaceutical Preparations of Digitalin, 422
537. Fatal Dose, 422-424
538. Statistics of Poisoning by Digitalis, 424
539. Effects on Man--Illustrative Cases, 424-427
540. Physiological Action of the Digitalins, 427
541. Local Action of the Digitalins, 427, 428
542. Action on the Heart and Circulation, 428, 429
543. Action of the Digitalins on the Muco-Intestinal Tract and other
Organs, 429
544. Action of Digitalin on the Common Blow-Fly, 429
545. Action of the Digitalins on the Frog’s Heart, 429, 430
546. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 430
547. Separation of the Digitalins from Animal Tissues, &c.--Tests,
Chemical and Physiological, 431
II. OTHER POISONOUS GLUCOSIDES ACTING ON THE HEART.
1. _Crystallisable Glucosides._
548. Antiarin--Chemical Properties, 432
549. Effects of Antiarin, 432
550. Separation of Antiarin, 432
551. The Active Principles of the Hellebores--Helleborin--
Helleborein--Helleboretin, 433
552. Symptoms of Poisoning by Hellebore, 433
553. Euonymin, 433
554. Thevetin, 434
2. _Substances partly Crystallisable, but which are not Glucosides._
555. Strophantin, 434
556. Apocynin, 434
3. _Non-Crystallisable Glucosides almost Insoluble in Water._
557. Scillain, or Scillitin--Adonidin, 434
558. Oleandrin, 435
559. Neriin, or Oleander Digitalin, 435
560. Symptoms of Poisoning by Oleander, 435, 436
561. The Madagascar Ordeal Poison, 436
4. _Substances which, with other Toxic Effects, behave like the
Digitalins._
562. Erythrophlein, 436
III. SAPONIN--SAPONIN SUBSTANCES.
563. The Varieties of Saponins, 436, 437
564. Properties of Saponin, 437
565. Effects of Saponin, 437, 438
566. Action on Man, 438
567. Separation of Saponin, 438, 439
568. Identification of Saponin, 439
DIVISION III.--CERTAIN POISONOUS ANHYDRIDES OF ORGANIC ACIDS.
I. SANTONIN.
569. Properties of Santonin, 439, 440
570. Poisoning by Santonin, 440
571. Fatal Dose, 440
572. Effects on Animals, 440
573. Effects on Man--Yellow Vision, 440, 441
574. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 441
575. Separation from the Contents of the Stomach, 441, 442
II. MEZEREON.
576. Cases of Poisoning by the Mezereon, 442
DIVISION IV.--VARIOUS VEGETABLE POISONOUS PRINCIPLES--NOT ADMITTING OF
CLASSIFICATION UNDER THE PREVIOUS THREE DIVISIONS.
I. ERGOT OF RYE.
577. Description of the Ergot Fungus, 442, 443
578. Chemical Constituents of Ergot--Ergotinine--_Ecboline_--
_Scleromucin_--Sclerotic Acid--Sclererythrin--Scleroidin--
Sclerocrystallin--Sphacelic Acid--Cornutin, 443-445
579. Detection of Ergot in Flour, 445
580. Pharmaceutical Preparations, 445
581. Dose, 446
582. Ergotism--Historical Notice of Various Outbreaks, 446, 447
583. Convulsive Form of Ergotism, 447
584. Gangrenous Form of Ergotism--The Wattisham Cases, 447, 448
585. Symptoms of Acute Poisoning by Ergot, 448
586. Physiological Action, as shown by Experiments on Animals, 448-450
587. Separation of the Active Principles of Ergot, 450
II. PICROTOXIN, THE ACTIVE PRINCIPLE OF THE _COCCULUS INDICUS_.
588. Enumeration of the Active Principles contained in the
_Menispermum Cocculus_, 451
589. Picrotoxin; its Chemical Reactions and Properties, 451, 452
590. Fatal Dose, 452
591. Effects on Animals, 452, 453
592. Effects on Man, 453
593. Physiological Action, 453
594. Separation from Organic Matters, 453, 454
III. THE POISON OF _ILLICIUM RELIGIOSUM_.
595. Dr. Langaard’s Researches, 454
IV. PICRIC ACID AND PICRATES.
596. Properties of Picric Acid, 454
597. Effects of Picric Acid, 454, 455
598. Tests, 455
V. CICUTOXIN.
599. Description of the _Cicuta Virosa_, 456
600. Effects on Animals, 456
601. Effects on Man, 456, 457
602. Separation of Cicutoxin from the Body, 457
VI. _ÆTHUSA CYNAPIUM_ (FOOL’S PARSLEY).
603. Dr. Harley’s Experiments, 457
VII. _ŒNANTHE CROCATA._
604. The Water Hemlock--Description of the Plant--Cases of
Poisoning, 457, 458
605. Effects of the Water Hemlock, as shown by the Plymouth Cases, 458
606. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 459
VIII. OIL OF SAVIN.
607. Effects and Properties of Savin Oil, 459
608. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 460
609. Separation and Identification, 460
IX. CROTON OIL.
610. Chemical Properties of Croton Oil, 461
611. Dose--Effects--Illustrative Cases, 461
612. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 461
613. Chemical Analysis, 462
X. THE TOXALBUMINS OF CASTOR OIL SEEDS AND ABRUS.
614. The Toxalbumin of Castor Oil Seeds, 462
615. Toxalbumin of Abrus, 462, 463
XI. ICTROGEN.
616. Ictrogen, 463
XII. COTTON SEEDS.
617. Cotton Seeds as a Poison, 464
XIII. _LATHYRUS SATIVUS._
618. Poisonous Qualities of Vetchlings, 464, 465
XIV. ARUM--LOCUST-TREE--BRYONY--MALE FERN.
619. Arum Maculatum, 465
620. The Black Bryony, 465
621. The Locust Tree, 465
622. Male Fern 465, 466
PART VII.--POISONS DERIVED FROM LIVING OR DEAD ANIMAL
SUBSTANCES.
DIVISION I.--POISONS SECRETED BY LIVING ANIMALS.
I. POISONOUS AMPHIBIA.
623. Poisonous Properties of the Skin of the _Salamandra Maculosa_
--Salamandrine, &c., 467
624. Poison from the Toad, 468
II. THE POISON OF THE SCORPION.
625. Various Species of Scorpions--Effects of the Scorpion Poison, 468
III. POISONOUS FISH.
626. Poisonous Fish--Illustrative Cases, 468-470
IV. POISONOUS SPIDERS AND INSECTS.
627. The Bite of the Tarantula--The Bite of the _Latrodectus
Malmignatus_, 470
628. Effects of the Bite of the Katipo, 471
629. Ants, &c., 471
630. The Poison of Wasps, Bees, and Hornets, 471
631. Cantharides, 471
632. Cantharidin, 471, 472
633. Pharmaceutical Preparations of Cantharides, 472
634. Fatal Dose, 472
635. Effects on Animals--Radecki’s Experiments--Effects on Man--
Heinrich’s Auto-Experiments, 472, 473
636. General Symptoms Produced by Cantharides, 473, 474
637. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 474
638. Tests for Cantharidin--Distribution in the Body--Dragendorff’s
Process, 475-477
V. SNAKE POISON.
639. Classes of Poisonous Snakes, 477
640. The Poison of the Cobra, 478
641. Fatal Dose of Cobra Poison, 479
642. Effects on Animals, 479
643. Effects on Man, 479, 480
644. Antidotes and Treatment--Halford’s Treatment by Ammonia--
Permanganate of Potash, 480, 481
645. Detection of the Cobra Venom, 482
646. Effects of the Bite of the _Duboia Russellii_, or Russell’s
Viper, 483
647. The Poison of the Common Viper--The Venom of Naja Haje
(Cleopatra’s Asp), 483, 484
DIVISION II.--PTOMAINES--TOXINES.
648. Definition of a Ptomaine, 485
_Isolation of Ptomaines._
649. Gautier’s Process, 485
650. Brieger’s Process, 485-487
651. Benzoyl Chloride Method, 487, 488
652. The Amines, 488-490
653. Methylamine, 491
654. Dimethylamine, 491
655. Trimethylamine, 491
656. Ethylamine, 491
657. Diethylamine, 491
658. Triethylamine, 491
659. Propylamine, 491
660. Isoamylamine, 492
_Diamines._
661. Rate of Formation of Diamines, 492
662. Ethylidenediamine, 492
663. Neuridine, 493, 494
664. Cadaverine, 494-496
665. Putrescine, 496
666. Metaphenylenediamine, 497
667. Paraphenylenediamine, 497
668. Hexamethylenediamine, 497
669. Diethylenediamine, 497, 498
670. Mydaleine, 498
671. Guanidine, 498, 499
672. Methylguanidine, 499, 500
673. Saprine, 500
674. The Choline Group, 500, 501
675. Neurine, 501
676. Betaine, 501, 502
677. Peptotoxine, 502
678. Pyridine-like Alkaloid from the Cuttle-fish, 502, 503
679. Poisons connected with Tetanus--Tetanine, 503
680. Tetanotoxine, 503, 504
681. Mydatoxine, 504
682. Mytilotoxine, 505
683. Tyrotoxicon, 504, 505
684. Toxines connected with Hog Cholera, 505, 506
685. Other Ptomaines, 506
DIVISION III.--FOOD POISONING.
686. The Welbeck--The Oldham--The Bishop Stortford--The
Wolverhampton--The Carlisle, and other Mass Poisonings by
changed Food--Statistics of Deaths from Unwholesome Food, 506-508
687. German Sausage Poisoning, 509
PART VIII.--THE OXALIC ACID GROUP OF POISONS.
688. Distribution of Oxalic Acid in the Animal and Vegetable
Kingdoms, 510
689. Properties and Reactions of Oxalic Acid, 510, 511
690. Oxalate of Lime; its Properties, 511, 512
691. Use of Oxalic Acid in the Arts, 512
692. Properties of Hydropotassic Oxalate (Binoxalate of Potash), 512
693. Statistics of Oxalic Acid Poisoning, 512
694. Fatal Dose of Oxalic Acid, 513
695. Effects of Oxalic Acid and Oxalates on Animals, 513
696. Researches of Kobert and Küssner on the Effects of Sodic
Oxalate, 513, 514
697. Effects of Vaporised Oxalic Acid, 514, 515
698. Effects of Oxalic Acid and Hydropotassic Oxalate on Man--
Illustrative Cases, 515, 516
699. Physiological Action, 516, 517
700. Pathological Changes produced by Oxalic Acid and the Oxalates,
517, 518
701. Preparations in Museums Illustrative of the Effects of Oxalic
Acid, 518
702. Pathological Changes produced by the Acid Oxalate of Potash,
518, 519
703. Separation of Oxalic Acid from Organic Substances, the Tissues
of the Body, &c., 519-521
704. Oxalate of Lime in the Urine, 521
705. Estimation of Oxalic Acid, 521, 522
_Certain Oxalic Bases--Oxalmethyline--Oxalpropyline._
706. The Experiments of Schulz and Mayer on Oxalmethyline,
Chloroxalmethyline, and Oxalpropyline, 522, 523
PART IX.--INORGANIC POISONS.
I. PRECIPITATED FROM A HYDROCHLORIC ACID SOLUTION BY HYDRIC SULPHIDE--
PRECIPITATE YELLOW OR ORANGE.
ARSENIC--ANTIMONY--CADMIUM.
1. _Arsenic._
707. Metallic Arsenic; its Chemical and Physical Properties, 524
708. Arsenious Anhydride--Arsenious Acid; its Properties and
Solubility, 524, 525
709. Arseniuretted Hydrogen (Arsine), 525-527
710. Arseniuretted Hydrogen in the Arts, &c, 527
711. The Effects of Arseniuretted Hydrogen on Man--Illustrative
Cases, 527, 528
712. The Sulphides of Arsenic, 528, 529
713. Orpiment, or Arsenic Trisulphide, 529
714. Haloid Arsenical Compounds--Chloride of Arsenic--Iodide of
Arsenic, 529
715. Arsenic in the Arts, 529, 530
716. Pharmaceutical Preparations of Arsenic--Veterinary Arsenical
Medicines--Rat and Fly Poisons--Quack Nostrums--Pigments--
External Application of Arsenic for Sheep--Arsenical Soaps--
Arsenical Compounds used in Pyrotechny, 530-534
717. Statistics of Poisoning by Arsenic, 534
718. Law Relative to the Sale of Arsenic, 535
719. Dose of Arsenic, 535
720. Effects of Arsenious Acid on Plants, 535, 536
721. Effects of Arsenic upon Life--Animalcules--Annelids--Birds--
Mammals, 536-538
722. Effects of Arsenious Acid on Man--Arsenic Eaters, 538, 539
723. Manner of Introduction of Arsenic, 539
724. Cases of Poisoning by the External Application of Arsenic,
539-541
725. Arsenic in Wall-Papers, 541, 542
726. Forms of Arsenical Poisoning--Acute Form, 542
727. Subacute Form--Case of the Duc de Praslin, 543
728. Nervous Form--Brodie’s Experiments on Rabbits--A “Mass”
Poisoning reported by Dr. Coqueret, 544, 545
729. Absence of Symptoms, 545, 546
730. Slow Poisoning, 546
731. The Maybrick Case, 546-548
732. Post-mortem Appearances met with in Animals after Arsenical
Poisoning--The Researches of Hugo, 548, 549
733. Post-mortem Appearances in Man--Illustrative Pathological
Preparations in Various Museums, 549-551
734. Pathological Changes induced in the Gullet and Stomach--Fatty
Degeneration of the Liver and Kidneys--Glossitis--Retardation of
Putrefaction, 551, 552
735. Physiological Action of Arsenic, 552, 553
736. Elimination of Arsenic--Question of Accumulation of Arsenic, 553
737. Antidotes and Treatment, 553, 554
738. Detection of Arsenic--Identification of Arsenious Acid in
Substance--Test of Berzelius--Identification of Arsenites and
Arseniates--Detection of Arsenious Acid in Solution--
Distinguishing Marks between the Sulphides of Tin, Cadmium,
Antimony, and Arsenic--Marsh’s Original Test for Arsenic--
Blondlot’s Modification of Marsh’s Test--Distinguishing Marks
between Arsenical and Antimonial Mirrors--Reinsch’s Tests,
554-560
739. Arsenic in Glycerin, 560
740. Arsenic in Organic Matters--Orfila’s Method of Destroying
Organic Matter--Extraction with Hydrochloric Acid--Modifications
in the Treatment of Oils--Resinous Matters--Experiments on the
Distribution of Arsenic by Scolosuboff, Ludwig, and Chittenden--
The Question of Contamination of a Corpse by Arsenical Earth,
560-562
741. Imbibition of Arsenic after Death--Mason’s Case, 563-565
742. Analysis of Wall-Paper for Arsenic, 565, 566
743. Estimation of Arsenic--Galvanic Process of Bloxam--Colorimetric
Methods, 566-568
744. Destruction of the Organic Matter by Nitric Acid, and Subsequent
Reduction of the Arsenic Acid to Arseniuretted Hydrogen, and
Final Estimation as Metallic Arsenic, 568-571
745. Arsine developed from an Alkaline Solution, 571
746. Precipitation as Tersulphide--Methods of Dealing with the
Sulphides obtained--(_a_) Solution in Ammonia and Estimation by
Iodine--(_b_) Drying the Purified Precipitate at a High
Temperature, and then directly weighing--(_c_) Oxidation of the
Sulphide and Precipitation as Ammonia Magnesian Arseniate, or
Magnesia Pyro Arseniate--(_d_) Conversion of the Trisulphide of
Arsenic into the Arseno-Molybdate of Ammonia--Conversion of the
Sulphide into Metallic Arsenic, 571-575
747. Conversion of Arsenic into Arsenious Chloride, 575, 576
2. _Antimony._
748. Properties of Metallic Antimony, 577
749. Antimonious Sulphides, 577, 578
750. Tartarated Antimony--Tartar Emetic, 578, 579
751. Metantimonic Acid, 579
752. Pharmaceutical, Veterinary, and Quack Preparations of Antimony--
(1)Pharmaceutical Preparations--(2) Patent and Quack Pills--(3)
Antimonial Medicines, chiefly Veterinary, 579-582
753. Alloys, 582
754. Pigments, 582
755. Dose, 582
756. Effects of Tartar Emetic on Animals--Influence on Temperature--
Dr. Nevin’s Researches on Rabbits, 582, 583
757. Effects of Tartar Emetic on Man--Illustrative Cases, 583, 584
758. Chronic Antimonial Poisoning, 585
759. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Preparations in Museums--Pathological
Appearances in Rabbits, according to Nevin, 585, 586
760. Elimination of Antimony, 586
761. Antidotes for Tartar Emetic, 586
762. Effects of Chloride or Butter of Antimony, 587
763. Detection of Antimony in Organic Matters, 587-589
764. Quantitative Estimation of Antimony, 589, 590
3. _Cadmium._
765. Properties of the Metal Cadmium, 590
766. Cadmium Oxide, 590
767. Cadmium Sulphide, 590
768. Medicinal Preparations of Cadmium--Cadmium Iodide--Cadmium
Sulphate, 590
769. Cadmium in the Arts, 590
770. Fatal Dose of Cadmium, 590
771. Separation and Detection of Cadmium, 590, 591
II. PRECIPITATED BY HYDRIC SULPHIDE IN HYDROCHLORIC ACID SOLUTION--
BLACK.
LEAD--COPPER--BISMUTH--SILVER--MERCURY.
1. _Lead._
772. Lead and its Oxides--Litharge--Minium, or Red Lead, 591, 592
773. Sulphide of Lead, 592
774. Sulphate of Lead, 592
775. Acetate of Lead, 592
776. Chloride of Lead--Carbonate of Lead, 592, 593
777. Preparations of Lead used in Medicine, the Arts, &c.--(1)
Pharmaceutical--(2) Quack Nostrums--(3) Preparations used in the
Arts--Pigments--Hair Dyes--Alloys, 593, 594
778. Statistics of Lead-Poisoning, 594
779. Lead as a Poison--Means by which Lead may be taken into the
System, 595, 596
780. Effects of Lead Compounds on Animals, 596, 597
781. Effects of Lead Compounds on Man--Acute Poisoning--Mass
Poisoning by Lead--Case of Acute Poisoning by the Carbonate of
Lead, 597-599
782. Chronic Poisoning by Lead, 599, 600
783. Effects of Lead on the Nervous System--Lead as a Factor of
Insanity 600, 601
784. Amaurosis Caused by Lead-Poisoning--Influence on the Sexual
Functions--Caries--Epilepsy, 601-603
785. Uric Acid in the Blood after Lead-Poisoning, 603
786. Influence of Lead on Pregnant Women and on Fœtal Life--The
Keighley Case of Poisoning by Water Contaminated by Lead--Case
of _Reg._ v. _L. J. Taylor_, 603-605
787. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 605
788. Physiological Action of Lead, 605, 606
789. Elimination of Lead, 606
790. Fatal Dose, 606, 607
791. Antidotes and Treatment, 607
792. Localisation of Lead, 607, 608
793. Detection and Estimation of Lead, 608, 609
794. Detection of Lead in Tartaric Acid, in Lemonade and Aërated
Waters, 609, 610
2. _Copper._
795. Properties of Copper, 610
796. Cupric Oxide, 610
797. Cupric Sulphide, 610
798. Solubility of Copper in Water and Various Fluids--Experiments of
Carnelley, W. Thompson, and Lehmann, 610-612
799. Copper as a Normal Constituent of Animal, Vegetable, and other
Matters--Dupré’s Experiments--Bergeron and L. L’Hôte’s
Researches, 612-614
800. The “Coppering” of Vegetables--Copper in Green Peas--
Phyllocyanic Acid, 614, 615
801. Preparations of Copper used in Medicine and the Arts--(1)
Medicinal Preparations--(2) Copper in the Arts, 615, 616
802. Dose--Medicinal Dose of Copper, 616, 617
803. Effects of Soluble Copper Salts on Animals, 617-619
804. Toxic Dose of Copper Salts, 619
805. Cases of Acute Poisoning, 619, 620
806. Effects of Subacetate, Subchloride, and Carbonate of Copper, 620
807. _Post-mortem_ Appearances seen in Acute Poisoning by Copper,
620, 621
808. Chronic Poisoning by Copper, 621, 622
809. Detection and Estimation of Copper--General Method--Special
Method for Copper in Solution in Water and other Liquids--
Detection of Copper in Animal Matters, 622-624
810. Volumetric Processes for the Estimation of Copper, 624
3. _Bismuth._
811. Bismuth as a Metal, 624
812. Teroxide of Bismuth, 624
813. The Sulphide of Bismuth, 624
814. Preparations of Bismuth used in Medicine and the Arts--(1)
Pharmaceutical Preparations--(2) Bismuth in the Arts, 624, 625
815. Medicinal Doses of Bismuth, 625
816. Toxic Effects of Sub-nitrate of Bismuth, 625, 626
817. Extraction and Detection of Bismuth in Animal Matter, 626, 627
818. Estimation of Bismuth--Volumetric Processes, 627, 628
4. _Silver._
819. Properties of Metallic Silver, 628, 629
820. Chloride of Silver, 629
821. Sulphide of Silver, 629
822. Preparations of Silver used in Medicine and the Arts--(1)
Medicinal Preparations--(2) Silver in the Arts, 629, 630
823. Medicinal Dose of Silver Compounds, 630
824. Effects of Nitrate of Silver on Animals--Chronic Poisoning,
630, 631
825. Toxic Effects of Silver Nitrate on Man--(1) Acute--(2) Chronic
Poisoning, 631, 632
826. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 632
827. Detection and Estimation of Silver, 632, 633
5. _Mercury._
828. The Metal Mercury--Mercurous Chloride, or Calomel, 633, 634
829. Sulphide of Mercury, 634
830. Medicinal Preparations of Mercury, 634-638
831. Mercury in the Arts--The Sulphocyanide of Mercury--Acid Solution
of Nitrate of Mercury, 639
832. The more common Patent and Quack Medicines containing Mercury,
639, 640
833. Mercury in Veterinary Medicine, 640
834. Medicinal and Fatal Dose, 640, 641
835. Poisoning by Mercury--Statistics, 641
836. Effects of Mercurial Vapour and of the Non-Corrosive Compounds
of Mercury--(_a_) On Vegetable Life--(_b_) On Animal Life,
641, 642
837. Effects on Man, 642, 643
838. Absorption of Mercury by the Skin, 643
839. Symptoms of Poisoning by Mercury Vapour, 643, 644
840. Mercurial Tremor, 644, 645
841. Mercuric Methide--Effects of, as Illustrated by two Cases,
645, 646
842. Effects of the Corrosive Salts of Mercury, 646, 647
843. Death from the External Use of Corrosive Sublimate, 647
844. Effects of the Nitrates of Mercury, 647
845. Case of _Reg._ v. _E. Smith_, 648
846. Mercuric Cyanide, 648
847. White Precipitate, 648
848. Treatment of Acute and Chronic Poisoning, 648
849. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Pathological Preparations in Various
Anatomical Museums, 648-650
850. Pathological Appearances from the Effects of Nitrate of Mercury,
650
851. Elimination of Mercury, 650, 651
852. Tests for Mercury, 651, 652
853. The Detection of Mercury in Organic Substances and Fluids,
652-654
854. Estimation of Mercury--The Dry Method, 654
855. Volumetric Processes for the Estimation of Mercury, 654, 655
III. PRECIPITATED BY HYDRIC SULPHIDE FROM A NEUTRAL SOLUTION.
ZINC--NICKEL--COBALT.
1. _Zinc._
856. Properties of Metallic Zinc, 655, 656
857. Carbonate of Zinc, 656
858. Oxide of Zinc, 656
859. Sulphide of Zinc--Sulphate of Zinc, 656
860. Preparation and Uses of Chloride of Zinc, 656, 657
861. Zinc in the Arts--Zinc Chromate--Zinc Pigments--Action of Fluids
on Zinc Vessels, 657, 658
862. Effects of Zinc, as shown by Experiments on Animals, 658
863. Effects of Zinc Compounds on Man--Zinc Oxide, 658, 659
864. Sulphate of Zinc, 659
865. Zinc Chloride, 659, 660
866. _Post-mortem_ Appearances--Illustrated by Specimens in
Pathological Museums, 660, 661
867. Detection of Zinc in Organic Liquids or Solids, 661, 662
868. Identification of Zinc Sulphide, 662
2. _Nickel--Cobalt._
869. Experiments of Anderson Stuart on the Toxic Action of Nickel and
Cobalt, 662, 663
870. Symptoms witnessed in various Classes of Animals after taking
Doses of Nickel or Cobalt, 663, 664
871. Effects on the Circulation and Nervous System, 664
872. Action on Striped Muscle, 664
873. Separation of Nickel or Cobalt from the Organic Matters or
Tissues, 664, 665
874. Estimation of Cobalt or Nickel, 665
IV. PRECIPITATED BY AMMONIUM SULPHIDE.
IRON--CHROMIUM--THALLIUM--ALUMINIUM--URANIUM.
1. _Iron._
875. Poisonous and Non-Poisonous Salts of Iron, 665
876. Ferric Chloride--Pharmaceutical Preparations of Ferric Chloride,
666
877. Effects of Ferric Chloride on Animals, 666
878. Effects on Man--Criminal Case at Martinique, 666, 667
879. Elimination of Ferric Chloride, 667, 668
880. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 668
881. Ferrous Sulphate, 668, 669
882. Search for Iron Salts in the Contents of the Stomach, 669, 670
2. _Chromium._
883. Neutral Chromate of Potash, 670
884. Potassic Bichromate, 670
885. Neutral Lead Chromate, 670, 671
886. Use in the Arts, 671
887. Effects of some of the Chromium Compounds on Animal Life, 671
888. Effects of some of the Chromium Compounds on Man--Bichromate
Disease, 671, 672
889. Acute Poisoning by the Chromates--Illustrative Cases, 672, 673
890. Lethal Effects of Chromate of Lead, 673
891. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 674
892. Detection of the Chromates and Separation of the Salts of
Chromium from the Contents of the Stomach, 674, 675
3. _Thallium._
893. Discovery of Thallium--Its Properties, 675, 676
894. Effects of Thallium Salts, 676
895. Separation of Thallium from Organic Fluids or Tissues, 676
4. _Aluminium._
896. Aluminium and its Salts, 676, 677
897. Action of Alum Salts--Siem’s Researches--Alum Baking-Powders,
677, 678
898. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 678
899. Detection of Alumina, 678, 679
5. _Uranium._
900. Poisonous Properties of Uranium Salts, 679
901. Detection and Estimation of Uranium, 679
V. ALKALINE EARTHS.
BARIUM.
902. Salts of Barium in Use in the Arts, 679, 680
903. Chloride of Barium, 680
904. Baric Carbonate, 680
905. Sulphate of Barium, 680
906. Effects of the Soluble Salts of Barium on Animals, 681
907. Effects of the Salts of Barium on Man--Fatal Dose, 681, 682
908. Symptoms, 682, 683
909. Distribution of Barium in the Body, 683
910. _Post-mortem_ Appearances, 683, 684
911. Separation of Barium Salts from Organic Solids or Fluids, and
their Identification, 684
APPENDIX.
TREATMENT, BY ANTIDOTES OR OTHERWISE, OF CASES OF POISONING.
912. Instruments, Emetics, and Antidotes Proper for Furnishing an
Antidote Bag, 685, 686
913. Poisons Arranged Alphabetically--Details of Treatment, 687-700
DOMESTIC READY REMEDIES FOR POISONING.
914. The “Antidote Cupboard,” and How to Furnish it, 701
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Williams’ Apparatus for Investigating Action of Poisons on the Frog’s
Heart, 44
Ether Recovery Apparatus, 47
Micro-spectroscope, 48
Diagram showing Absorption Bands Produced from Colour Reactions, 55
Hæmatin Crystals, 61
Tube for Treatment of Liquids by Ethereal Solvents, 156
Diagram of Visual Field in Dinitro-benzol Poisoning, 190
Blondlot’s Apparatus for Production of Phosphine, 231
Apparatus for Sublimation, 258
Brucine Hydriodide, 342
Bocklisch’s Flask for Distillation in a Vacuum, 486
Berzelius’ Tube for Reduction of Arsenic, 554
Bent Tube for Assay of Mercury, 654
Folding-Chart (Deaths from Intemperance and Liver Disease), to face
p. 136
POISONS:
THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION.
PART I.--INTRODUCTORY.
I.--The Old Poison-Lore.
§ 1. It is significant that the root “_tox_” of the modern word
_toxicology_ can be traced back to a very ancient word meaning “bow” or
“arrow,” or, in its broadest sense, some “tool” used for slaying: hence
it is no far-fetched supposition that the first poison-knowledge was
that of the septic poisons. Perchance the savage found that weapons
soiled with the blood of former victims made wounds fatal; from this
observation the next step naturally would be that of experiment--the
arrow or spear would be steeped in all manner of offensive pastes, and
smeared with the vegetable juices of those plants which were deemed
noxious; and as the effects were mysterious, they would be ascribed to
the supernatural powers, and covered with a veil of superstition.
The history of the _poison-lehre_, like all history, begins in the
region of the myths: there was a dark saga prevailing in Greece, that in
the far north existed a land ruled by sorcerers--all children of the
sun--and named Aeëtes, Perses, Hecate, Medea, and Circe. Later on, the
enchanted land was localised at Colchis, and Aeëtes and Perses were said
to be brothers. Hecate was the daughter of Perses; she was married to
Aeëtes, and their daughters were Medea and Circe. Hecate was the
discoverer of poisonous herbs, and learned in remedies both evil and
good. Her knowledge passed to Medea, who narcotised the dragon, the
guardian of the golden fleece, and incited Jason to great undertakings.
In the expedition of the Argonauts, the poets loved to describe Hecate’s
garden, with its lofty walls. Thrice-folding doors of ebony barred the
entrance, which was guarded by terrible forms: only the initiated few,
only they who bore the leavened rod of expiation, and the concealed
conciliatory offering of the Medea, could enter into the sanctuary.
Towering above all was the temple of the dread Hecate, whose priestesses
offered to the gods ghastly sacrifices.
§ 2. The oldest Egyptian king, Menes, and Attalus Phylometer, the last
king of Pergamus, were both famous for their knowledge of plants.
Attalus Phylometer was acquainted with hyoscyamus, aconite, conium,
veratrum, and others; he experimented on the preparation of poisons, and
occupied himself in compounding medicines. Mithradetes Eupator stood yet
higher: the receipt for the famous _theriaca_, prepared in later years
at an enormous price, and composed of fifty-four different ingredients,
is ascribed to him. The wonderful skill shown by the Egyptians in
embalming and technical works is sufficient to render it fairly certain
that their chemical knowledge was considerable; and the frequent
operations of one caste upon the dead must have laid the foundations of
a pathological and anatomical culture, of which only traces remain.
The Egyptians knew prussic acid as extracted in a dilute state from
certain plants, among the chief of which was certainly the peach; on a
papyrus preserved at the Louvre, M. Duteil read, “Pronounce not the name
of I. A. O. under the penalty of the peach!” in which dark threat,
without doubt, lurks the meaning that those who revealed the religious
mysteries of the priests were put to death by waters distilled from the
peach. That the priests actually distilled the peach-leaves has been
doubted by those who consider the art of distillation a modern
invention; but this process was well known to adepts of the third and
fourth centuries, and there is no inherent improbability in the
supposition that the Egyptians practised it.
§ 3. From the Egyptians the knowledge of the deadly drink appears to
have passed to the Romans. At the trial of Antipater,[1] Verus brought a
potion derived from Egypt, which had been intended to destroy Herod;
this was essayed on a criminal, he died at once. In the reign of
Tiberius, a Roman knight, accused of high treason, swallowed a poison,
and fell dead at the feet of the senators: in both cases the rapidity of
action appears to point to prussic acid.
[1] Jos. Ant., B. xvii. c. 5.
The use of poison by the Greeks, as a means of capital punishment,
without doubt favoured suicide by the same means; the easy, painless
death of the state prisoner would be often preferred to the sword by one
tired of life. The ancients looked indeed upon suicide, in certain
instances, as something noble, and it was occasionally formally
sanctioned. Thus, Valerius Maximus tells us that he saw a woman of
quality, in the island of Ceos, who, having lived happily for ninety
years, obtained leave to take a poisonous draught, lest, by living
longer, she should happen to have a change in her good fortune; and,
curiously enough, this sanctioning of self-destruction seems to have
been copied in Europe. Mead relates that the people of Marseilles of old
had a poison, kept by the public authorities, in which cicuta was an
ingredient: a dose was allowed to any one who could show why he should
desire death. Whatever use or abuse might be made of a few violent
poisons, Greek and Roman knowledge of poisons, their effects and methods
of detection, was stationary, primitive, and incomplete.
_Nicander of Colophon_ (204-138 B.C.) wrote two treatises, the most
ancient works on this subject extant, the one describing the effects of
snake venom; the other, the properties of opium, henbane, certain fungi,
colchicum, aconite, and conium. He divided poisons into those which kill
quickly, and those which act slowly. As antidotes, those medicines are
recommended which excite vomiting--_e.g._, lukewarm oil, warm water,
mallow, linseed tea, &c.
_Apollodorus_ lived at the commencement of the third century B.C.: he
wrote a work on poisonous animals, and one on deleterious medicines;
these works of Apollodorus were the sources from which Pliny,
Heraclitus, and several of the later writers derived most of their
knowledge of poisons.
_Dioscorides_ (40-90 A.D.) well detailed the effects of cantharides,
sulphate of copper, mercury, lead, and arsenic. By arsenic he would
appear sometimes to mean the sulphides, sometimes the white oxide.
Dioscorides divided poisons, according to their origin, into three
classes, viz.:--
1. =Animal Poisons.=--Under this head were classed cantharides and
allied beetles, toads, salamanders, poisonous snakes, a particular
variety of honey, and the blood of the ox, probably the latter in a
putrid state. He also speaks of the “_sea-hare_.” The sea-hare was
considered by the ancients very poisonous, and Domitian is said to have
murdered Titus with it. It is supposed by naturalists to have been one
of the genus _Aplysia_, among the _gasteropods_. Both Pliny and
Dioscorides depict the animal as something very formidable: it was not
to be looked at, far less touched. The aplysiæ exhale a very nauseous
and fœtid odour when they are approached: the best known of the species
resembles, when in a state of repose, a mass of unformed flesh; when in
motion, it is like a common slug; its colour is reddish-brown; it has
four horns on its head; and the eyes, which are very small, are situated
between the two hinder ones. This aplysia has an ink reservoir, like the
sepia, and ejects it in order to escape from its enemies; it inhabits
the muddy bottom of the water, and lives on small crabs, mollusca, &c.
2. =Poisons from Plants.=--Dioscorides enumerates opium, black and white
hyoscyamus (especially recognising the activity of the seeds),
mandragora, which was probably a mixture of various solanaceæ, conium
(used to poison the condemned by the people of Athens and the dwellers
of ancient Massilia), elaterin, and the juices of a species of euphorbia
and apocyneæ. He also makes a special mention of aconite, the name of
which is derived from _Akon_, a small city in Heraclea. The Greeks were
well aware of the deadly nature of aconite, and gave to it a mythical
origin, from the foam of the dog Cerberus. Colchicum was also known to
Dioscorides: its first use was ascribed to Medea. Veratrum album and
nigrum were famous medicines of the Romans, and a constituent of their
“_rat and mice powders_;” they were also used as insecticides. According
to Pliny, the Gauls dipped their arrows in a preparation of veratrum.[2]
Daphne mezereon, called by the Romans also smilax and taxus, appears to
have been used by Cativolcus, the king of the Eburones, for the purpose
of suicide, or possibly by “taxus” the yew-tree is meant.[3]
[2] Pliny, xxv. 5.
[3] _De Bello Gallico_, vi. 31.
The poisonous properties of certain fungi were also known. Nicander
calls the venomous mushrooms the “evil fermentation of the earth,” and
prescribes the identical antidotes which we would perhaps give at the
present time--viz., vinegar and alkaline carbonates.
3. =Mineral Poisons.=--Arsenic has been already alluded to. The ancients
used it as a caustic and depilatory. Copper was known as sulphate and
oxide; mercury only as cinnabar: lead oxides were used, and milk and
olive-oil prescribed as an antidote for their poisonous properties. The
_poison-lehre_ for many ages was considered as something forbidden.
Galen, in his treatise “On Antidotes,” remarks that the only authors who
dared to treat of poisons were Orpheus, Theologus, Morus, Mendesius the
younger, Heliodorus of Athens, Aratus, and a few others; but none of
these treatises have come down to us. From the close similarity of the
amount of information in the treatises of Nicander, Dioscorides, Pliny,
Galen, and Paulus Ægineta, it is probable that all were derived from a
common source.
§ 4. If we turn our attention to early Asiatic history, a very cursory
glance at the sacred writings of the East will prove how soon the art of
poisoning, especially in India, was used for the purpose of suicide,
revenge, or robbery.
The ancient practice of the Hindoo widow--self-immolation on the burning
pile of her husband--is ascribed to the necessity which the Brahmins
were under of putting a stop to the crime of domestic poisoning. Every
little conjugal quarrel was liable to be settled by this form of secret
assassination, but such a law, as might be expected, checked the
practice.
Poison was not used to remove human beings alone, for there has been
from time immemorial in India much cattle-poisoning. In the Institutes
of Menu, it is ordained that when cattle die the herdsman shall carry to
his master their ears, their hides, their tails, the skin below their
navels, their tendons, and the liquor oozing from their foreheads.
Without doubt these regulations were directed against cattle-poisoners.
The poisons known to the Asiatics were arsenic, aconite, opium, and
various solanaceous plants. There has been a myth floating through the
ages that a poison exists which will slay a long time after its
introduction. All modern authors have treated the matter as an
exaggerated legend, but, for my own part, I see no reason why it should
not, in reality, be founded on fact. There is little doubt that the
Asiatic poisoners were well acquainted with the infectious qualities of
certain fevers and malignant diseases. Now, these very malignant
diseases answer precisely to the description of a poison which has no
immediate effects. Plant small-pox in the body of a man, and for a whole
fortnight he walks about, well and hearty. Clothe a person with a
garment soaked in typhus, and the same thing occurs--for many days there
will be no sign of failure. Again, the gipsies, speaking a tongue which
is essentially a deformed _prakrit_, and therefore Indian in origin,
have long possessed a knowledge of the properties of the curious “_mucor
phycomyces_.” This was considered an alga by Agaron, but Berkeley
referred it to the fungi. The gipsies are said to have administered the
spores of this fungi in warm water. In this way they rapidly attach
themselves to the mucous membrane of the throat, all the symptoms of a
phthisis follow, and death takes place in from two to three weeks. Mr
Berkeley informed me that he has seen specimens growing on broth which
had been rejected from the stomach, and that it develops in enormous
quantities on oil-casks and walls impregnated with grease. The filaments
are long, from 12 to 18 inches, and it is capable of very rapid
development.
There is also a modern poison, which, in certain doses, dooms the
unfortunate individual to a terrible malady, simulating, to a
considerable extent, natural disease,--that is phosphorus. This poison
was, however, unknown until some time in the eleventh century, when
Alchid Becher, blindly experimenting on the distillation of urine and
carbon, obtained his “_escarboucle_,” and passed away without knowing
the importance of his discovery, which, like so many others, had to be
rediscovered at a later period.
§ 5. The Hebrews were acquainted with certain poisons, the exact nature
of which is not quite clear. The words “_rosch_” and “_chema_” seem to
be used occasionally as a generic term for poison, and sometimes to mean
a specific thing; “_rosch_,” especially, is used to signify some
poisonous parasitic plant. They knew yellow arsenic under the name of
“_sam_,” aconite under the name of “_boschka_,” and possibly “_son_”
means _ergot_.[4] In the later period of their history, when they were
dispersed through various nations, they would naturally acquire the
knowledge of those nations, without losing their own.
[4] R. J. Wunderbar, _Biblisch-talmudische Medicin_. Leipzig, 1850-60.
§ 6. The part that poison has played in history is considerable. The
pharmaceutical knowledge of the ancients is more graphically and
terribly shown in the deaths of Socrates, Demosthenes, Hannibal, and
Cleopatra, than in the pages of the older writers on poisons.
In the reign of Artaxerxes II. (Memnon), (B.C. 405-359), Phrysa poisoned
the queen Statira by cutting food with a knife poisoned on one side
only. Although this has been treated as an idle tale, yet two poisons,
aconite and arsenic, were at least well known; either of these could
have been in the way mentioned introduced in sufficient quantity into
food to destroy life.
In the early part of the Christian era professional poisoners arose, and
for a long time exercised their trade with impunity. Poisoning was so
much in use as a political engine that Agrippina (A.D. 26) refused to
eat of some apples offered to her at table by her father-in-law,
Tiberius.
It was at this time that the infamous Locusta flourished. She is said to
have supplied, with suitable directions, the poison by which Agrippina
got rid of Claudius; and the same woman was the principal agent in the
preparation of the poison that was administered to Britannicus, by order
of his brother Nero. The details of this interesting case have been
recorded with some minuteness.
It was the custom of the Romans to drink hot water, a draught nauseous
enough to us, but, from fashion or habit, considered by them a luxury;
and, as no two men’s tastes are alike, great skill was shown by the
slaves in bringing the water to exactly that degree of heat which their
respective masters found agreeable.[5]
[5] Tacitus, lib. xii., xiii. Mentioned also by Juvenal and Suetonius.
The children of the Imperial house, with others of the great Roman
families, sat at the banquets at a smaller side table, while their
parents reclined at the larger. A slave brings hot water to Britannicus;
it is too hot; Britannicus refuses it. The slave adds cold water; and it
is this cold water that is supposed to have been poisoned; in any case,
Britannicus had no sooner drunk of it than he lost voice and
respiration. Agrippina, his mother, was struck with terror, as well as
Octavia, his sister. Nero, the author of the crime, looks coldly on,
saying that such fits often happened to him in infancy without evil
result; and after a few moments’ silence the banquet goes on as before.
If this were not sudden death from heart or brain disease, the poison
must have been either a cyanide or prussic acid.
In those times no autopsy was possible: although the Alexandrian school,
some 300 years before Christ, had dissected both the living and the
dead, the work of Herophilus and Erasistratus had not been pursued, and
the great Roman and Greek writers knew only the rudiments of human
anatomy, while, as to pathological changes and their true
interpretation, their knowledge may be said to have been absolutely
_nil_. It was not, indeed, until the fifteenth century that the Popes,
silencing ancient scruples, authorised dissections; and it was not until
the sixteenth century that Vesalius, the first worthy of being
considered a great anatomist, arose. In default of pathological
knowledge, the ancients attached great importance to mere outward marks
and discolorations. They noted with special attention spots and
lividity, and supposed that poisons singled out the heart for some quite
peculiar action, altering its substance in such a manner that it
resisted the action of the funeral pyre, and remained unconsumed. It
may, then, fairly be presumed that many people must have died from
poison without suspicion, and still more from the sudden effects of
latent disease, ascribed wrongfully to poison. For example, the death of
Alexander was generally at that time ascribed to poison; but Littré has
fairly proved that the great emperor, debilitated by his drinking
habits, caught a malarious fever in the marshes around Babylon, and died
after eleven days’ illness. If, added to sudden death, the body, from
any cause, entered into rapid putrefaction, such signs were considered
by the people absolutely conclusive of poisoning: this belief, indeed,
prevailed up to the middle of the seventeenth century, and lingers still
among the uneducated at the present day. Thus, when Britannicus died, an
extraordinary lividity spread over the face of the corpse, which they
attempted to conceal by painting the face. When Pope Alexander VI. died,
probably enough from poison, his body (according to Guicciardini) became
a frightful spectacle--it was livid, bloated, and deformed; the gorged
tongue entirely filled the mouth; from the nose flowed putrid pus, and
the stench was horrible in the extreme.
All these effects of decomposition, we know, are apt to arise in coarse,
obese bodies, and accompany both natural and unnatural deaths; indeed,
if we look strictly at the matter, putting on one side the preservative
effects of certain metallic poisons, it may be laid down that generally
the corpses of those dying from poison are _less_ apt to decompose
rapidly than those dying from disease--this for the simple reason that a
majority of diseases cause changes in the fluids and tissues, which
render putrefactive changes more active, while, as a rule, those who
take poison are suddenly killed, with their fluids and tissues fairly
healthy.
When the Duke of Burgundy desired to raise a report that John, Dauphin
of France, was poisoned (1457), he described the imaginary event as
follows:--
“One evening our most redoubtable lord and nephew fell so grievously
sick that he died forthwith. His lips, tongue, and face were swollen;
his eyes started out of his head. It was a horrible sight to see--for so
look people that are poisoned.”
The favourite powder of the professional poisoner, arsenic, was known to
crowned heads in the fourteenth century; and there has come down to us a
curious document, drawn out by Charles le Mauvais, King of Navarre. It
is a commission of murder, given to a certain Woudreton, to poison
Charles VI., the Duke of Valois, brother of the king, and his uncles,
the Dukes of Berry, Burgundy, and Bourbon:--
“Go thou to Paris; thou canst do great service if thou wilt: do what I
tell thee; I will reward thee well. Thou shalt do thus: There is a thing
which is called sublimed arsenic; if a man eat a bit the size of a pea
he will never survive. Thou wilt find it in Pampeluna, Bordeaux,
Bayonne, and in all the good towns through which thou wilt pass, at the
apothecaries’ shops. Take it and powder it; and when thou shalt be in
the house of the king, of the Count de Valois, his brother, the Dukes of
Berry, Burgundy, and Bourbon, draw near, and betake thyself to the
kitchen, to the larder, to the cellar, or any other place where thy
point can be best gained, and put the powder in the soups, meats, or
wines, provided that thou canst do it secretly. Otherwise, do it not.”
Woudreton was detected, and executed in 1384.[6]
[6] _Trésor de Chartes._ Charles de Navarre. P. Mortonval, vol. ii. p.
384.
A chapter might be written entitled “royal poisoners.” King Charles IX.
even figures as an experimentalist.[7] An unfortunate cook has stolen
two silver spoons, and, since there was a question whether “_Bezoar_”
was an antidote or not, the king administers to the cook a lethal dose
of corrosive sublimate, and follows it up with the antidote; but the man
dies in seven hours, although Paré also gives him oil. Truly a grim
business!
[7] _Œuvres de Paré_, 2nd ed., liv. xx. _Des Vennes_, chap. xliv. p.
507.
The subtle method of removing troublesome subjects has been more often
practised on the Continent than in England, yet the English throne in
olden time is not quite free from this stain.[8] The use of poison is
wholly opposed to the Anglo-Saxon method of thought. To what anger the
people were wrought on detecting poisoners, is seen in the fact that, in
1542, a young woman was boiled alive in Smithfield for poisoning three
households.[9]
[8] For example, King John is believed to have poisoned Maud Fitzwalter
by “a poisoned egg.”
“In the reign of King John, the White Tower received one of the first
and fairest of a long line of female victims in that Maud Fitzwalter who
was known to the singers of her time as Maud the Fair. The father of
this beautiful girl was Robert, Lord Fitzwalter, of Castle Baynard, on
the Thames, one of John’s greatest barons. Yet the king, during a fit of
violence with the queen, fell madly in love with this young girl. As
neither the lady herself nor her powerful sire would listen to his
disgraceful suit, the king is said to have seized her by force at
Dunmow, and brought her to the Tower. Fitzwalter raised an outcry, on
which the king sent troops into Castle Baynard and his other houses; and
when the baron protested against these wrongs, his master banished him
from the realm. Fitzwalter fled to France with his wife and his other
children, leaving his daughter Maud in the Tower, where she suffered a
daily insult in the king’s unlawful suit. On her proud and scornful
answer to his passion being heard, John carried her up to the roof, and
locked her in the round turret, standing on the north-east angle of the
keep. Maud’s cage was the highest, chilliest den in the Tower; but
neither cold, nor solitude, nor hunger could break her strength. In the
rage of his disappointed love, the king sent one of his minions to her
room with a poisoned egg, of which the brave girl ate and died.”--_Her
Majesty’s Tower_, by Hepworth Dixon. Lond., 1869; i. p. 46.
[9] “This yeare, the 17th of March, was boyled in Smithfield one
Margaret Davie, a mayden, which had pouysoned 3 householdes that she
dwelled in. One being her mistress, which dyed of the same, and one
Darington and his wyfe, which she also dwelled with in Coleman Street,
which dyed of the same, and also one Tinleys, which dyed also of the
same.”--Wriotherley’s _Chronicle_, A.D. 1542.
§ 7. Two great criminal schools arose from the fifteenth to the
seventeenth centuries in Venice and Italy. The Venetian poisoners are of
earlier date than the Italian, and flourished chiefly in the fifteenth
century. Here we have the strange spectacle, not of the depravity of
individuals, but of the government of the State formally recognising
secret assassination by poison, and proposals to remove this or that
prince, duke, or emperor, as a routine part of their deliberations.
Still more curious and unique, the dark communings of “_the council of
ten_” were recorded in writing, and the number of those who voted for
and who voted against the proposed crime, the reason for the
assassination, and the sum to be paid, still exist in shameless black
and white. Those who desire to study this branch of secret history may
be referred to a small work by Carl Hoff, which gives a brief account of
what is known of the proceedings of the council. One example will here
suffice. On the 15th of December 1513 a Franciscan brother, John of
Ragubo, offered a selection of poisons, and declared himself ready to
remove any objectionable person out of the way. For the first successful
case he required a pension of 1500 ducats yearly, which was to be
increased on the execution of future services. The presidents, Girolando
Duoda and Pietro Guiarina, placed the matter before the “ten” on the 4th
of January 1514, and on a division (10 against 5) it was resolved to
accept so patriotic an offer, and to experiment first on the Emperor
Maximilian. The bond laid before the “ten” contained a regular
tariff--for the great Sultan 500 ducats, for the King of Spain 150
ducats, but the journey and other expenses were in each case to be
defrayed; the Duke of Milan was rated at 60, the Marquis of Mantua at
50, the Pope could be removed at 100 ducats. The curious offer thus
concludes:--“The farther the journey, the more eminent the man, the more
it is necessary to reward the toil and hardships undertaken, and the
heavier must be the payment.” The council appear to have quietly
arranged thus to take away the lives of many public men, but their
efforts were only in a few cases successful. When the deed was done, it
was registered by a single marginal note, “_factum_.”
What drugs the Venetian poisoners used is uncertain. The Italians
became notorious in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries for their
knowledge of poisons, partly from the deeds of Toffana and others, and
partly from the works of J. Baptista Porta, who wrote a very
comprehensive treatise, under the title of _Natural Magic_,[10] and
managed to slide into the text, in the sections on cooking (_De Re
Coquinaria_, lib. xiv.), a mass of knowledge as to the preparation of
poisons. There are prescriptions that little accord with the title,
unless indeed the trades of cook and poisoner were the same. He gives a
method of drugging wine with belladonna root, for the purpose of making
the loaded guest loathe drink; he also gives a list of solanaceous
plants, and makes special mention of nux vomica, aconite, veratrum, and
mezereon. Again, in the section (_De Ancupio_, lib. xv.) he gives a
recipe for a very strong poison which he calls “_venenum lupinum_;” it
is to be made of the powdered leaves of _Aconitum lycoctonum_, _Taxus
baccata_, powdered glass, caustic lime, sulphide of arsenic, and bitter
almonds, the whole to be mixed with honey, and made into pills the size
of a hazel-nut.
[10] J. Bapt. Porta, born 1537, died 1615. _Neapolitani Magiæ
Naturalis._ Neapoli, 1589.
In the section _De Medicis Experimentis_ he gives a process to poison a
sleeping person: the recipe is curious, and would certainly not have the
intended effect. A mixture of hemlock juice, bruised datura, stramonium,
belladonna, and opium is placed in a leaden box with a perfectly fitting
cover, and fermented for several days; it is then opened under the nose
of the sleeper. Possibly Porta had experimented on small animals, and
had found that such matters, when fermented, exhaled enough carbonic
acid gas to kill them, and imagined, therefore, that the same thing
would happen if applied to the human subject. However this may be, the
account which Porta gives of the effects of the solanaceous plants, and
the general tone of the work, amply prove that he was no theorist, but
had studied practically the actions of poisons.
The iniquitous Toffana (or Tophana) made solutions of arsenious acid of
varying strength, and sold these solutions in phials under the name of
“_Acquetta di Napoli_” for many years. She is supposed to have poisoned
more than 600 persons, among whom were two Popes--viz., Pius III. and
Clement XIV. The composition of the Naples water was long a profound
secret, but is said to have been known by the reigning Pope and by the
Emperor Charles VI. The latter told the secret to Dr Garelli, his
physician, who, again, imparted the knowledge to the famous Friedrich
Hoffman in a letter still extant. Toffana was brought to justice in
1709, but, availing herself of the immunity afforded by convents,
escaped punishment, and continued to sell her wares for twenty years
afterwards. When Kepfer[11] was in Italy he found her in a prison at
Naples, and many people visited her, as a sort of lion (1730). With the
_Acqua Toffana_, the “_Acquetta di Perugia_” played at the same time its
part. It is said to have been prepared by killing a hog, disjointing the
same, strewing the pieces with white arsenic, which was well rubbed in,
and then collecting the juice which dropped from the meat; this juice
was considered far more poisonous than an ordinary solution of arsenic.
The researches of Selmi on compounds containing arsenic, produced when
animal bodies decompose in arsenical fluids, lend reason and support to
this view; and probably the juice would not only be very poisonous, but
act in a different manner, and exhibit symptoms different from those of
ordinary arsenical poisoning. Toffana had disciples; she taught the art
to Hieronyma Spara, who formed an association of young married women
during the popedom of Alexander VII.; these were detected on their own
confession.[12]
[11] Kepfer’s _Travels_. Lond., 1758.
[12] Le Bret’s _Magazin zu Gebrauche der Staat u. Kirchen-Geschichte_,
Theil 4. Frankfort and Leipzig, 1774.
Contemporaneously with Toffana, another Italian, Keli, devoted himself
to similar crimes. This man had expended much as an adept searching for
the philosopher’s stone, and sought to indemnify himself by entering
upon what must have been a profitable business. He it was who instructed
M. de St. Croix in the properties of arsenic; and St. Croix, in his
turn, imparted the secret to his paramour, Madame de Brinvilliers. This
woman appears to have been as cold-blooded as Toffana; she is said to
have experimented on the patients at the Hôtel Dieu, in order to
ascertain the strength of her powders, and to have invented “les poudres
de succession.” She poisoned her father, brothers, sister, and others of
her family; but a terrible fate overtook both her and St. Croix. The
latter was suffocated by some poisonous matters he was preparing, and
Madame de Brinvilliers’ practices having become known, she was obliged
to take refuge in a convent. Here she was courted by a police officer
disguised as an abbé, lured out of the convent, and, in this way brought
to justice, was beheaded[13] and burnt near Nôtre Dame, in the middle
of the reign of Louis XIV.[14]
[13] The Marchioness was imprisoned in the Conciergerie and tortured.
Victor Hugo, describing the rack in that prison, says, “The Marchioness
de Brinvilliers was stretched upon it stark naked, fastened down, so to
speak, quartered by four chains attached to the four limbs, and there
suffered the frightful extraordinary torture by water,” which caused her
to ask “How are you going to contrive to put that great barrel of water
in this little body?”--_Things seen by Victor Hugo_, vol. i.
The water torture was this:--a huge funnel-like vessel was fitted on to
the neck, the edge of the funnel coming up to the eyes; on now pouring
water into the funnel so that the fluid rises above the nose and mouth,
the poor wretch is bound to swallow the fluid or die of suffocation; if
indeed the sufferer resolve to be choked, in the first few moments of
unconsciousness the fluid is swallowed automatically, and air again
admitted to the lungs; it is therefore obvious that in this way
prodigious quantities of fluid might be taken.
[14] For the court of poisoners (_chambre ardente_) and the histories of
St. Croix, De Brinvilliers, the priest Le Sage, the women La Voisin, and
La Vigoureux, the reader may be referred to Voltaire’s _Siècle de Louis
XIV._, Madame de Sévigné’s _Lettres_, Martinière’s _Hist. de la Règne de
Louis XIV._, Strutzel, _De Venenis_, &c.
The numerous attempts of the Italian and Venetian poisoners on the lives
of monarchs and eminent persons cast for a long time a cloud over regal
domestic peace. Bullets and daggers were not feared, but in their place
the dish of meat, the savoury pasty, and the red wine were regarded as
possible carriers of death. No better example of this dread can be found
than, at so late a period as the reign of Henry VII.,[15] the
extraordinary precautions thought necessary for preserving the infant
Prince of Wales.
[15] Henry VIII., at one time of his life, was (or pretended to be)
apprehensive of being poisoned; it was, indeed, a common belief of his
court that Anne Boleyn attempted to dose him. “The king, in an interview
with young Prince Henry, burst into tears, saying that he and his sister
(meaning the Princess Mary) might thank God for having escaped from the
hands of that accursed and venomous harlot, who had intended to poison
them.”--_A Chronicle of England during the Reign of the Tudors_, by W.
J. Hamilton. Introduction, p. xxi.
“No person, of whatsoever rank, except the regular attendants in the
nursery, should approach the cradle, except with an order from the
king’s hand. The food supplied to the child was to be largely
‘_assayed_,’ and his clothes were to be washed by his own servants, and
no other hand might touch them. The material was to be submitted to all
tests. The chamberlain and vice-chamberlain must be present, morning and
evening, when the prince was washed and dressed, and nothing of any kind
bought for the use of the nursery might be introduced until it was
washed and perfumed. No person, not even the domestics of the palace,
might have access to the prince’s rooms except those who were specially
appointed to them, nor might any member of the household approach
London, for fear of their catching and conveying infection.”[16]
[16] Froude’s _History of England_, vol. iii. p. 262.
However brief and imperfect the foregoing historical sketch of the part
that poison has played may be, it is useful in showing the absolute
necessity of a toxicological science--a science embracing many branches
of knowledge. If it is impossible now for Toffanas, Locustas, and other
specimens of a depraved humanity to carry on their crimes without
detection; if poison is the very last form of death feared by eminent
political persons; it is not so much owing to a different state of
society, as to the more exact scientific knowledge which is applied
during life to the discrimination of symptoms, distinguishing between
those resulting from disease and those due to injurious substances, and
after death to a highly developed pathology, which has learned, by
multiplied observations, all the normal and abnormal signs in tissues
and organs; and, finally, to an ever-advancing chemistry, which is able
in many instances to separate and detect the hurtful and noxious thing,
although hid for months deep in the ground.
II.--Growth and Development of the Modern Methods of Chemically
Detecting Poisons.
§ 8. The history of the detection of poisons has gone through several
phases. The first phase has already been incidentally touched
upon--_i.e._, detection by antecedent and surrounding circumstances,
aided sometimes by experiments on animals. If the death was sudden, if
the post-mortem decomposition was rapid, poison was indicated: sometimes
a portion of the food last eaten, or the suspected thing, would be given
to an animal; if the animal also died, such accumulation of proof would
render the matter beyond doubt. The modern toxicologists are more
sceptical, for even the last test is not of itself satisfactory. It is
now known that meat may become filled with bacilli and produce rapid
death, and yet no poison, as such, has been added.
In the next phase, the doctors were permitted to dissect, and to
familiarise themselves with pathological appearances. This was a great
step gained: the apoplexies, heart diseases, perforations of the
stomach, and fatal internal hæmorrhages could no longer be ascribed to
poison. If popular clamour made a false accusation, there was more
chance of a correct judgment. It was not until the end of the eighteenth
and the beginning of the present century, however, that chemistry was
far enough advanced to test for the more common mineral poisons; the
modern phase was then entered on, and toxicology took a new departure.
§ 9. From the treatise of Barthélémy d’Anglais[17] in the thirteenth
century (in which he noticed the poisonous properties of quicksilver
vapour), up to the end of the fifteenth century, there are numerous
treatises upon poison, most of which are mere learned compilations, and
scarcely repay perusal. In the sixteenth century, there are a few works,
such, for example, as Porta, which partook of the general advancement of
science, and left behind the stereotyped doctrine of the old classical
schools.[18]
[17] _De Rerum Proprietaribus._
[18] In the sixteenth century it was not considered proper to write upon
poisons. Jerome Cardan declared a poisoner worse than a brigand, “and
that is why I have refused not only to teach or experiment on such
things, but even to know them.”--_J. Cardan: De Subtilitate_. Basel,
1558.
In the seventeenth century the Honourable Robert Boyle made some shrewd
observations, bearing on toxicology, in his work on “The usefulness of
Natural Philosophy,” &c.: Oxford, 1664. Nicolas L’Emery also wrote a
_Cours de Chimie_,--quite an epitome of the chemical science of the
time.[19]
[19] _Cours de Chimie, contenant la manière de faire les opérations qui
sont en usage dans la Médecine._ Paris, 1675.
In the eighteenth century still further advances were made. Richard Mead
published his ingenious _Mechanical Theory of Poisons_. Great chemists
arose--Stahl, Marggraf, Brandt, Bergmann, Scheele, Berthollet,
Priestley, and lastly, Lavoisier--and chemistry, as a science, was born.
Of the chemists quoted, Scheele, in relation to toxicology, stands
chief. It was Scheele who discovered prussic acid,[20] without, however,
noting its poisonous properties; the same chemist separated oxalic acid
from sorrel,[21] and made the important discovery that arsenic united
with hydrogen, forming a fœtid gas, and, moreover, that this gas could
be decomposed by heat.[22] From this observation, a delicate test for
arsenic was afterwards elaborated, which for the first time rendered the
most tasteless and easily administered poison in the whole world at once
the easiest of detection. The further history of what is now called
“Marsh’s Test” is as follows:--
[20] _Opuscula Chemica_, vol. ii. pp. 148-174.
[21] _De Terra Rhubarbi et Acido Acetosellæ._ _Nova Acta Acad. Veg.
Sued. Anni_, 1784. _Opuscula Chemica_, vol. ii. pp. 187-195.
Bergmann first described oxalic acid as obtained by the oxidation of
saccharine bodies; but Scheele recognised its identity with the acid
contained in sorrel.
[22] _Mémoires de Scheele_, t. i., 1775.
§ 10. Proust[23] observed that a very fœtid hydrogen gas was disengaged
when arsenical tin was dissolved in hydrochloric acid, and that arsenic
was deposited from the inflamed gas on cold surfaces which the flame
touched. Trommsdorff next announced, in 1803, that when arsenical zinc
was introduced into an ordinary flask with water and sulphuric acid, an
arsenical hydrogen was disengaged; and if the tube was sufficiently
long, arsenic was deposited on its walls.[24] Stromeyer, Gay-Lussac,
Thénard, Gehlen, and Davy later studied this gas, and Serullas in 1821
proposed this reaction as a toxicological test. Lastly, in 1836, Marsh
published his Memoir.[25] He elaborated a special apparatus of great
simplicity, developed hydrogen by means of zinc and sulphuric acid,
inflamed the issuing gas, and obtained any arsenic present as a metal,
which could be afterwards converted into arsenious acid, &c.
[23] Proust, _Annales de Chimie_, t. xxviii., 1798.
[24] _Nicholson’s Journal_, vol. vi.
[25] “Description of a New Process of Separating Small Quantities of
Arsenic from Substances with which it is mixed.” _Ed. New. Phil.
Journal_, 1836.
This brief history of the so-called “Marsh’s Test” amply shows that
Marsh was not the discoverer of the test. Like many other useful
processes, it seems to have been evolved by a combination of many minds.
It may, however, be truly said that Marsh was the first who perfected
the test and brought it prominently forward.
§ 11. Matthieu Joseph Bonaventura Orfila must be considered the father
of modern toxicology. His great work, _Traité de Toxicologie_, was first
published in 1814, and went through many editions. Orfila’s chief merit
was the discovery that poisons were absorbed and accumulated in certain
tissues--a discovery which bore immediate fruit, and greatly extended
the means of seeking poisons. Before the time of Orfila, a chemist not
finding anything in the stomach would not have troubled to examine the
liver, the kidney, the brain, or the blood. The immense number of
experiments which Orfila undertook is simply marvellous. Some are of
little value, and teach nothing accurately as to the action of
poisons--as, for example, many of those in which he tied the gullet in
order to prevent vomiting, for such are experiments under entirely
unnatural conditions; but there are still a large number which form the
very basis of our pathological knowledge.
Orfila’s method of experiment was usually to take weighed or measured
quantities of poison, to administer them to animals, and then after
death--first carefully noting the changes in the tissues and organs--to
attempt to recover by chemical means the poison administered. In this
way he detected and recovered nearly all the organic and inorganic
poisons then known; and most of his processes are, with modifications
and improvements, in use at the present time.[26]
[26] Orfila’s chief works are as follows:--
_Traité de Toxicologie._ 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1814.
_Leçons de Chimie, appliquées à la Méd. Pratique._ 16mo. Brussels, 1836.
_Mémoire sur la Nicotine et la Conicine._ Paris, 1851.
_Leçons de la Méd. Légale._ 8vo. Paris, 1821.
_Traité des Exhumations Juridiques, et Considérations sur les Changemens
Physiques que les Cadavres éprouvent en se pourrissant._ 2 tom. Paris,
1831.
§ 12. The discovery of the alkaloids at the commencement of this century
certainly gave the poisoner new weapons; yet the same processes
(slightly modified) which separated the alkaloids from plants also
served to separate them from the human body. In 1803 Derosne discovered
narcotine and morphine, but he neither recognised the difference between
these two substances, nor their basic properties. Sertürner from 1805
devoted himself to the study of opium, and made a series of discoveries.
Robiquet, in 1807, recognised the basic characters of narcotine. In 1818
Pelletier and Caventou separated strychnine; in 1819 brucine; and in the
same year delphinine was discovered simultaneously by Brande, Lassaigne,
and Feneuille. Coniine was recognised by Giesecke in 1827, and in the
following year, 1828, nicotine was separated by Reimann and Posselt. In
1832 Robiquet discovered codeine; and in 1833 atropine, aconitine, and
hyoscyamine were distinguished by Geiger and Hesse. Since then, every
year has been marked by the separation of some new alkaloid, from either
animal or vegetable substances. So many workers in different countries
now began to study and improve toxicology, that it would exceed the
limits and be foreign to the scope of this treatise to give even a brief
_résumé_ of their labours. It may, notwithstanding, be useful to append
a short bibliography of the chief works on toxicology of the present
century.
§ 13.--BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE CHIEF WORKS ON TOXICOLOGY (NINETEENTH
CENTURY).
ANGLADA, JOS.--“Traité de Toxicologie Générale, &c.” Montpellier et
Paris, 1835.
AUTENRIETH.--“Kurze Anleitung zur Auffindung der Gifte.” Freiburg,
1892.
BANDLIN, O.--“Die Gifte.” Basel, 1869-1873.
BAUMERT, G.--“Lehrbuch der gerichtl. Chemie.” Braunschweig, 1889-92.
BAYARD, HENRI.--“Manuel Pratique de Médecine Légale.” Paris, 1843.
BELLINI, RANIERI.--“Manuel de Tossicologia.” Pisa, 1878.
BERLIN, N. J.--“Nachricht, die gewöhnlichen Gifte chemisch zu
entdecken.” Stockholm, 1845.
BERNARD, C.--“Leçons sur les Effets des Substances Toxiques et
Médicamenteuses.” Paris, 1857.
BERTRAND, C. A. R. A.--“Manuel Médico-Légale des Poisons introduits
dans l’Estomac, et les Moyens Thérapeutiques qui leur conviennent:
suivi d’un Plan d’Organisation Médico-Judiciaire, et d’un Tableau de
la Classification Générale des Empoisonnemens.” Paris, 1818.
BINZ, C.--“Intoxicationen” in Gerhardt’s “Handbuch der
Kinderkrankheiten.” iii. Heft. Tübingen, 1878.
BLYTH, A. WYNTER.--“A Manual of Practical Chemistry: The Analysis of
Foods and the Detection of Poisons.” London, 1879.
BOCKER, FRIEDER. WILHELM.--“Die Vergiftungen in forensischer u.
klinischer Beziehung.” Iserlohn, 1857.
BÖHM, R., NAUNYN, B., und VON BOECK, H.--“Handbuch der
Intoxicationen.” (Bd. 15 of the German edition of Ziemssen’s
Cyclopædia.)
BRANDT, PHÖBUS, und RATZEBURG.--“Deutschlands Giftgewächse.” Berlin,
1834-38 (2 vols. with 56 coloured plates).
BRIAND, J., et CHAUDE, ERN.--“Manuel Complet de Médecine Légale.”
(The latest edition, 1879.) The chemical portion is by J. Bouis.
BUCHNER, E.--“Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin für Aerzte u.
Juristen.” 3rd ed. München, 1872.
CASPER, J. L.--“Handbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin.” 7th ed. Berlin,
1881.
CHEVALLIER, A.--“Traité de Toxicologie et de Chimie Judiciaire.”
Paris, 1868.
CHIAJE, STEF.--“Enchiridis di Tossicologia teorico-pratica.” 3rd ed.
Napoli, 1858.
CHRISTISON, ROBERT.--“A Treatise on Poisons.” Edinburgh, 1830. (A
third edition appeared in 1836.)
CORNEVIN, C.--“Des Plantes Vénéneuses.” Paris, 1887.
DEVERGIE, ALPHONSE.--“Médecine Légale, Théorique, et Pratique.” 3rd
ed. Paris, 1852.
DRAGENDORFF, JEAN GEORGES.--“Die gerichtlich-chemische Ermittelung
von Giften in Nahrungsmitteln, Luftgemischen, Speiseresten,
Körpertheilen.” &c. St. Petersburg, 1868. 3rd ed. Göttingen, 1888.
---- “Untersuchungen aus dem Pharmaceutischen Institute in Dorpat.
Beiträge zur gerichtlichen Chemie einzelner organischer Gifte.”
Erstes Heft. St. Petersburg, 1871.
---- “Jahresbericht über die Fortschritte der Pharmacognosie,
Pharmacie, und Toxicologie.” Herausgegeben von Dr. Dragendorff.
1876.
DUFLOS, A.--“Handbuch der angewandten gerichtlich-chemischen Analyse
der chemischen Gifte, ihre Erkennung in reinem Zustande u. in
Gemengen betreffend.” Breslau u. Leipzig, 1873.
EULENBERG, DR. HERMANN.--“Handbuch der Gewerbe-Hygiene.” Berlin,
1876.
FALCK, C. PH.--“Die Klinischwichtigen Intoxicationen.” (Handbuch der
spec. Pathologie u. Therapie red. von R. Virchow, Bd. 2.) Erlangen,
1854.
FALCK, FERD. AUG.--“Lehrbuch der praktischen Toxicologie.”
Stuttgart, 1880.
FLANDIN, C.--“Traité des Poisons, ou Toxicologie appliquée à la
Médecine Légale, à la Physiologie, et à la Thérapeutique.” Paris,
1847, 1853.
FRÖHNER, EUG.--“Lehrbuch der Toxicologie für Thierärzte.” Stuttgart,
1890.
GALTIER, C. P.--“Traité de Toxicologie Médico-Légale et de la
Falsification des Aliments,” &c. Paris, 1845.
---- “Traité de Toxicologie Médicale, Chimique et Légale,” &c.
Paris, 1855. A later edition of the same work.
GREENE, WILL. H.--“A Practical Handbook of Medical Chemistry,
applied to Clinical Research and the Detection of Poisons.”
Philadelphia, 1880.
GUÉRIN, G.--“Traité Pratique d’Analyse Chimique et de Recherches
Toxicologiques.” Paris, 1893.
GUY, W. A., and FERRIER, DAVID.--“Principles of Forensic Medicine.”
London, 1874.
HARNACK, ERICH.--“Lehrbuch der Arzneimittellehre,” &c. Hamburg,
1883.
HASSELT, VAN, A. W. M.--“Handbuch der Giftlehre für Chemiker,
Aerzte, Apotheker, u. Richtspersonen.” (A German translation of the
original Dutch edition, edited by J. B. Henkel. Braunschweig, 1862.
Supplemental vol. by N. Husemann, Berlin, 1867.)
HELWIG, A.--“Das Mikroskop in der Toxicologie.” 64 photographs, roy.
8vo, Mainz, 1865.
HEMMING, W. D.--“Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology.” London,
1877.
HERMANN, L.--“Lehrbuch der experimentellen Toxicologie.” 8vo.
Berlin, 1874.
HOFFMANN, E. R.--“Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin.” 5th ed. Wien,
1890-91.
HUSEMANN and A. HILGER.--“Die Pflanzenstoffe in chemischer,
pharmakologischer, u. toxicologischer Hinsicht.” 2nd ed. Berlin,
1882.
HUSEMANN, TH., and HUSEMANN, A.--“Handbuch der Toxicologie.” Berlin,
1862. (Suppl. Berlin, 1867.)
KOBERT, RUD.--“Lehrbuch der Intoxicationen.” Stuttgart, 1893.
KOEHLER, R.--“Handbuch der speciellen Therapie, einschliesslich der
Behandlung der Vergiftungen.” 3rd ed. 2 vols. roy. 8vo. Tübingen,
1869.
LESSER, ADOLF.--“Atlas der gerichtlichen Medicin.” Berlin, 1883.
LOEW, OSCAR.--“Ein natürliches System der Gift-Wirkungen.” München,
1893.
LUDWIG, E.--“Medicinische Chemie in Anwendung auf gerichtliche
Untersuchungen.”
MAHON, A.--“Médecine Légale et Police Médicale.” Paris, 1807.
MARX, K. F. H.--“Die Lehre von den Giften.” Göttingen, 1827-29.
MASCHKA, J.--“Handbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin.” Tübingen,
1881-82. This work is under the editorship of Dr. Maschka, and
contains separate articles on medico-legal and toxicological
questions by various eminent toxicologists, somewhat after the
manner of Ziemssen’s Cyclopædia.
MENDE, LUD. JUL. CASP.--“Ausführliches Handbuch der gerichtlichen
Medicin.” 1819-32.
MOHR, FRIED.--“Chemische Toxicologie.” Braunschweig, 1874.
MONTGARNY, H. DE.--“Essai de Toxicologie, et spécialement avec la
Jurisprudence Médicale.” Paris, 1878.
MONTMAHON, E. S. DE.--“Manuel Médico-Légale des Poisons,” &c. Paris,
1824.
MUTEL, D. PH.--“Des Poisons, considérés sous le rapport de la
Médecine Pratique,” &c. Montpellier et Paris, 1835.
NACQUET, A.--“Legal Chemistry: A guide to the detection of Poisons,
Examination of Stains, &c., as applied to Chemical Jurisprudence.”
New York, 1876.
A translation from the French; see “Foods, their Composition and
Analysis,” page 43.
NICOLAI, JOH. ANT. HEINR.--“Handbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin.”
Berlin, 1841.
The chemical portion is by F. R. Simon.
OGSTON, F.--“Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence.” London, 1878.
ORFILA, MATTHIEU JOS. BONAVENTURA.--“Traité des Poisons, ou
Toxicologie Générale.” Paris, 1st ed., 1814; 5th ed., 1852.
ORFILA et LESUEUR.--“Traité de Médecine légale.” Paris, 1821; 4th
ed., Paris, 1848.
OTTO, F. G.--“Anleitung zur Ausmittelung der Gifte.” Braunschweig,
1856; 5th ed., 1875. 6th ed. by Robert Otto, Braunschweig, 1884.
PRAAG VAN, LEONIDES, u. OPWYRDA, R. J.--“Leerboek voor practische
giftleer.” In Zwei Theilen. Utrecht, 1871.
RABUTEAU, A.--“Élémens de Toxicologie et de Médecine Légale,
appliquées à l’Empoisonnement.” Paris, 1873. 2nd ed. by Ed.
Bourgoing. Paris, 1888.
REESE, JOHN J.--“Manual of Toxicology, including the consideration
of the Nature, Properties, Effects, and Means of Detection of
Poisons, more especially in their Medico-legal relations.”
Philadelphia, 1874.
REMER, W. H. G.--“Lehrbuch der polizeilich-gerichtlichen Chemie.”
Bd. 1 u. 2. 3. Auflage, Helmstadt, 1824.
SCHNEIDER, F. C.--“Die gerichtliche Chemie für Gerichtsärzte u.
Juristen.” Wien, 1852.
SCHNEIDER, P. J.--“Ueber die Gifte in medicinisch-gerichtlicher u.
gerichtlich-polizeilicher Rücksicht.” 2nd ed., 1821.
SELMI, F.--“Studi di Tossicologia Chimica.” Bologna, 1871.
SOBERNHEIM, JOS. FR. u. SIMON, J. F.--“Handbuch der praktischen
Toxicologie,” &c. Berlin, 1838.
SONNENSCHEIN, L.--“Handbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin.” Berlin,
1860. A new edition by Dr. A. Classen. Berlin, 1881.
TARDIEU, A.--“Étude Médico-Légale et Clinique sur l’Empoisonnement,
avec la Collaboration de M. T. Roussin pour la partie de l’expertise
relative à la Recherche Chimique des Poisons.” Paris, 1867.
TAYLOR, ALFRED SWAINE.--“On Poisons in relation to Medical
Jurisprudence and Medicine.” 3rd ed. 1875. Manual, 1879.
---- “Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence.” 3 vols.
London, 1873.
WERBER, ANT.--“Lehrbuch der praktischen Toxicologie.” Erlangen,
1869.
WOOD, HORATIO C.--“Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and Toxicology.”
Philadelphia, 1874.
WOODMANN, W. BATHURST, and TIDY, CH.--“A Handy-Book of Forensic
Medicine and Toxicology.” London, 1877.
WORMLEY, THEODORE G.--“Micro-Chemistry of Poisons, including their
Physiological, Pathological, and Legal Relations.” New York, 1857.
WURTZ, A.--“Traité Elémentaire de Chimie Médicale, comprenant
quelques notions de Toxicologie,” &c. 2nd ed. Paris, 1875.
PART II.
I.--Definition of Poison.
§ 14. The term “_Poison_” may be considered first in its legal, as
distinct from its scientific, aspect.
_The legal definition_ of “poison” is to be gathered from the various
statute-books of civilised nations.
The English law enacts that: “Whoever shall administer, or cause to be
administered to, or taken by any person, any poison or other destructive
thing, with intent to commit murder, shall be guilty of felony.”
Further, by the Criminal Consolidation Act, 1861: “Whosoever shall, by
any other means other than those specified in any of the preceding
sections of this Act, attempt to commit murder, shall be guilty of
felony.”
It is therefore evident that, by implication, the English law defines a
poison to be a destructive thing administered to, or taken by, a person,
and it must necessarily include, not only poisons which act on account
of their inherent chemical and other properties after absorption into
the blood, but mechanical irritants, and also specifically-tainted
fluids. Should, for example, a person give to another milk, or other
fluid, knowing, at the same time, that such fluid is contaminated by the
specific poison of scarlet fever, typhoid, or any serious malady capable
of being thus conveyed, I believe that such an offence could be brought
under the first of the sections quoted. In fine, the words “_destructive
thing_” are widely applicable, and may be extended to any substance,
gaseous, liquid, or solid, living or dead, which, if capable at all of
being taken within the body, may injure or destroy life. According to
this view, the legal idea of “poison” would include such matters as
boiling water, molten lead, specifically-infected fluids, the flesh of
animals dying of diseases which may be communicable to man, powdered
glass, diamond dust, &c. Evidence must, however, be given of guilty
intent.
The words, “administered to or taken by,” imply obviously that the
framers of the older statute considered the mouth as the only portal of
entrance for criminal poisoning, but the present law effectually guards
against any attempt to commit murder, no matter by what means. There is
thus ample provision for all the strange ways by which poison has been
introduced into the system, whether it be by the ear, nose, brain,
rectum, vagina, or any other conceivable way, so that, to borrow the
words of Mr. Greaves (_Notes on Criminal Law Consolidation_), “the
malicious may rest satisfied that every attempt to murder which their
perverted ingenuity may devise, or their fiendish malignity suggest,
will fall within some clause of this Act, and may be visited with penal
servitude for life.”
Since poison is often exhibited, not for the purpose of taking life, but
from various motives, and to accomplish various ends--as, for example,
to narcotise the robber’s victim (this especially in the East), to quiet
children, to create love in the opposite sex (love philters), to detect
the secret sipper by suitably preparing the wine, to expel the
inconvenient fruit of illicit affection, to cure inebriety by polluting
the drunkard’s drink with antimony, and, finally, to satisfy an aimless
spirit of mere wantonness and wickedness, the English law enacts “that
whosoever shall unlawfully or maliciously administer to, or cause to be
taken by, any other person, any poison or other destructive or noxious
thing, so as thereby to endanger the life of such person, or so as
thereby to inflict upon such person any grievous bodily harm, shall be
guilty of felony.”
There is also a special provision, framed, evidently, with reference to
volatile and stupefying poisons, such as chloroform, tetrachloride of
carbon, &c.:--
“Whoever shall unlawfully apply, or administer to, or cause to be taken
by any person, any chloroform, laudanum, or other stupefying or
overpowering drug, matter, or thing, with intent, in any such case,
thereby to enable himself or any other person to commit, or with intent,
&c., to assist any other person in committing, any indictable offence,
shall be guilty of felony.”
§ 15. The German statute, as with successive amendments it now stands,
enacts as follows:[27]--
[27] “Wer vorsätzlich einem Andern, um dessen Gesundheit zu beschädigen,
Gift oder andere Stoffe beibringt, welche die Gesundheit zu zerstören
geeignet sind, wird mit Zuchthaus von zwei bis zu zehn Jahren bestraft.
“Ist durch die Handlung eine schwere Körperverletzung verursacht worden,
so ist auf Zuchthaus nicht unter fünf Jahren, und wenn durch die
Handlung der Tod verursacht worden, auf Zuchthaus nicht unter zehn
Jahren oder auf lebenslängliches Zuchthaus zu erkennen.
“Ist die vorsätzliche rechtswidrige Handlung des Gift--&c.,--Beibringens
auf das ‘Tödten’ gerichtet, soll also durch dieselbe gewollter Weise der
Tod eines Anderen herbeigeführt werden, so kommt in betracht: Wer
vorsätzlich einen Menschen tödtet, wird, wenn er die Tödtung mit
Ueberlegung ausgeführt hat, wegen Mordes mit dem Tode bestraft.”
“Whoever wilfully administers (_beibringt_) to a person, for the purpose
of injuring health, poison, or any other substance having the property
of injuring health, will be punished by from two to ten years’
imprisonment.
“If by such act a serious bodily injury is caused, the imprisonment is
not to be less than five years; if death is the result, the imprisonment
is to be not under ten years or for life.
“If the death is wilfully caused by poison, it comes under the general
law: ‘Whoever wilfully kills a man, and if the killing is premeditated,
is on account of murder punishable with death.’”
The French law runs thus (Art. 301, _Penal Code_):--“Every attempt on
the life of a person, by the effect of substances which may cause death,
more or less suddenly, in whatever manner these substances may have been
employed or administered, and whatever may have been the results, is
called poisoning.”[28]
[28] “Est qualifié _empoisonnement_--tout attentat à la vie d’une
personne par l’effet de substances qui peuvent donner la mort plus ou
moins promptement, de quelque manière que ces substances aient été
employées ou administrées, et quelles qu’en aient été les suites.”--Art.
301, _Penal Code_.
There is also a penalty provided against any one who “shall have
occasioned the illness or incapacity for personal work of another, by
the voluntary administration, in any manner whatever, of substances
which, without being of a nature to cause death, are injurious to
health.”[29]
[29] “Celui qui aura occasionné à autrui une maladie ou incapacité de
travail personnel en lui administrant volontairement, de quelque manière
que ce soit, des substances qui, sans être de nature à donner la mort,
sont nuisibles à la santé.”--Art. 317, _Penal Code_.
§ 16. =Scientific Definition of a Poison.=--A true scientific definition
of a poison must exclude all those substances which act
mechanically,--the physical influences of heat, light, and electricity;
and parasitic diseases, whether caused by the growth of fungus, or the
invasion of an organism by animal parasites, as, for example,
“trichinosis,” which are not, so far as we know, associated with any
poisonous product excreted by the parasite;--on the other hand, it is
now recognised that pathogenic micro-organisms develop poisons, and the
symptoms of all true infections are but the effects of “toxines.” The
definition of poison, in a scientific sense, should be broad enough to
comprehend not only the human race, but the dual world of life, both
animal and vegetable.
Husemann and Kobert are almost the only writers on poisons who have
attempted, with more or less success, to define poison by a
generalisation, keeping in view the exclusion of the matters enumerated.
Husemann says--“We define poisons as such inorganic, or organic
substances as are in part capable of artificial preparation, in part
existing, ready-formed, in the animal or vegetable kingdom, which,
without being able to reproduce themselves, through the chemical nature
of their molecules under certain conditions, change in the healthy
organism the form and general relationship of the organic parts, and,
through annihilation of organs, or destruction of their functions,
injure health, or, under certain conditions, destroy life.” Kobert
says:--“Poisons are organic or inorganic unorganised substances
originating in the organism itself, or introduced into the organism,
either artificially prepared, or ready formed in nature, which through
their chemical properties, under certain conditions, so influence the
organs of living beings, that the health of these beings is seriously
influenced temporarily or permanently.”
In the first edition of this work I made an attempt to define a poison
thus:--_A substance of definite chemical composition, whether mineral or
organic, may be called a poison, if it is capable of being taken into
any living organism, and causes, by its own inherent chemical nature,
impairment or destruction of function_. I prefer this definition to
Kobert’s, and believe that it fairly agrees with what we know of
poisons.
II.--Classification of Poisons.
§ 17. At some future time, with a more intimate knowledge of the way in
which each poison acts upon the various forms of animal and vegetable
life, it may be possible to give a truly scientific and philosophical
classification of poisons--one based neither upon symptoms, upon local
effects, nor upon chemical structure, but upon a collation and
comparison of all the properties of a poison, whether chemical,
physical, or physiological. No perfect systematic arrangement is at
present attainable: we are either compelled to omit all classification,
or else to arrange poisons with a view to practical utility merely.
From the latter point of view, an arrangement simply according to the
most prominent symptoms is a good one, and, without doubt, an assistance
to the medical man summoned in haste to a case of real or suspected
poisoning. Indeed, under such circumstances, a scheme somewhat similar
to the following, probably occurs to every one versed in toxicology:--
A. POISONS CAUSING DEATH IMMEDIATELY, OR IN A FEW MINUTES.
There are but few poisons which destroy life in a few minutes. Omitting
the strong mineral acids, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, with the
irrespirable gases,--_Prussic acid_, _the cyanides_, _oxalic acid_, and
occasionally _strychnine_, are the chief poisons coming under this head.
B. IRRITANT POISONS (symptoms mainly pain, vomiting, and purging).
_Arsenic_, _antimony_, _phosphorus_, _cantharides_, _savin_, _ergot_,
_digitalis_, _colchicum_, _zinc_, _mercury_, _lead_, _copper_, _silver_,
_iron_, _baryta_, _chrome_, _yew_, _laburnum_, _and putrid animal
substances._
C. IRRITANT AND NARCOTIC POISONS (symptoms those of an irritant nature,
with the addition of more or less pronounced cerebral indications).
To this class more especially belong _oxalic acid_ and _the oxalates_,
with several poisons belonging to the purely narcotic class, but which
produce occasionally irritant effects.
D. POISONS MORE ESPECIALLY AFFECTING THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
1. NARCOTICS (chief symptom insensibility, which may be preceded by more
or less cerebral excitement): _Opium_, _Chloral_, _Chloroform_.
2. DELIRIANTS (delirium for the most part a prominent symptom):
_Belladonna_, _hyoscyamus_, _stramonium_, _with others of the
Solanaceæ_, to which may be added--_poisonous fungi_, _Indian hemp_,
_lolium temulentum_, _œnanthe crocata_, and _camphor_.
3. CONVULSIVES.--Almost every poison has been known to produce
convulsive effects, but the only true convulsive poisons are the
_alkaloids of the strychnos class_.
4. COMPLEX NERVOUS PHENOMENA: _Aconite_, _digitalis_, _hemlock_,
_calabar bean_, _tobacco_, _lobelia inflata_, and _curara_.
* * * * *
§ 18. KOBERT’S CLASSIFICATION.--The latest authority on
poisons--Kobert--has classified poisons according to the following
scheme:--
I. POISONS WHICH CAUSE COARSE ANATOMICAL CHANGES OF THE ORGANS.
A. Those which specially irritate the part to which they are
applied.
1. _Acids._
2. _Caustic alkalies._
3. _Caustic salts_, especially those of the heavy metals.
4. Locally irritating organic substances which neither can be
classified as corrosive acids nor alkalies, nor as corrosive salts;
such are:--_cantharidine_, _phrynine_, and others in the animal
kingdom, _croton oil_ and _savin_ in the vegetable kingdom. Locally
irritating colours, such as the _aniline dyes_.
5. Gases and vapours which cause local irritation when breathed,
such as _ammonia_, _chlorine_, _iodine_, _bromine_, and _sulphur
dioxide_.
B. Those which have but little effect locally, but change
anatomically other parts of the body; such as _lead_, _phosphorus_,
and others.
II. BLOOD POISONS.
1. Blood poisons interfering with the circulation in a purely
physical manner, such as _peroxide of hydrogen_, _ricine_, _abrine_.
2. Poisons which have the property of dissolving the red blood
corpuscle, such as the _saponins_.
3. Poisons which, with or without primary solution of the red blood
corpuscles, produce in the blood methæmoglobin; such as _potassic
chlorate_, _hydrazine_, _nitrobenzene_, _aniline_, _picric acid_,
_carbon disulphide_.
4. Poisons having a peculiar action on the colouring matter of the
blood, or on its decomposition products, such as _hydric sulphide_,
_hydric cyanide_, and the _cyanides_ and _carbon monoxide_.
III. POISONS WHICH KILL WITHOUT THE PRODUCTION OF COARSE ANATOMICAL
CHANGE.
1. Poisons affecting the cerebro-spinal system; such as
_chloroform_, _ether_, _nitrous oxide_, _alcohol_, _chloral_,
_cocaine_, _atropine_, _morphine_, _nicotine_, _coniine_,
_aconitine_, _strychnine_, _curarine_, and others.
2. Heart Poisons; such as, _digitalis_, _helleborin_, _muscarine_.
IV. POISONOUS PRODUCTS OF TISSUE CHANGE.
1. Poisonous albumin.
2. Poisons developed in food.
3. Auto-poisoning, _e.g._ uræmia, glycosuria, oxaluria.
4. The more important products of tissue change; such as, _fatty
acids_, _oxyacids_, _amido-fatty acids_, _amines_, _diamines_, and
_ptomaines_.
* * * * *
§ 19. I have preferred an arrangement which, as far as possible, follows
the order in which a chemical expert would search for an unknown
poison--hence an arrangement partly chemical and partly symptomatic.
First the chief gases which figure in the mortality statistics are
treated, and then follow in order other poisons.
A chemist, given a liquid to examine, would naturally test first its
reaction, and, if strongly alkaline or strongly acid, would at once
direct his attention to the mineral acids or to the alkalies. In other
cases, he would proceed to separate volatile matters from those that
were fixed, lest substances such as prussic acid, chloroform, alcohol,
and phosphorus be dissipated or destroyed by his subsequent operations.
Distillation over, the alkaloids, glucosides, and their allies would
next be naturally sought, since they can be extracted by alcoholic and
ethereal solvents in such a manner as in no way to interfere with an
_after_-search for metals.
The metals are last in the list, because by suitable treatment, after
all organic substances are destroyed, either by actual fire or powerful
chemical agencies, even the volatile metals may be recovered. The metals
are arranged very nearly in the same order as that in which they would
be separated from a solution--viz., according to their behaviour to
hydric and ammoniac sulphides.
There are a few poisons, of course, such as the oxalates of the
alkalies, which might be overlooked, unless sought for specially; but it
is hoped that this is no valid objection to the arrangement suggested,
which, in greater detail, is as follows:--
A.--POISONOUS GASES.
1. Carbon monoxide.
2. Chlorine.
3. Hydric sulphide.
B.--ACIDS AND ALKALIES.
1. Sulphuric acid.
2. Hydrochloric acid.
3. Nitric acid.
4. Potash.
5. Soda.
6. Ammonia.
7. Neutral sodium, potassium, and ammonium salts.
In nearly all cases of death from any of the above, the analyst, from
the symptoms observed during life, from the surrounding circumstances,
and from the pathological appearances and evident chemical reactions of
the fluids submitted, is put at once on the right track, and has no
difficulty in obtaining decided results.
C.--POISONOUS SUBSTANCES CAPABLE OF BEING SEPARATED BY DISTILLATION FROM
EITHER NEUTRAL OR ACID LIQUIDS.
1. Hydrocarbons.
2. Camphor.
3. Alcohols.
4. Amyl-nitrite.
5. Chloroform and other anæsthetics.
6. Carbon disulphide.
7. Carbolic acid.
8. Nitro-benzene.
9. Prussic acid.
10. Phosphorus.
The volatile alkaloids, which may also be readily distilled by strongly
alkalising the fluid, because they admit of a rather different mode of
treatment, are not included in this class.
D.--ALKALOIDS AND POISONOUS VEGETABLE PRINCIPLES SEPARATED FOR THE MOST
PART BY ALCOHOLIC SOLVENTS.
DIVISION I.--VEGETABLE ALKALOIDS.
1. Liquid volatile alkaloids, alkaloids of hemlock, nicotine,
piturie, sparteine, aniline.
2. The opium group of alkaloids.
3. The strychnine or tetanic group of alkaloids--strychnine, brucine,
igasurine.
4. The aconite group of alkaloids.
5. The mydriatic group of alkaloids--atropine, hyoscyamine, solanin,
cytisine.
6. The alkaloids of the veratrines.
7. Physostigmine.
8. Pilocarpine.
9. Taxine.
10. Curarine.
11. Colchicin.
12. Muscarine and the active principles of certain fungi.
There would, perhaps, have been an advantage in arranging several of the
individual members somewhat differently--_e.g._, a group might be made
of poisons which, like pilocarpine and muscarine, are antagonistic to
atropine; and another group suggests itself, the physiological action of
which is the opposite of the strychnos class; solanin (although classed
as a mydriatic, and put near to atropine) has much of the nature of a
glucoside, and the same may be said of colchicin; so that, if the
classification were made solely on chemical grounds, solanin would have
followed colchicin, and thus have marked the transition from the
alkaloids to the glucosides.
DIVISION II.--GLUCOSIDES.
1. The digitalis group.
2. Other poisonous glucosides acting on the heart.
3. Saponin.
The glucosides, when fairly pure, are easily recognised; they are
destitute of nitrogen, neutral in reaction, and split up into sugar and
other compounds when submitted to the action of saponifying agents, such
as boiling with dilute mineral acids.
DIVISION III.--CERTAIN POISONOUS ANHYDRIDES OF THE ORGANIC ACIDS.
1. Santonin.
2. Mezereon.
It is probable that this class will in a few years be extended, for
several other organic anitrogenous poisons exist, which, when better
known, will most likely prove to be anhydrides.
DIVISION IV.--VARIOUS VEGETABLE POISONOUS PRINCIPLES NOT ADMITTING OF
CLASSIFICATION UNDER THE PREVIOUS THREE DIVISIONS.
Ergot, picrotoxin, the poison of _Illicium religiosum_, cicutoxin,
_Æthusa cynapium_, _Œnanthe crocata_, croton oil, savin oil, the
toxalbumins of castor oil and _Abrus_.
The above division groups together various miscellaneous toxic
principles, none of which can at present be satisfactorily classified.
E.--POISONS DERIVED FROM LIVING OR DEAD ANIMAL SUBSTANCES.
DIVISION I.--POISONS SECRETED BY THE LIVING.
1. Poisonous amphibia.
2. Poison of the scorpion.
3. Poisonous fish.
4. Poisonous insects--spiders, wasps, bees, beetles, &c.
5. Snake poison.
DIVISION II.--POISONS FORMED IN DEAD ANIMAL MATTERS.
1. Ptomaines.
2. Poisoning by putrid or changed foods--sausage poisoning.
F.--THE OXALIC ACID GROUP.
G.--INORGANIC POISONS.
DIVISION I.--PRECIPITATED FROM A HYDROCHLORIC ACID SOLUTION BY HYDRIC
SULPHIDE--PRECIPITATE, YELLOW OR ORANGE.
Arsenic, antimony, cadmium.
DIVISION II.--PRECIPITATED BY HYDRIC SULPHIDE IN HYDROCHLORIC ACID
SOLUTION--BLACK.
Lead, copper, bismuth, silver, mercury.
DIVISION III.--PRECIPITATED FROM A NEUTRAL SOLUTION BY HYDRIC SULPHIDE.
Zinc, nickel, cobalt.
DIVISION IV.--PRECIPITATED BY AMMONIA SULPHIDE.
Iron, chromium, thallium, aluminium.
DIVISION V.--ALKALINE EARTHS.
Barium.
III.--Statistics.
§ 20. The number of deaths from poison (whether accidental, suicidal, or
homicidal), as compared with other forms of violent, as well as natural
deaths, possesses no small interest; and this is more especially true
when the statistics are studied in a comparative manner, and town be
compared with town, country with country.
The greater the development of commercial industries (especially those
necessitating the use or manufacture of powerful chemical agencies), the
more likely are accidents from poisons to occur. It may also be stated,
further, that the higher the mental development of a nation, the more
likely are its homicides to be caused by subtle poison--its suicides by
the euthanasia of chloral, morphine, or hemlock.
Other influences causing local diversity in the kind and frequency of
poisoning, are those of race, of religion, of age and sex, and the
mental stress concomitant with sudden political and social changes.
In the ten years from 1883-1892, there appear to have died from poison,
in England and Wales, 6616 persons, as shown in the following tables:--
DEATHS FROM POISON IN ENGLAND AND WALES DURING THE TEN YEARS 1883-92.
+----------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| |Accident | | | |
| | or | | | |
| | Negli- |Suicide. | Murder. | Total. |
| | gence. | | | | | | |
+----------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. | M. | F. |
| | | | | | | | | |
| METALS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Arsenic, | 37| 14| 37| 20| 1| 1| 75| 35|
|Antimony, | 3| ...| 1| 2| ...| ...| 4| 2|
|Copper, | 4| 1| 2| 1| ...| ...| 6| 2|
|Lead, | 831| 209| 1| 2| ...| ...| 832| 211|
|Silver Nitrate, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Zinc Chloride (or Sulphate),| 7| ...| 4| ...| ...| ...| 11| ...|
|Mercury, | 22| 11| 16| 8| 2| 1| 40| 20|
|Chromic Acid, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Iron Perchloride, | ...| ...| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 1|
| | | | | | | | | |
| ALKALINE EARTHS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Lime, | 2| ...| ...| 1| ...| ...| 2| 1|
|Barium Chloride, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
| | | | | | | | | |
| THE ALKALIES AND THEIR | | | | | | | | |
| SALTS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Ammonia, | 39| 25| 18| 16| ...| ...| 57| 41|
|Caustic Soda, | 3| 4| ...| 1| ...| ...| 3| 5|
| „ Potash, | 8| 10| 1| ...| ...| ...| 9| 10|
|Potassic Chlorate, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
| „ Bichromate, | 2| 2| 7| 3| ...| ...| 9| 5|
| „ Bromide, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
| „ Binoxalate | | | | | | | | |
| (Sorrel), | 1| 3| 1| 4| ...| ...| 2| 7|
| | | | | | | | | |
| ACIDS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Sulphuric Acid, | 30| 9| 29| 24| 1| ...| 60| 33|
|Nitric „ | 18| 7| 18| 9| ...| ...| 36| 16|
|Hydrochloric Acid, | 48| 18| 83| 55| ...| ...| 131| 73|
|Oxalic „ | 17| 6| 114| 86| ...| ...| 131| 92|
|Tartaric „ | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Acetic „ | 4| 3| ...| 2| ...| ...| 4| 5|
|Carbolic „ | 169| 101| 219| 271| ...| 1| 388| 373|
|Hydrofluoric „ | ...| ...| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Phosphorus (including | | | | | | | | |
|Lucifer matches), | 24| 47| 28| 56| ...| ...| 52| 103|
|Iodine, | 6| 7| 1| 1| ...| ...| 7| 8|
| | | | | | | | | |
| VOLATILE LIQUIDS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Paraffin (Petroleum), | 9| 2| 1| ...| ...| ...| 10| 2|
|Benzoline, | 3| 2| ...| 1| ...| ...| 3| 3|
|Naphtha, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Carbon Bisulphide, | ...| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Turpentine, | 5| 1| ...| 3| ...| ...| 5| 4|
|Methylated Spirit, | ...| 2| 1| 2| ...| ...| 1| 4|
|Alcohol, | 81| 24| 1| 2| ...| ...| 82| 26|
|Chloroform, | 57| 41| 9| 5| 1| ...| 67| 46|
|Ether, | 5| 2| ...| ...| ...| ...| 5| 2|
|Spt. Etheris Nitrosi, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Anæsthetic (kind not | | | | | | | | |
|stated), | 4| 3| ...| ...| ...| ...| 4| 3|
|Oil of Juniper, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
| | | | | | | | | |
| OPIATES AND NARCOTICS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Opium, Laudanum--Morphia, | 503| 373| 330| 167| 4 | 2 | 837| 542|
|Soothing Syrup, Paregoric, | | | | | | | | |
|&c. | 18| 22| 2| 3| ...| ...| 20| 25|
|Chlorodyne, | 56| 30| 8| 8| ...| ...| 64| 38|
|Chloral, | 89| 22| 14| 1| 1 | ...| 104| 23|
| | | | | | | | | |
| CYANIDES. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Prussic Acid, and Oil of | | | | | | | | |
| Almonds, | 17| 11| 203| 19| 2 | 8 | 222| 38|
|Potassium Cyanide, | 19| 21| 100| 22| 3 | 1 | 122| 44|
| | | | | | | | | |
| ALKALOIDS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Strychnine and Nux Vomica, | 22| 21| 65| 85| 4 | 4 | 91| 110|
|Vermin-Killer, | 2| 6| 49| 69| 1 | ...| 52| 75|
|Atropine, | 2| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 3| ...|
|Belladonna, | 36| 20| 11| 9| ...| ...| 47| 29|
|Aconite, | 19| 21| 9| 10| ...| ...| 28| 31|
|Ipecacuanha, | 1| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| 1|
|Cocaine, | 3| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 3| ...|
| | | | | | | | | |
| MISCELLANEOUS. | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
|Antipyrine, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Cantharides, | 1| ...| ...| 1| ...| ...| 1| 1|
|Camphorated Oil, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Croton Oil, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Cayenne Pepper, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Syrup of Rhubarb, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Colchicum, | 2| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 2| ...|
|Hemlock, | 3| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| 3| 1|
|Water Hemlock, | 5| 6| ...| ...| ...| ...| 5| 6|
|Colocynth, | ...| 2| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 2|
|Castor Oil Seeds, | 1| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| 1|
|Laburnum Seeds, | 2| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| 2| 1|
|Thorn Apple, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Yew Leaves or Berries, | 3| 2| ...| ...| ...| ...| 3| 2|
|Crow-foot, | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Whin-flower, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Pennyroyal, | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Meadow Crow-foot, | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Arum Seeds, | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Bitter Aloes, | ...| 1| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 2|
|Cocculus Indicus, | ...| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Horse Chestnut, | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Creosote, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Spirits of Tar (Oil of Tar),| 2| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| 2| 1|
|Nitro-Glycerine, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Camphor, | ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1|
|Tobacco, | 4| ...| 1| ...| ...| ...| 5| ...|
|Lobelia, | 1| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 1| ...|
|Fungi, | 13| 10| ...| ...| ...| ...| 13| 10|
|Poisonous Weeds, | 2| ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| 2| ...|
|Hellebores, | ...| ...| 1| 1| ...| ...| 1| 1|
|Kind not stated, | 216| 158| 256| 167| 3 | 1 | 475| 326|
| +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| |2498|1292|1644|1140| 23| 19|4165|2551|
| | \ / | \ / | \ / | \ / |
| | 3790 | 2784 | 42 | 6616 |
+----------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
Although so large a number of substances destroy life by accident or
design, yet there are in the list only about 21 which kill about 2
persons or above each year: the 21 substances arranged in the order of
their fatality are as follows:--
Actual deaths in
ten years ending 1892.
Caustic potash 19
Poisonous fungi 23
Aconite 59
Mercury 60
Belladonna 76
Sulphuric acid 93
Ammonia 98
Chlorodyne 102
Alcohol 108
Arsenic 110
Chloroform 113
Vermin-killer 127
Chloral 127
Phosphorus 155
Cyanide of potassium 166
Strychnine 201
Nitric acid 204
Prussic acid 260
Carbolic acid 762
Lead 1043
Opiates 1324
In each decade there are changes in the position on the list. The most
significant difference between the statistics now given and the
statistics for the ten years ending 1880, published in the last edition
of this work, is that in the former decade carbolic acid occupied a
comparatively insignificant place; whereas in the ten years ending 1892,
deaths from carbolic acid poisoning are the most frequent form of fatal
poisoning save lead and opiates.
The following table gives some German statistics of poisoning:--
TABLE SHOWING THE ADMISSIONS INTO VARIOUS MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS[30] IN
BERLIN OF PERSONS SUFFERING FROM THE EFFECTS OF POISON DURING THE THREE
YEARS 1876, 1877, 1878.
[30] Viz., the Königl. Charité, Allg. Städtisches Krankenhaus,
Städtisches Baracken-Lazareth, Bethanien, St. Helwög’s-Lazarus,
Elisabethen-Krankenhaus, Augusta Hospital, and the Institut für
Staatsarzneikunde.
+--------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| | Males. |Females.| Total. |
+--------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
| Charcoal Vapour, | 77 | 78 | 155 |
| Sulphuric Acid, | 24 | 54 }| |
| Hydrochloric Acid, | 4 | 4 }| 93 |
| Nitric Acid, and Aqua Regia, | 7 | ... }| |
| Phosphorus, | 13 | 28 | 41 |
| Cyanide of Potassium, | 29 | 3 }| |
| Prussic Acid, | 5 | 1 }| 38 |
| Oxalic Acid, and Oxalate of Potash, | 11 | 8 | 19 |
| Alcohol, | 12 | 2 | 14 |
| Arsenic, | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| Morphine, | 8 | 1 }| |
| Opium, | 2 | 1 }| 12 |
| Potash or Soda Lye, | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Chloral, | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Chloroform, | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Sewer Gas, | 5 | ... | 5 |
| Strychnine, | ... | 4 | 4 |
| Atropine, | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Copper Sulphate, | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Nitrobenzol, | 2 | ... | 2 |
| Carbolic Acid, | ... | 2 | 2 |
| Chromic Acid, | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Burnt Alum, | ... | 1 | 1 |
| Ammonium Sulphide, | 1 | ... | 1 |
| Datura Stramonium, | ... | 1 | 1 |
| Petroleum, | ... | 1 | 1 |
| Benzine, | 1 | ... | 1 |
| Ether, | 1 | ... | 1 |
| Prussic Acid and Morphine, | 1 | ... | 1 |
| Prussic Acid and Chloral, | 1 | ... | 1 |
| Turpentine and Sal Ammoniac, | ... | 1 | 1 |
| +--------+--------+--------+
| | 223 | 212 | 435 |
+--------------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+
=Suicidal Poisoning.=--Poisons which kill more than one person
suicidally each year are only 19 in number, as follows:--
Deaths from suicide
during the ten years
ending 1892.
Potassic bichromate 10
Chloroform 14
Chloral 15
Chlorodyne 16
Aconite 19
Belladonna 20
Mercury 24
Nitric acid 27
Ammonia 34
Sulphuric acid 53
Arsenic 77
Phosphorus 84
Vermin-killer 118
Prussic acid 122
Hydrochloric acid 138
Strychnine 150
Oxalic acid 200
Prussic acid 222
Opiates 281
Phenol 290
In the ten years ending 1880, suicidal deaths from vermin-killers, from
prussic acid, from cyanide of potassium, and from opiates were all more
numerous than deaths from phenol, whereas at present phenol appears to
be the poison most likely to be chosen by a suicidal person.
Criminal Poisoning.
§ 22. Some useful statistics of criminal poisoning have been given by
Tardieu[31] for the 21 years 1851-1871, which may be summarised as
follows:--
[31] _Étude Médico-Légale sur l’Empoisonnement_, Paris, 1875.
Total accusations of Poisoning in the 21 years, 793
RESULTS OF THE POISONING:--
Death, 280 }
Illness, 346 } 872
Negative, 246 }
ACCUSED:--
Men, 304 } 703
Women, 399 }
NATURE OF POISON EMPLOYED:--
Arsenic, 287
Phosphorus, 267
{ Sulphate, 120 }
Copper { Acetate (Verdigris), 39 } 159
{ Sulphuric Acid, 36 }
Acids { Hydrochloric Acid, 8 } 47
{ Nitric Acid, 3 }
Cantharides, 30
Nux Vomica, 5 } 12
Strychnine, 7 }
{ Opium, 6 }
Opiates { Laudanum, 3 } 10
{ Sedative Water, 1 }
Salts of Mercury, 8
Sulphate of Iron, 6
Preparations of Antimony, 5
Ammonia, 4
Cyanides {Prussic Acid, 2 }
{Cyanide of Potassium, 2 } 4
Hellebore, 3
Datura Stramonium, 3
Powdered Glass, 3
Digitalin, 2
Potash, 2
Sulphate of Zinc, 2
Eau de Javelle (a solution of Hypochlorite of Potash), 1
Tincture of Iodine, 1
Croton Oil, 1
Nicotine, 1
Belladonna, 1
“Baume Fiovarenti,” 1
Euphorbia, 1
Acetate of Lead, 1
Carbonic Acid Gas, 1
Laburnum Seeds, 1
Colchicum, 1
Mushrooms, 1
Sulphuric Ether, 1
---
Total, 867
===
It hence may be concluded, according to these statistics of criminal
poisoning, that of 1000 attempts in France, either to injure or to
destroy human life by poison, the following is the most probable
selective order:--
Arsenic, 331
Phosphorus, 301
Preparations of Copper, 183
The Mineral Acids, 54
Cantharides, 35
Strychnine, 14
Opiates, 12
Mercurial preparations, 9
Antimonial preparations, 6
Cyanides (that is, Prussic Acid and Potassic Cyanide), 5
Preparations of Iron, 5
This list accounts for 955 poisonings, and the remaining 45 will be
distributed among the less used drugs and chemicals.
IV.--The Connection between Toxic Action and Chemical Composition.
§ 23. Considerable advance has been made of late years in the study of
the connection which exists between the chemical structure of the
molecule of organic substances and physiological effect. The results
obtained, though important, are as yet too fragmentary to justify any
great generalisation; the problem is a complicated one, and as Lauder
Brunton justly observes:--
“The physiological action of a drug does not depend entirely on its
chemical composition nor yet on its chemical structure, so far as that
can be indicated even by graphic formula, but upon conditions of
solubility, instability, and molecular relations, which we may hope to
discover in the future, but with which we are as yet imperfectly
acquainted.”[32]
[32] _Introduction to Modern Therapeutics_, Lond., 1892. 136.
The occurrence of hydroxyl, whether the substance belong to the simpler
chain carbon series or to the aromatic carbon compounds, appears to
usually endow the substance with more or less active and frequently
poisonous properties, as, for example, in the alcohols, and as in
hydroxylamine. It is also found that among the aromatic bodies the toxic
action is likely to increase with the number of hydroxyls: thus phenol
has one hydroxyl, resorcin two, and phloroglucin three; and the toxic
power is strictly in the same order, for, of the three, phenol is least
and phloroglucin most poisonous.
Replacing hydrogen by a halogen, especially by chlorine, in the fatty
acids mostly produces substances of narcotic properties, as, for
instance, monochloracetic acid. In the sulphur compounds, the entrance
of chlorine modifies the physiological action and intensifies toxicity:
thus ethyl sulphide (C₂H₅)₂S is a weak poison, monochlorethyl sulphide
C₂H₅C₂H₄ClS a strong poison, and dichlorethyl sulphide C₄H₈Cl₂S a very
strong poison: the vapour kills rabbits within a short time, and a trace
of the oil applied to the ear produces intense inflammation of both the
eyes and the ear.[33]
[33] V. Meyer, _Ber. d. Chem. Ges._, XX., 1725.
The weight of the molecule has an influence in the alcohols and acids of
the fatty series; for instance, ethyl, propyl, butyl, and amyl alcohols
show as they increase in carbon a regular increase in toxic power; the
narcotic actions of sodium propionate, butyrate, and valerianate also
increase with the rising carbon. Nitrogen in the triad condition in the
amines is far less poisonous than in the pentad condition.
Bamberger[34] distinguishes two classes of hydrogenised bases derived
from α and β naphthylamine, by the terms “acylic” and “aromatic.” The
acylic contains the four added hydrogens in the amidogen nucleus, the
aromatic in the other nucleus, thus
[34] _Ber._, xxii. 777-778.
CH CNH₂
/\ /\
/ \C/ \
CH | | | CH
| | |
CH | | | CH
\ /C\ /
\/ \/
CH CH
α Naphthylamine.
CH CH
/\ /\
/ \C/ \
CH | | | CNH₂
| | |
CH | | | CH
\ /C\ /
\/ \/
CH CH
β Naphthylamine.
CH CH₂
/\ /\
/ \C/ \
CH | | | CNH₃
| | |
CH | | | CH₂
\ /C\ /
\/ \/
CH CH₂
Acylic tetrahydro-α Naphthylamine.
CH₂ CH
/\ /\
/ \C/ \
CH₂ | | | CNH₂
| | |
CH₂ | | | CH
\ /C\ /
\/ \/
CH₂ CH
Aromatic tetrahydro-β Naphthylamine.
The acylic β tetrahydro-naphthylamine, the β
tetrahydroethylnaphthylamine, and the β tetrahydromethylnaphthylamine
all cause dilatation of the pupil and produce symptoms of excitation of
the cervical sympathetic nerve; the other members of the group are
inactive.
§ 24. The result of replacing hydrogen by alkyls in aromatic bodies has
been studied by Schmiedeberg and others; replacing the hydrogen of the
amidogen by ethyl or methyl, usually results in a body having a more or
less pronounced narcotic action. The rule is that methyl is stronger
than ethyl, but it does not always hold good; ortho-amido-phenol is not
in itself poisonous, but when two hydrogens of the amidogen group are
replaced by two methyls thus--
HO
/\
/ \
| |NH₂
| |
| |
\ /
\/
HO
/\
/ \
| |N(CH₃)₂
| |
| |
\ /
\/
the resulting body has a weak narcotic action.
It would naturally be inferred that the replacement of the H in the
hydroxyl by a third methyl would increase this narcotic action, but this
is not so: on the other hand, if there are three ethyl groups in the
same situation a decidedly narcotic body is produced.
The influence of position of an alkyl in the aromatic bodies is well
shown in ortho-, para- and meta-derivatives. Thus the author proved some
years ago that with regard to disinfecting properties, ortho-cresol was
more powerful than meta-; meta-cresol more powerful than para-; so again
ortho-aceto-toluid is poisonous, causing acute nephritis;
meta-aceto-toluid has but feeble toxic actions but is useful as an
antipyretic; and para-aceto-toluid is inactive.
In the trioxybenzenes, in which there are three hydroxyls, the toxic
action is greater when the hydroxyls are consecutive, as in pyrogallol,
than when they are symmetrical, as in phloroglucin.
OH
/\
/ \
| |OH
| |
| |OH
\ /
\/
Pyrogallol.
OH
/\
/ \
| |
| |
HO| |OH
\ /
\/
Phloroglucin.
The introduction of methyl into the complicated molecule of an alkaloid
often gives curious results: thus methyl strychnine and methyl brucine
instead of producing tetanus have an action on voluntary muscle like
curare.
Benzoyl-ecgonine has no local anæsthetic action, but the introduction of
methyl into the molecule endows it with a power of deadening the
sensation of the skin locally; on the other hand, cocethyl produces no
effect of this kind.
Drs. Crum Brown and Fraser[35] have suggested that there is some
relation between toxicity and the saturated or non-saturated condition
of the molecule.
[35] _Journ. Anat. and Phys._, vol. ii. 224.
Hinsberg and Treupel have studied the physiological effect of
substituting various alkyls for the hydrogen of the hydroxyl group in
para-acetamido-phenol.
Para-aceto-amido-phenol when given to dogs in doses of 0.5 grm. for
every kilogr. of body weight causes slight narcotic symptoms, with
slight paralysis; there is cyanosis and in the blood much methæmoglobin.
In men doses of half a gramme (7·7 grains) act as an antipyretic,
relieve neuralgia and have weak narcotic effects.
The following is the result of substituting certain alkyls for H in the
HO group.
(1) =Methyl.=--The narcotic action is strengthened and the antipyretic
action unaffected. The methæmoglobin in the blood is somewhat less.
(2) =Ethyl.=--Action very similar, but much less methæmoglobin is
produced.
(3) =Propyl.=--Antipyretic action a little weaker. Methæmoglobin in the
blood smaller than in para-acetamido-phenol, but more than when the
methyl or ethyl compound is administered.
(4) =Amyl.=--Antipyretic action decreased.
The smallest amount of toxicity is in the ethyl substitution; while the
maximum antipyretic and antineuralgic action belongs to the methyl
substitution.
Next substitution was tried in the Imid group. It was found that
substituting ethyl for H in the imid group annihilated the narcotic and
antipyretic properties. No methæmoglobin could be recognised in the
blood.
Lastly, simultaneous substitution of the H of the HO group by ethyl and
the substitution of an alkyl for the H in the NH group gave the
following results:--
=Methyl.=--In dogs the narcotic action was strengthened, the
methæmoglobin in the blood diminished. In men the narcotic action was
also more marked as well as the anti-neural action. The stomach and
kidneys were also stimulated.
=Ethyl.=--In dogs the narcotic action was much strengthened, while the
methæmoglobin was diminished. In men the antipyretic and anti-neural
actions were unaffected.
=Propyl.=--In dogs the narcotic action was feebler than with methyl or
ethyl, and in men there was diminished antipyretic action.
=Amyl.=--In dogs the narcotic action was much smaller.
From this latter series the conclusion is drawn that the maximum of
narcotic action is obtained by the introduction of methyl and the
maximum antipyretic action by the introduction of methy
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