Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 1.djvu/449

Rh stomach is more violent and more immediate, in consequence of up plication of arsenic to wounds, than when it is taken into the stomach itself. The symptoms ﬁrst produced are paralysis of the hind legs, and other parts of the body; convulsions, dilatation of the pupils, and general insensibility, indicating disturbance of the functions of the brain. Secondly. A feeble slow intermitting pulse, from disturbance of the functions of the heart. Thirdly. Pain in the abdomen, sickness, vomiting, &c. from the action of this poison on the stomach and intestines.

From such general affection of such different organs, from the order in which they are affected, and from the analogy with vegetable poisons, which from Mr. Brodie's former experiments appeared not to act till they had entered the circulation, he infers that arsenic also, in whatever way administered, does not produce its effects even on the stomach till it has been received into the blood. And although it might be supposed that blood containing arsenic would equally destroy the vitality of every part, there are various circumstances which show that this is not the case; for even to the instant of death, in consequence of the full effect of arsenic on the brain, heart, and bowels, various secretions continue apparently unimpaired; and even after death the muscles remain excitable to powerful contractions by means of electricity.

From such trials as Mr. Brodie has made of muriate of barytes, it has appeared to act principally on the brain, but in some degree on the heart also; for although the heart always continued to act after respiration had ceased, in consequence of the affection of the brain, nevertheless the pulse was feeble and intermittent; and although artiﬁcial respiration was made with the greatest care, in the hope of keeping up the circulation, it could rarely be maintained more than a few minutes. In some instances, in which the artiﬁcial respiration had been pursued with apparent success for a greater length of time, there were some signs of restoration of the functions of the brain, with occasional returns of voluntary respiration; but though the greatest care had been taken to preserve the temperature also by external means, the pulse notwithstanding continued to diminish in strength and frequency, and ultimately ceased. It was found, however, that the heart, the intestines, and the muscles, in general, were exoitable to contraction by means of electricity, although insensible to the stimulus of blood poisoned by muriate of barytes.

The stomach likewise is affected by this poison with some degree of inﬂammation, but less so than by arsenic. And though in some instances it operates as an emetic, the author considers the inﬂammation to be independent of the local application, and to arise through the medium of the general circulation.

The effects produced by emetic tartar are very similar to those of the preceding poisons; but it much more frequently occasions vomiting. The symptoms enumerated are paralysis. drowsiness, and at last complete insensibility. The pulse becomes feeble, but still the heart continues to act after apparent death; so that its action