Page:Treatise on poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence, physiology, and the practice of physic (IA treatiseonpoison00chriuoft).pdf/666

 Dr. Pereira, to be a poison of great energy and singular properties. Twenty-four grains obtained from eight ounces of roots in the middle of December, when introduced in the form of emulsion between the skin and muscles of the rabbit, caused in half an hour depression, uneasiness, and hurried breathing,—then twitches of the ears, neck, and fore-legs,—next combined spasm and convulsive starting of the head and limbs,—then, after a quiet interval, a more violent fit of the same kind, affecting the whole body with a singular combination of tetanus and convulsive starting,—finally, after several such fits, a paroxysm more violent than before, ending in immoveable tetanic rigidity, which speedily proved fatal, 78 minutes after the application of the poison. No morbid appearance could be detected in the body. The heart contracted vigorously for some time after death. These phenomena correspond in the main with what has been recorded of the symptoms caused by the roots in man.—Dr. Pereira informs me he had found the juice both of the root and leaves to act as a poison, either when introduced into the peritonæum, or when injected into the veins; and in the latter way it was so energetic as to prove fatal in one minute.

Symptoms in Man.—Since Lobel first took notice of the poisonous properties of the œnanthe root in 1570, an uninterrupted series of observations has been published, down to the present day, showing that in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, and various parts of England as far north as Liverpool, it is at all seasons of the year, even in October and in the beginning of January, a poison of great activity. In several of the cases death has been occasioned by a single handful of the roots, in one instance by a piece no bigger than the finger, or even in consequence of the individuals merely tasting them. A girl seems to have had a narrow escape after eating, with an interval of three hours, two pieces of the size of a walnut. Very seldom has death been delayed beyond four hours, and on some occasions a single hour has been sufficient. Sometimes the symptoms have been slow in making their appearance, an hour and a half having occasionally elapsed before the effects were evident; but in every instance their progress was rapid, once the symptoms had fairly set in; and some died in convulsions almost immediately after being taken ill.

The particular effects have been variable. Most generally the first symptoms have been giddiness and staggering, as if from ordinary intoxication, occasionally headache, and often extreme feebleness of the limbs. Stupor has then generally succeeded, sometimes with the intervention of efforts to vomit, sometimes too with an interval of delirium. Convulsions have also commonly made their appearance in the next place; and ere long a state of insensibility has ensued attended in every instance with occasional violent convulsive fits like epilepsy, and with permanent locked-jaw; which symptoms have continued till near death. In one or two cases the individual has suddenly, without any premonitory symptoms, fallen down convulsed, and died almost immediately. In one or two instances again, the effects have rather been those of irritant poisoning, namely, inflammation of the mouth and throat, spasms of the muscles