blood be received into a solution of arsenic, instead of coagulating in the usual way, a viscous jelly first forms, and lumpy clots separate afterwards.[1]
Our knowledge of the affection induced by the remote action of arsenic is in some respects vague. Toxicologists have for the most part been satisfied with calling it a disorder of the general nervous system. When employed to designate the state of collapse which accompanies or forms the chief feature of acute cases of poisoning with arsenic, this term is misapplied. The whole train of symptoms is that not of a general nervous disorder, but simply of depressed action of the heart. That this is the chief organ remotely acted on in such cases farther appears probable from certain physiological experiments, in which it has been remarked, that immediately after rapid death from arsenic the irritability of the heart was exhausted or nearly so, while that of the intestines, gullet, and voluntary muscles continued as usual.[2] As to the singular symptoms which often arise in the advanced stage of lingering cases, the term, disorder of the general nervous system, is more appropriately applied to them. They clearly indicate a deranged state sometimes of the brain, sometimes of particular nerves.
Arsenic belongs to those poisons which act with nearly the same energy whatever be the organ or texture to which they are applied. The experiments of Sproegel,[3] repeated by Jaeger,[4] and by Sir Benjamin Brodie,[5] leave no doubt, that when applied to a fresh wound it acts with at least equal rapidity as when swallowed. Although in such circumstances the signs of irritation are often distinct, yet the symptoms are on the other hand sometimes more purely narcotic than by any other mode of administering it,—Sir B. Brodie in particular having observed loss of sense and motion to be induced, along with occasional convulsions. Arsenic likewise acts with energy when applied to the conjunctiva of the eye, as was proved by Dr. Campbell. It acts too with great energy when inhaled in the state of vapour into the lungs, or in the form of arseniuretted-hydrogen. It farther acts with violence through the mucous membrane of the vagina, producing local inflammation, and the usual constitutional collapse. These facts were determined experimentally by the Medical Inspectors of Copenhagen on the occasion of a singular trial which will be noticed afterwards. Arsenic also acts, as may easily be conceived, when injected into the rectum. And farther, it acts as a poison, when it is applied to the surface of ulcers, yet certainly not under all circumstances. Its power of act-*Orfila in some experiments found the heart apparently inflamed and its irritability destroyed. [Arch. Gén. de Med. i. 147.]]
- ↑ Gazette Médicale, 1839, No. 20.
- ↑ In a rabbit killed by arsenic applied to a wound Sir B. Brodie found the heart contracting feebly after death; and in a dog there were tremulous contractions incapable of supporting circulation. Sproegel found the peristaltic motion of the intestines and gullet vigorous in a dog an hour after death. [Diss. Inaug. in Halleri Disput. Med. Prac. vi. Exp. 31
- ↑ Haller's Disput. Med. Pract. vi. Exp. 35.
- ↑ Diss. Inaug. Tubing. 1808. De effectibus Arsenici in var. organismos.
- ↑ Phil. Trans. cii. 211.
