These cases show that there is an unfounded prejudice against the use of tartar emetic, as a substitute for the sulphate of zinc. The danger is imaginary, while the benefit was here made at once apparent by the entire cessation of the urgent symptoms. As tartar emetic may be given in much smaller doses than sulphate of zinc, and as it is more certain in its operation, the success attending Mr Beardsley's employment of it will, no doubt, induce other practitioners to resort to it in cases of poisoning. It has the advantage, too, of acting on the bowels as well as the stomach, and thus serves more readily to carry out of the body the unabsorbed portions of arsenic. It cannot be regarded as a counterpoison. Its beneficial operation in these cases was solely due to its powerfully emetic properties.

Cuse of Poisoning by the Bichromate of Potash-Recovery after Four Months. By ALFRED S. TAYLOR, Lecturer on Chemistry and Medical Jurisprudence at Guy's Hospital. (Guy's Hospital Reports, Vol. vii., Part i. P. 214. London, 1850.)

Instances of poisoning by the bichromate of potash are so unusual, that the details of any well-observed case must be always acceptable to toxicologists. The following occurred in the practice of Mr E. Bishop, of Kirkstall.

On Monday, the 11th of October 1847, Mr Bishop was hastily_summoned, about eight o'clock in the morning, to attend the son of C. B—, a dyer, who was said to have swallowed poison, with the intention of de. stroying life.

Half an hour after the youth had taken the poison, he was found labouring under the following symptoms: Face exceedingly pale, cadaverous, and covered with cold perspiration; the pupils dilated and fixed; pulse exceedingly feeble; cramp in the calves of the legs; and almost total insensibility; occasional vomiting, attended with violent epigastric pain.

Mr Bishop was informed by the young man's father as to the character of the poison, and he found that vomiting had taken place very soon after the substance had been swallowed; the vomited matter at first consisting of the morning's meal (which had been taken recently), mixed with the poison, but afterwards nothing came up but thin glairy fluid, of a pinkish colour.

Half a drachm of sulphate of zinc was immediately administered with some warm milk, which was at hand. This was speedily ejected, tinged of a pinkish hue, and having a very sour smell. Olive oil and white of egg were given, with copious draughts of warm water. All the ejected matters were coloured, even after the administration of the magnesia; hence the stomach-pump was used, until the washings of the stomach became colourless.

The patient now complained of a burning pain at the pit of the stomach, and of a sense of dryness and heat in the throat, accompanied with excessive thirst. Vomiting and straining still occurred at intervals. He was allowed occasional draughts of milk and water. In about two

hours and a half the vomiting had subsided, and he began to assume his natural look. The temperature of the skin rose; and, with the exception of slight epigastric pain, and dryness in the fauces, he seemed comparatively comfortable. The pulse was 100, and rather full; the pupils responded to light. The patient was calm, and can give a minute account of the occurrences of the morning.

Eight o'clock P.M., twelve hours after the poison had been swallowed. Very severe gastro-intestinal inflammation had set in, accompanied with severe cramp in various parts of the body, particularly the calves of the legs and inner parts of the thighs. The skin was hot and dry, cheeks

flushed, countenance indicative of anxiety; there was pain in the head; pulse 120, hard and full; respiration rapid; epigastrium and abdomen very painful, not bearing the slightest pressure; there was constant straining and retching. He was bled; and calomel and opium, with other remedies, were administered.

October 12th, 6 o'clock A.M.-Blood buffed and cupped; vomiting had ceased; the countenance was not so anxious; the pain had abated ; the skin was dry and hot; tongue dry, and covered with a dark brown fur; pulse 100, full and jerking; the pain was still very much increased on pressure, over the whole abdomen; patient complained bitterly of the taste of "the chromate in the fauces;" the respiration was calm; the bowels had not acted; the cramp had subsided. Leeches were applied to the abdomen.

12 o'clock.-Symptoms subsiding.

8 o'clock, vespere.-The patient was still going on favourably; the bowels had acted once.

14th, 4 o'clock a.m.- Mr Bishop was sent for to see the patient, who was reported "dying;" he found him exceedingly ill. The skin was cold and clammy, face pale, eyes sunk, feet and hands cold,-pulse scarcely preceptible, abdomen swollen and tender. About two hours previously, violent purging had commenced, and had been almost incessant; the bowels were evacuated as he lay in bed; the evacuation consisted of mucus and blood.

Ordered bottles, filled with hot water, to be applied to feet, hands, and thighs, and gave hot brandy and water; in two hours' time the pulse rose, and the bowels were quieter. A starch enema, with tincture of opium, was administered.

12 o'clock.-Enema retained two hours; brought away a little feculent matter, tinged with blood: pulse 120; great thirst; face not so pale as in the morning; abdomen tender and swollen; frequent twitches in the muscles of the calves of the legs. An opiate suppository was introduced within the anus, and hot bran poultices were applied to the abdomen.

8 o'clock. The straining and purging have nearly ceased; the skin was hot; the pulse 100, and firmer; thirst excessive; abdomen not so large, but painful on pressure.

15th.-Purging had again returned, but not so violent as before; stools contained feculent matter; tenesmus not severe; skin cool; thirst abated; abdomen very tender in the region of the sigmoid flexure; distension slight.

16th. The symptoms were subsiding; the pain was relieved; the bowels had acted once, and the evacuation was natural.

December 14th.-Convalescence had been exceedingly slow; ulceration of the bowels having set in, and with difficulty been subdued by means of nitrate of silver and opium, and successive blisters on the abdomen. There was considerable emaciation, with urgent dyspepsia. February 14th, 1848.-Had no pain in the epigastrium; appetite and digestion good; bowels habitually costive.

To have change of air and regular exercise.

Remarks by Mr Bishop.-"The cases of poisoning by this substance, which is now commonly used in the arts, are rare; no antidote is pointed out in toxicological works. But the first object is evidently to get rid of the poison; the second, to decompose what cannot be thus got rid of. The first object is to be effected by emetics and the stomachpump. I should be inclined to rely most on the latter. The second, perhaps, will be best effected by the alkaline earths, although I should rather suspect the activity of chromate of lime. As near as I can ascertain, this young man swallowed two ounces of the salt; he took as much as a

handful out of the tub, and dissolved it in warm water; and so intent was he on destroying life, that, while dissolving it, he chewed several small crystals. Vomiting occurred in about five minutes after he swallowed the solution.

"From the violence of the symptoms, it seems probable that a far less quantity than what was swallowed would destroy life: but it must be borne in mind that breakfast had just been taken,—a large mess of pottage, with which the poison had become mixed, and afterwards expelled. Had so large a quantity come in contact with the walls of an empty sto mach, I think there can be little doubt that death would have ensued speedily from the shock to the nervous system, before there could have been time for inflammatory symptoms to have come on.'

To these remarks Mr Taylor adds, that in his opinion the patient owed his recovery to the very active and judicious treatment pursued by Mr Bishop. It will be observed, that the case was under treatment from October 11th to February 14th, a period of four months. In the latter stage, the urgent symptoms were undoubtedly due to the local action of the poison on the mucous membrane of the stomach and bowels. In the only two cases of poisoning by the bichromate of potash with which Mr Taylor has met, one proved fatal in twelve hours, and the other in five hours. In the first, there had been neither vomiting nor diarrhoea; and in the second, vomiting only. The vomited matters, as in Mr Bishop's case, consisted of mucus mixed with blood. The case here reported, and which is now for the first time published, is, he believes, the only instance of the chronic effects produced by this poison hitherto recorded. It clearly proves that, as in poisoning by the strong mineral acids, a practitioner may have formidable after-effects to encounter; hence he should be guarded in his prognosis.

With respect to the treatment of the acute stage of poisoning, the removal of the salt from the alimentary canal by emetics, or the free use of the stomach-pump, is the principal object. A mixture of carbonate of magnesia, or of lime in linseed-tea, might be exhibited with benefit. Brown sugar, dissolved in water at 102°, tends to decompose the chromic acid, and to reduce it to the less irritating state of oxide of chromium. Chemical antidotes can, however, be of little benefit, unless administered within a few minutes after the poison has been swallowed. Poisoning by Scheele's Green, used in Confectionary. By ALFRED S. TAYLOR, Lecturer on Chemistry and Medical Jurisprudence at Guy's Hospital. (Guy's Hospital Reports, Vol. vii., Fart i. P. 218.)

A girl, seven years of age, ate a slice of a cake with part of a green ornament that covered it. A few minutes after swallowing it, she began to vomit violently. There was great prostration of strength, with a pinched and anxious countenance, accompanied by severe pain in the epigastrium, and great thirst; no fluids could be retained on the stomach. The child also complained of a choking and burning sensation in the throat, and the tongue was foul. The pulse was 120; the skin dry and burning; there was no purging, and the urine was natural in quantity and in appearance. There was headach, with great somnolency; the eyes were red and watery. The vomiting and the other symptoms described continued with slight intermissions for twenty-four hours. The child took some lemonade, the vomiting then ceased, and the other symptoms abated. The child was convalescent in three days, although the tongue remained foul for a week afterwards.

It appears that three other children partook of the same substance; but they vomited shortly afterwards, and speedily recovered.

Remarks.—Mr J. B. Hicks, in whose practice the above cases occurred in June 1849, forwarded to Mr Taylor, with the above particulars, a portion of the ornamental confectionary which had caused the symptoms. It

was nothing more than sugar strongly coloured, of a bright green colour, by the arsenite of copper. The quantity of the arsenite swallowed by the child could not be ascertained with precision; but, from the symptoms, it was evidently enough to endanger life.

The symptoms were similar to those which have been observed in numerous other cases of poisoning by confectionary among children. Nothwithstanding the perfect insolubility of this poison in water, it is clear that this does not prevent its rapid absorption, when it has entered the stomach; and this fact should teach caution in drawing an inference respecting the inertness of a metallic salt, merely because water does not dissolve it. The symptoms of poisoning with arsenic appeared in a few minutes. The thirst, burning sensation in the throat, and the redness of the conjunctivæ were special symptoms, indicative of the action of the poison. Jaundice has been sometimes a consequence of this form of poisoning, but it did not exist in the case reported.

In closing these remarks, Mr Taylor observes that the sale of this powerful poison for use in confectionary should be immediately prohibited by law. There is scarcely a year passes without numerous accidents being reported to have occurred from this pernicious practice.

Case of Poisoning by Laburnumn Flowers. By ALFRED S. TAYLOR, Lecturer on Chemistry and Medical Jurisprudence at Guy's Hospital. (Guy's Hospital Reports, Vol. vii. Part i. P. 219. London, 1850.) Mr Barber, of Stamford, communicated to Mr Taylor the particulars of the following case of poisoning by the flowers of the laburnum tree, which, although not singular, presents many points of interest. A child between three and four years of age ate about twelve laburnum flowers soon after it had had its breakfast. In about fifteen minutes it complained of sickness and severe pain in the stomach. Vomiting came on, and the matter vomited consisted of mucus mixed with the yellow petals of the laburnum. An emetic was given, which effectually cleared the stomach of the flowers. The symptoms gradually abated, and the child recovered. There was no purging. It does not appear that the child ate any of the leaves, seeds, or pods of the laburnum. The effects observed were solely due to the petals of the flowers which had been swallowed.

The

Remarks.-The poisonous properties of the laburnum tree were first pointed out by Haller; but the noxious effects have hitherto been chiefly witnessed in cases in which the leaves or seeds have been eaten. experiments of Dr Christison have proved that the bark of the tree is highly deleterious; and the case which is here reported by Mr Barber shows that even the petals of the flower are very energetic. The rapid supervention of symptoms, and the severity of the pain occasioned by a small number of the flowers, are the circumstances chiefly deserving of notice in the above case. One other case, in which a child suffered from symptoms of poisoning by the flowers, has been described by Mr North in in the "Medical and Physical Journal." The symptoms were in this instance rather indicative of an action on the nervous system. The face was pale; the skin cold; breathing laborious, and there was great feebleness of pulse. There were twitchings of the muscles of the face, with efforts of vomiting. As in Mr Barber's case, the whole of these symptoms disappeared on the expulsion of the flowers from the stomach..

Cytisine, the supposed active principle of the laburnum, has been detected in the seeds. Whether this principle exists in the flowers has not been ascertained. There is no doubt that the laburnum tree is highly poisonous, and as it is so commonly found in our gardens, the fact of its possessing this noxious action deserves the attention of medical practitioners.