Chapter 214

them, and look at them.

1344. Give and Apply.

As a rule give emetics after poisons that cause sleepiness and raving;--chalk, milk, eggs, butter, and warm water, or oil, after poisons that cause vomiting and pain in the stomach and bowels, with purging; and when there is no inflammation about the throat, tickle it with a feather to excite vomiting.

1345. Arsenic.

(_White arsenic; orpiment, or yellow arsenic; realgar, red arsenic; Scheele's green, or arsenite of copper; King's yellow; ague drops_; and _arsenical paste_.)

E. Little or no taste. Within an hour, heat and pain in the stomach, followed by vomiting of green, yellow, and bloody matter, burning, and violent thirst; purging, and twisting about the navel; pulse small, quick, and irregular, breathing laboured, voice hoarse, speaking painful; skin cold and clammy. Sometimes there are cramps and convulsions, followed by death.

T. Give plenty of warm water, _new milk_ in large quantities, lime water, white of egg, mixed with gruel or honey, gruel, linseed tea; apply leeches to the bowels, foment, and give starch or gruel enemas. Scrape the iron rust off anything you can get at, mix it with plenty of water, and give in large draughts frequently, and give an emetic of mustard or ipecacuanha. The chief dependence, however, must be placed on the use of the stomach-pump.

_Caution_.--Never give large draughts of fluid until those given before have been vomited, because the stomach will not contract properly if filled with fluid, and the object is to get rid of the poison as speedily as possible.

1346. Copper.

(_Blue vitriol_, or _bluestone; verdigris; verditer; verdigris crystals_.)

E. An acid, rough, disagreeable taste in the mouth; a dry, parched tongue, with sense of strangling in the throat; coppery eructations; frequent spitting; nausea; frequent desire and effort to vomit, or copious vomiting; severe darting pains in the stomach; griping; frequent purging; belly swollen and painful; skin hot, and violent burning thirst; breathing difficult; intense headache and giddiness, followed by cold sweats, cramps in the legs, convulsions, and death.

A. White of eggs mixed with water (twelve to one pint), to be given in wineglassfuls every two minutes; iron filings mixed with water, or very strong coffee, accompanied by small and repeated doses of castor oil.

D.A. Vinegar, bark, alkalies, gall nuts.

T. If there is much pain in the belly or stomach, apply leeches. Give large draughts of milk and water, to encourage vomiting.

1347. Mercury.

(_Corrosive sublimate; calomel; red precipitate; vermilion; turbeth mineral; prussiate of mercury_.)

E. Acid metallic taste; tightness and burning in the throat; pain in the back part of the mouth, stomach, and bowels; anxiety of countenance; nausea; and vomiting of bloody and bilious fluids; profuse purging, and difficulty of making water; pulse small, hard, and quick; skin clammy, icy coldness of the hands and feet; and death in 24 or 36 hours.

A. White of eggs mixed with water, given as above; milk; flour and water, mixed pretty thick; linseed tea; and barley water.

T. Give large draughts of warm water, if you cannot get anything else; strong emetic of ipecacuanha, the stomach-pump, a dose of castor oil and laudanum. Apply poppy-head fomentations to bowels, and leeches if the belly is very tender.

1348. Antimony.

(_Tartar emetic; butter of; Kermes' mineral_.)

E. A rough metallic taste in the mouth, nausea, copious vomitings, sudden hiccough, purging, pains resembling those caused by colic, frequent and violent cramps, sense of choking, severe heartburn, pain at the pit of the stomach, difficult breathing, wildness of speech, cramp in the legs, and death.

A. Decoction or tincture of galls; strong tea; decoction or powder of Peruvian bark.

D.A. White vitriol, ipecacuanha, as emetics.

T. Give large draughts of water, or sugar and water, to promote vomiting; apply leeches to the throat and stomach if painful; and give one grain of extract of opium dissolved in a wineglassful of sugar and water, as soon as the vomiting ceases, and repeat three times at intervals of a quarter of an hour; and finally, one grain, in a little castor oil emulsion, every six hours.

1349. Tin.

(_Butter of tin; putty powder_.)

E. Colic and purging.

A. Milk.

T. Give warm or cold water to promote vomiting, or tickle the throat with a feather.

1350. Zinc.

(_White vitriol; flowers of; chloride of_.)

E. An astringent taste, sensation of choking, nausea, vomiting, purging, pain and burning in the throat and stomach, difficult breathing, pallor and coldness of the surface, pinched face, cramps of the extremities, but, with the exception of the chloride, seldom death.

A. For the two first give copious draughts of milk, and white of eggs and water, mucilage, and olive oil; for the third, carbonate of soda, and warm water in frequent draughts, with the same as for the other compounds.

T. Relieve urgent symptoms by leeching and fomentations, and after the vomiting give castor oil. For the chloride, use friction and warmth.

[BREATH MAY BLOW OUT A CANDLE, AN EXTINGUISHER PREVENT FIRE.]

1351. Silver, Gold and Bismuth.

Silver: (_Lunar caustic; flowers of silver_);

Gold (_Chloride of_);

and Bismuth (_Nitrate; flowers of; pearl white_),

are not frequently met with as poisons.

E. Burning pain in the throat, mouth, accompanied with the usual symptoms of corrosive poisons.

A. For silver, common salt and water; for gold and bismuth, no antidotes are known.

T. Give milk and mucilaginous fluids, and castor oil.

1352. Acids.

(_Hydrochloric_, or _spirit of salt; nitric_, or _aquafortis; sulphuric_, or _oil of vitriol_.)

E. Acid burning taste, acute pain in the gullet and throat, vomiting of bloody fluid, which effervesces when chalk is added to it; hiccough, tenderness of the belly, cold sweats, pinched face, convulsions, and death.

A. Give _calcined_ magnesia, chalk, soap and water. Administer frequent draughts of water to weaken the acid with carbonate of soda, potass, or magnesia, to neutralize it; thick soap-suds made with common soap; chalk, or in default of the alkalies and chalk, break down the plaster of the wall or ceiling, mix in water, and give the sufferer. Excite vomiting, and repeat the remedies till all the acid is neutralized.

1353. Chlorine (_gas_).

E. Violent coughing, tightness of the chest, debility, inability to stand.

A. The vapour of caustic ammonia to be inhaled, or ten drops of liquid ammonia to one ounce of water to be taken.

T. Dash cold water over the face, and relieve urgent symptoms.

1354. Lead.

(_Sugar of; red lead; wine sweetened by; and water impregnated with_).

E. Sugary astringent metallic taste, tightness of the throat, pains as if caused by colic, violent vomiting, hiccough, convulsions, and death.

A. Epsom or Glauber's salt; plaster of Paris; or phosphate of soda.

T. An emetic of sulphate of zinc (twenty-four grains to half a pint of water); leeches to belly; fomentations if necessary; and a dose of castor oil mixed with laudanum.

1355. Phosphorus.

E. Intense burning and pain in the throat and stomach.

A. Magnesia and carbonate of soda.

T. Large draughts of cold water, and tickle the throat with a feather.

_Caution_. Do not give oil or milk.

1356. Lime.

E. Burning in the throat and stomach, cramps in the belly, hiccough, vomiting, and paralysis of limbs.

A. Vinegar or lemon juice.

T. Thin starch water to be drunk frequently.

1357. Alkalies.

(_Caustic potash; soda; ammonia_.)

E. Acrid, hot, disagreeable taste; burning in the throat, nausea, and vomiting bloody matter; profuse purging, pain in the stomach, colic, convulsions, and death.

A. Vinegar and vegetable acids

T. Give linseed tea, milk, almond or olive oil, and excite vomiting.

1358. Baryta

(_Carbonate, pure_, and _muriate_ of, _See_ LIME para. 1356.)

1359. Nitre.

E. Heartburn, nausea, violent vomiting, purging, convulsions, difficult breathing, violent pain in the bowels, kidneys, and bladder, with bloody urine.

T. Emetics, frequent draughts of barley water, with castor oil and laudanum.

1360. Narcotic Poisons.

(_Bane berries; fool's parsley; deadly nightshade; water hemlock; thorn apple; opium, or laudanum; camphor, &c._)

E. Giddiness, faintness, nausea, vomiting, stupor, delirium, and death.

T. Give emetics, large draughts of fluids, tickle the throat, apply smelling salts to the nose, dash cold water over the face and chest, apply mustard poultices, and, above all, endeavour to rouse the patient by walking between two persons; and, if possible, by electricity; and give forty drops of sal-volatile in strong coffee every half-hour.

1361. Vegetable Irritating Poisons.

(_Mezsreon; monk's-hood; bitter apple; gamboge; white hellebore, &c._)

E. Acrid, biting, bitter taste, choking sensation, dryness of the throat, retching, vomiting, purging, pains in the stomach and bowels, breathing difficult, and death.

T. Give emetics of camomile, mustard, or sulphate of zinc; large draughts of warm milk, or other bland fluids; foment and leech the belly if necessary, and give strong _infusion_ of coffee.

[TAKE CARE OF PENCE, POUNDS WILL TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.]

1362. Oxalic Acid.

E. Vomiting and acute pain in the stomach, general debility, cramps, and death.

A. Chalk.

T. Give large draughts of lime water or magnesia.

1363. Spanish Flies.

E. Acrid taste, burning heat in the throat, stomach, and belly, bloody vomitings, colic, purging, retention of urine, convulsions, death.

T. Large draughts of olive oil; thin gruel, milk, starch enemas, linseed tea, laudanum, and camphorated water.

1364. Poisonous Fish.

(_Old-wife; sea-lobster; mussel; tunny; blower; rock-fish, &c._)

E. Intense pain in the stomach after swallowing the fish, vomiting, purging, and sometimes cramps.

T. Give an emetic; excite vomiting by tickling the throat, and plenty of warm water. Follow emetics by active purgatives, particularly of castor oil and laudanum, or opium and calomel, and abate inflammation by the usual remedies.

1365. Bites of Reptiles.

(_Viper; black viper; Indian serpents; rattle-snake._)

E. Violent and quick inflammation of the part, extending towards the body, soon becoming livid; nausea, vomiting, convulsions, difficult breathing, mortification, cold sweats, and death.

T. Suppose that the wrist has been bitten: immediately tie a tape between the wound and the heart, scarify the parts with a penknife, razor, or lancet, and apply a cupping-glass over the bite, frequently removing it and bathing the wound with volatile alkali, or heat a poker and burn the wound well, or drop some of Sir Wm. Burnett's Disinfecting Fluid into the wound, or cauterize the bite freely with lunar caustic, but not till the part has been well sucked with the mouth, or frequently washed and cupped. The strength is to be supported by brandy, ammonia, ether, and opium. Give plenty of warm drinks, and cover up in bed.

1366. Mad Animals, Bite of.

E. Hydrophobia, or a fear of fluids.

T. Tie a string tightly over the part, cut out the bite, and cauterize the wound with a red-hot poker, lunar caustic, or Sir Wm. Burnett's Disinfecting Fluid. Then apply a piece of "spongio-piline," give a purgative, and plenty of warm drink. Whenever chloroform can be procured, sprinkle a few drops upon a handkerchief, and apply to the nose and mouth of the patient before cauterizing the wound. When the breathing appears difficult, cease the application of the chloroform. A physician, writing in the _Times_, strongly urged this course, and stated, many years ago, that there is no danger, with ordinary care, in the application of the chloroform, while the cauterization may be more effectively performed.

1367. Insect Stings.

(_Wasp, bee, gnat, hornet, gadfly, scorpion._)

E. Swelling, nausea, and fever.

T. Press the barrel of a watch-key over the part, so as to expose the sting, which must be removed. Give fifteen drops of hartshorn or sal-volatile in half a wine-glassful of camomile tea, and cover the part stung with a piece of lint soaked in extract of lead.

1368. Cautions for the Prevention of Accidents.

The following regulations should be engraved on the memory of all: