Account of a case of poisoning with corrosive sublimate / [Alexander Wood].

  • Wood, Alexander.
Date:
[1839]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of a case of poisoning with corrosive sublimate / [Alexander Wood]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Notwithstanding active treatment, the patient’s strength conti¬ nued to decline. Considerable quantities of fluid blood occasion¬ ally escaped from his mouth without any effort like vomiting. This was believed at the time to result from the salivation, rather than from any morbid condition of the alimentary canal. The pulse continued small, and weak, and his whole appearance very much resembled that of a person in the last stage of typhous fever. At no time, however, did he complain of the slightest pain in the bowels. He died on the evening of the 8th inst. (fourteen days after swallowing the powder,) immediately after having passed by stool about six pounds of fluid blood. In consequence of the circumstances attending the death of this patient, a warrant was issued by the authorities for a judicial examination of the body, and Mr Watson, surgeon, was directed to perform this duty. The following were the appearances found on dissection.* Mouth.—The mucous membrane opposite the two last molar teeth of the right side was of a dingy green colour, and in a state of slough. Over one of the tonsils there was a small ulcer. Pharynx. -—On the surface of the pharynx were two irregular spots, on its posterior aspect about the size of a shilling, of a brownish colour, and presenting on their surface a number of small elevations. (Esophagus.—About three inches from its termination in the stomach, the oesophagus presented a spot similar to those describ¬ ed as existing in the pharynx. The Stomach contained about six ounces of partly coagulated blood. On its posterior surface, and immediately below the entrance of the oesophagus, a portion of the mucous membrane was found softened, of a green colour, and part of it hanging loosely in a state of slough. The rest of the mucous membrane of the sto¬ mach was of an uniform red colour- The Intestines contained throughout their whole extent, in con¬ tact with the lining membrane, a layer of dark-coloured, grumous matter, which was mixed with mucus, and in the duodenum with bile. The mucous membrane of the duodenum was of a yellow co¬ lour, and appeared healthy, that of the jejunum and ileum was of an uniform red colour. At the termination of the csecum, and commencement of the colon, round spots existed, less than a six¬ pence in size, and of a greenish colour, somewhat softened, and irregular on their surface. Near the upper part of the ascending colon a similar spot was observed On approaching the descend¬ ing colon, the mucous membrane was observed to be reddened, * It is proper to state that this report is not the official one, but was drawn up when the body was publicly opened by Mr Watson, from the appearances then dis¬ played.