Case of poisoning by arsenic from external application : transference of the poison from the skin to the stomach / by Alfred S. Taylor.

  • Taylor, Alfred Swaine, 1806-1880.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of poisoning by arsenic from external application : transference of the poison from the skin to the stomach / by Alfred S. Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    the plaster to the breast, the reporters came to the conclusion that she had died from the effects of arsenic absorbed into the system. ('Annales d'Hygiene/ 1864, vol. ii, p. 152.) These two cases present singular pathological and chemical differences. In the first the symptoms came on early, and were of a very severe character, the arsenic having been applied to wounds made in the breast. Death did not take place until the seventh day, and, although the poison was most favorably placed for absorption, no absorbed poison was detected in the dead body. In the second case the plaster was applied over a comparatively small surface, which had been previously scarified. There were no symptoms for twelve hours, they then continued unabated until the fifth day, when death took place. On analysis absorbed arsenic was found in all the organs, and even traces, as if from mucous elimination, in the stomach and intestines. The first case must be regarded as completely ex- ceptional in its results. As a rule, we may always expect to find in a case in which arsenic has destroyed life by absorption through the diseased or wounded skin, some portion of the poison, however small, in one or more of the organs. The case of Bootman, which has been here reported and made the basis of these observations, will show that, even when arsenic is detected in the mucous fluids of the alimentary canal, due allowance must be made for its being a mere result of mucous elimination. Unless other circumstances are strongly adverse to this con- clusion, a practitioner will not be justified in regarding the presence of traces of poison in the stomach, as a necessary proof of the introduction of the poison by the mouth. .tf*T