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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    days, by repeated washing, they deposited no mineral sediment, and no trace of solid arsenic could be discovered when they were examined by the microscope. The only substances found by a microscopic examination were portions of digested animal and vegetable food, oil-globules, and starch-granules. These different parts of the deceased’s body were submitted to the usual tests and processes for the detection of arsenic, and the result was that slight traces of arsenic were found in four ounces of liver, as well as in the stomach and intestines. There were also similar slight traces of arsenic in the contents of the stomach, apparently in intimate combination with the mucus. The scalp of the deceased was found to contain a large quan- tity of arsenic, combined with a quantity of mercury (white precipitate), which had been applied to it in the form of an ointment. The quantity of arsenic in the portion of scalp sent was estimated at about two or three grains. The two boxes of ointment consisted simply of white precipitate mixed with the usual ingredient (lard). There was no arsenic in either sample. From the results of my analysis, and from a perusal of the depositions forwarded to me by the coroner, as well as from the information communicated by Mr. Haward, I am of opinion— First. That this child died from the effects of arsenic, ap- plied externally and absorbed into the system. Secondly. The condition of the viscera in their appearances, the nature of their contents, and the minute imponderable quantity of arsenic present in them, is not consistent with the supposition that arsenic had been given in a solid form, or in a liquid form by the mouth, but is quite consistent with the absorption of the poison through the skin of the scalp and its diffusion by the blood, leading to its deposition in small quan- tities in the parts in which it was found. In answer to some questions put by the coroner and jury at the adjourned inquest, it was stated that, when arsenic operated as a poison by external application, a long interval sometimes elapsed before the usual symptoms of poisoning appeared, and death did not take place until after several days. In this case there had been, according to the evidence, only one application