A text-book of materia medica, therapeutics, and pharmacology / by George Frank Butler.

Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A text-book of materia medica, therapeutics, and pharmacology / by George Frank Butler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    that known as corrosive sublimate. The symptoms following toxic doses of this preparation resemble those occasioned by arsenic. The salt, however, being more readily soluble, produces propor- tionately more speedy and pronounced effects. They are, briefly, a strong, metallic taste in the mouth, frequent and bloody evacua- tions, tenesmus, severe abdominal pains, vomiting, and labored res- piration. There may be suppression of urine, syncope, and perhaps insensibility and convulsions. One of the most obstinate features of mercurial poisoning is ptyalism or salivation. This condition is first manifested by tender- ness of the gums and teeth. The gums are inflamed and covered by a white, sticky substance, and bleed at th» slightest provocation. The breath is very offensive. The teeth become loose, and may drop out. Necrosis of the maxillary bones may appear, and ex- tensive ulcerations of the gums and cheeks frequently occur. Accompanying these manifestations is an enormous increase in the amount of saliva secreted, which in some instances literally runs from the mouth night and day, often depriving the patient of sleep. Not infrequently a swelling of the lymphatic glands is also ob- served. Articulation and deglutition are interfered with from swell- ing of the tongue and ulceration of the gums, cheeks, palate, and tonsils. These symptoms, together with the fever, anorexia, mus- cular weakness, and headache which are constant accompaniments of ptyalism, render the condition of the patient very serious and tormenting. Chronic mercurial poisoning, or mercurial cachexia, is the effect produced by prolonged exposure to the fumes of mercury. The blood becomes thin and poor, with degeneration of the corpuscles. The person becomes emaciated, the heart is weak, and the whole muscular system impaired. Respiration is rapid and shallow, and the mental faculties are affected. Loss of memory, irritability of temper, melancholia, and, in rare cases, mania, may ensue. All the special senses are affected. Deafness, dimness of vision, impaired taste and sensation, as well as intestinal derangement, edema, articular pains, and generally disordered secretions, manifest them- selves. Mercurial cachexia frequently produces muscular tremors, usu- ally beginning in the upper extremities with gradual extension. Even paralysis of groups of muscles is often the result of chronic mercurial poisoning. Treatment of Poisoning.—In acute poisoning from corrosive sub-