[19] POISONING BY RED CODFISH. 1015 



• 



patient complains of an uncomfortable feeling', general lassitude and 

 pain and a heavy feeling in the epigastrium. He Las no appetite; but 

 ' instead nausea, attacks of retching and vomiting'. There is pain in 

 the abdomen, which is frequently swollen and extended. Sometimes 

 diarrhea sets in at the very beginning, but it is soon followed by con- 

 stipation, which generally is very severe. There is an extraordinary 

 dryness in the mouth and throat, which frequently rises to a burning 

 sensation. Only in rare cases these symptoms are accompanied by 

 chills. The head aches. 



" On the second or third day the paralytic stage commences. At first 

 this shows itself by attacks of vertigo, an uncertain step in walking, 

 and heavy respiration. The sight becomes dim and the pupil of the 

 eye is dilated. On the third or fourth day the upper eyelid falls down, 

 the pupil is immovable and insensible. Then follow attacks of choking 

 and cough, reminding one of croup. From the fourth to the tenth day 

 dysphagy becomes more pronounced, and it now becomes impossible 

 to swallow anything. All secretions are suppressed, with the exception 

 of the urinary secretion ; constipation becomes settled, the faintness of 

 sight becomes amaurosis, and the hoarseness becomes speechlessness; 

 the sense of touch is entirely lost. The patient can no longer move the 

 tongue. The paralysis of the members becomes complete ; the skin is 

 cold, the pulse slow and feeble, and the beating of the heart can no 

 longer be noticed. One fainting spell follows another, and respiration 

 ceases. Finally the patient dies with every indication of complete and 

 utter exhaustion. Sometimes death is accompanied by convulsions. 



"This is the course in fatal cases. Death, which follows in one-third 

 of all the cases, occurs during the first ten days. At the autopsy noth- 

 ing can be discovered but a congestion of most of the viscera. Rigidity 

 sets in slowly, and putrefaction likewise makes its appearance very 

 slowly." 



These morbid phenomena of bolutism differ far too much from those of 

 poisoning by spoiled codfish to allow us to draw the conclusion with 

 Berenger-Feraud that they both are produced by the same cause, by a 

 poisonous substance having varying effects, according to its different 

 degree of strength. It seems much more natural to suppose that the 

 putrefaction of animal matter produces different poisonous substances, 

 according to the nature of the matter in which they are developed. 



This appears very clearly from all the recent researches and from 

 the different symptoms which have been observed both in cases of 

 accidental poisoning by decayed food substances of animal origin and in 

 physiological experiments. 



Mr. Berenger-Feraud himself recognizes the decided difference of the 

 symptoms of the two cases. "In cases of poisoning by spoiled codfish," 

 he states, "we notice immediate attacks resembling that of cholera., 

 and after this first stage has been passed the condition of the patient 

 improves very regularly and rapidly. In bolutism, on the other hand, 



