MISCELLANY 



795 



In 1828 epidemic fever at Gibraltar great mortality. 



In 183O Astrakhan visited by cholera; it soon ad- 

 vanced up the River Volga and into the heart of Rus- 

 sia in Europe, attacking many towns, until it reached 

 Moscow, where it continued four months ; 8.576 were 

 attacked, of whom 4.630 died. 



In 183O, at Sunderland, the Asiatic cholera first made 

 its appearance in England. Haddington in Scotland 

 was visited the same year. 



In 1831 the Russian and Polish armies were attacked 

 in their encampments by cholera; at Warsaw in sever 

 weeks 3,012 were taken ill, of whom 1,462 died; its 

 ravages continued in Poland; it appeared at St. Peters- 

 burg in Russia, same year; and 7,567 cases were 

 reported, of whom 3.804 died in forty-eight days. Ham- 

 burgh in Germany also suffered from this disease. 



In 1832 cholera first appeared at Belfast. Ireland, 

 and at many places in Great Britain, Newcastle, Edin- 

 burgh, Greenock, London, Dublin, etc., but until Jan- 

 uary 1, 1832, the mortality did not exceed 6,000 in both 

 islands. ' 



In 1832 Paris visited by cholera, mortality in sixteen 

 days amounted to more than 8,000; it continued in 

 Paris for some weeks, and the total mortality in that 

 citv has been estimated at 15,000, out of a population 

 of 750,000. 



In 1832 cholera crossed the Atlantic Ocean and 

 appeared at Quebec and Montreal, in Canada; about 

 2.000 in each of these cities died. The city of New 

 York was visited by cholera the same year; in less than 

 two months 6,000 persons had been attacked, of whom 

 3.000 died, one-third of the inhabitants having left the 

 city. The distemper spread to Albany. Brooklyn. 

 Rochester, Buffalo, and other towns in the State of 

 New York, and afterward to Philadelphia. Newcastle, 

 Baltimore, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Petersburgh, and Rich- 

 mond. 



In 1848 and 1849 England and America visited by 

 cholera. 



In 1865 at Smyrna and Constantinople large numbers 

 perished by cholera; it also appeared at Paris, Mar- 

 seilles, and Naples, from July to December. 



In 1878 yellow fever raged in Southern towns, es- 

 perially Memphis. 



i-s.. 1H85, and 1892 cholera raged in various 

 parts of Europe. 



Poisons. A poison is commonly defined 

 to be a substance which, when :ul ministered in 

 small quantity, is capable of acting deleteriously 

 on the body. Poisons are divisible into three 

 classes, according to their mode of action on the 

 system, viz: Irritants, Xarcotics, and Xarmtim- 

 irritants. The Irrittintx, when taken in ordinary 

 doses, speedily occasion intense vomiting and 

 purging, and severe abdominal pain. They act 

 chiefly <n the stomach and intestines, which 

 i hey irritate, inflame, and frequently corrode, 

 and may thus occasion ulceration, perforation, 



i:rene. The \arcotirs act specially on the 



ml >pinal cord. Among their most com- 

 mon symptoms are giddiness, headache, obscur- 

 ity of sight, or double vision, stupor, loss of 



>f the voluntary muscles, convulsions, and 

 finally complete coma. The \ a rent i< >- irritants 

 have, as their name implies, a mixed action. 

 "At variable JMTHM!-." says Dr. Taylor, "after 



have been swallowed, they give 

 vomiting and purging, like irritants, and sooner 

 or later produce stupor, coma, paralys 

 convulsions, owing to their effect <n\ tl ,. 

 and spinal marrow. I'nder the head of Irritant 

 v he included (1) Mineral Ac-ids, as 

 sulphuric, nitric, and hydro-chl ; vege- 



table acid-, and other salts, as o\.il, 

 bino\:ilate of potash, and tartaric acid: the 

 soap leaf, ammonia and 



its sesquicarbonate ; metallic romp., 



white ar-emc. ; 



mate, 'nitrate and 



alts of this metal, acetate of 1- 

 of an ounce and upward, carbonate 



phate of copper, subacetate of copper, arsenite 



i of copper, tartarized antimony, chloride of anti- 



mony, chloride of zinc, nitrate of silver, sulphate 



of iron, and bichromate of potash. (2) Vege- 



table substances, viz: colocynth and gamboge 



in large doses, savin, croton oil, the leaves and 



flowers of the common elder; and (3) animal 



I substances, such as cantharides, to which must 



1 be added the occasional cases in which sausages, 



and certain fish and mollusks, usually quite in- 



nocuous, act as irritant poison. The Narcotic 



: Poisons include opium, hydrocyanic acid, oil of 



bitter almonds, cyanide of potassium, henbane, 



I especially the seeds, alcohol, ether, chloral, and 



chloroform; while X arcotico-irritant Poisons are 



nux vomica, meadow saffron, white hellebore, 



foxglove, common hemlock, water-hemlock, 



hemlock water-dropwort, fool's parsley, thorn- 



apple, monk's-hood, or wolf's-bane, deadly 



nightshade, tobacco, Indian tobacco, the bark 



| and seeds of the common laburnum, the berries 



and leaves of the yew-tree, and certain kinds of 



fungi. 



Antidotes for Poisons. In all cases of poison- 

 ing the first step is to evacuate the stom- 

 ach. This should be effected by an emetic 

 which is quickly obtained and most powerful and 

 speedy in its operation. Such are, powdered 

 mustard (a large tea-spoonful in a tumbler full 

 of warm water), powdered alum (in dessert- 

 spoonful doses), sulphate of zinc (gr. \ to \ \ \ 

 tartar emetic (gr. i to ii), combined with pow- 

 dered ipecacuanha (gr. xx), and sulphate of 

 copper (gr. ii to v). When vomiting lias already 

 taken place copious draughts of warm water or 

 warm mucilaginous drinks should be given, to 

 keep up the effect till the poisoning substance 

 has been thoroughly evacuated. If vomiting 

 cannot be produced the stomach-pump must- be 

 used. This instrument will be found particu- 

 larly useful when narcotics in liquid form have 

 been taken. In cases of corrosive poisoning it 

 is liable to lacerate the stomach. Where the 

 stomach-pump is not at hand a rubber tube, 

 used to ml the stomach with water first 

 inverted as a siphon, answers a good purpose, 

 as by its use thus the stomach can Ix- thoroughly 

 washed out Inflammation of the stomach, con- 

 gestion of the brain, and other symptoms :ir e 

 to be treated on general principl* 

 blood-letting, cold applications, revulsiv. 

 mucilaginous drinks, milk, lime-water, etc 

 When prostration exists stimulants should be 



re-ortrd to. The following i- : li--t <>f 

 stances which produce poisoning, with their 

 antidotes: 



ANTIDOTU 



The Alkalim. Comm-Mi tm.-ip (.ft or 

 hard) in notation ia an efficient remedy, 

 nn.l \\n the advantage of beinc alway at 

 :...uM be followed by copious 

 chta <( IM. (Uxaeed-tea. 



.ftnmia and Inn.- 

 and water) are the be*t 

 Kulphurie acid haa been taken, the uae of 

 tnurh water in > 

 .\\knl\rtand 



thrir altt. tear, being alway* at hnnd. i* ?nM n. 

 fluently unecl. HIP l\o.J oils, n cantor. 

 flaxaeed, almond. nn<l .livr ml 



the alknlirv :u,.| limn .> 

 their r.in-tir r- t-hould 



be given in forpr quantity. 



Acidt. 



