556 [May 7, 



its side as if in a deep sleep, and so dies in from half an hour to 

 thirty- two hours. 



The post-mortem appearances are much the same as the last : the 

 brain and its membranes are turgid, the cavities of the heart are 

 nearly full of blood, the lungs are but slightly congested, and the 

 blood all over the body is black and uncoagulated. In every case 

 the poison was easily discovered in the brain, the stomach, and the 

 liver. 



While, however, there seems to be a probable conversion of nitro- 

 benzole into aniline in the living animal body by a process of reduc- 

 tion, there is also undoubtedly a change of an opposite character 

 going on upon the surface of the body, whereby the salts of aniline 

 are oxidized and converted into mauve or magenta purple. Some 

 remarkable facts illustrative of this have been brought under my own 

 notice, and have been the subject of clinical observation. 



In the month of June 1861, a boy aged 16 was brought into the 

 London Hospital in a semi-comatose condition. He had been scrub- 

 bing out the inside of an aniline vat, and while so doing he breathed 

 an atmosphere charged with the vapour of the alkali, and became 

 insensible. He did not suffer pain or discomfort, but was suddenly 

 seized with giddiness and insensibility. When he was brought to 

 the hospital he looked like a person in the last stage of intoxication : 

 the face and surface of the body were cold, the pulse was slow and 

 almost imperceptible, the action of the heart was feeble, and the 

 breathing was heavy and laborious. After rallying a little, he com- 

 plained of pain in his head and giddiness. It was then noticed that 

 the face had a purple hue, and that the lips and lining membrane 

 of the mouth and the nails had the same purple tint. The next day, 

 although the narcotic effects of the poison had passed away, he was 

 still remarkably blue, like a patient in the last stage of cholera. 



In the early part of last year, sulphate of aniline was given in 

 rather large doses to patients in the London Hospital affected with 

 chorea. The doses ranged from a quarter of a grain to seven grains. 

 They were frequently administered, so that large quantities of the 

 salt were taken in a very short time. In one case as much as 406 

 grains were given in the course of a few days. No very remarkable 

 effects followed beyond this that after a few doses had been taken, 

 and the system had become, as it were, saturated with the salt, the 



