218 POISONING. 



manures. Occasionally it results from the administration of medicines 

 containing excessive doses of nitrate of potash. The symptoms vary in 

 severity with the purity of the salt, with its nature, and with the degree 

 of concentration of the solution : nitrate of potash is more dangerous 

 than nitrate of soda. 



The chief symptoms may be grouped as follows :— 



Salivation, indigestion and tympanites, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, 

 and (especially) intense polyuria : the kidney may be irritated to such a 

 degree as to produce albuminuria and haematuria. Intense dulness 

 and general weakness precede death, which sometimes occurs in four to 

 twelve hours after the poison has been taken. 



The lesions are to be found in the digestive and urinary apparatus. 

 The kidneys are congested and hypertrophied, or present changes indi- 

 cating epithelial nephritis. The ureters and the bladder may show 

 similar lesions. 



Treatment comprises removal of the cause, and the administration 

 of emollients, narcotics, and diffusible stimulants. 



POISONING BY TARTAR EMETIC. 



Tartar emetic is sometimes given for the purpose of favouring secretion 

 and restoring rumination ; occasionally the proper dose is exceeded and 

 poisoning occurs. Given repeatedly, tartar emetic is apt to accumulate 

 in the deeper portions of the gastric compartments and to produce 

 general symptoms of super-purgation, and such local symptoms as 

 ulceration and even perforation of the walls of the stomach, which in 

 turn is followed by abscess formation in the abdominal wall. 



Diagnosis is easy. The prognosis is grave. 



Treatment is confined to the administration of mucilaginous and 

 diuretic fluids. Tannin has been recommended. 



POISONING BY ARSENIC. 



Overdoses of Fowler's solution produce rapidly fatal results, in 

 twenty-four to forty- eight hours. Lesions are little marked. 



Arsenious acid acts like tartar emetic by accumulating and producing 

 local gastritis ; it may also cause acute poisoning, being in that case 

 characterised by severe colic with tympanites, salivation, and foetid, some- 

 times blood-stained, diarrhoea. The urine becomes albuminous, and re- 

 mains scanty. Incomplete paralysis is sometimes produced, and various 

 forms of haemorrhage result from changes in the constituents of the blood. 



If the gastric compartments are perforated, an abscess may develop 

 in the abdominal wall. The lesions are those of acute gastro-enteritis. 

 The contents of the stomach exhales an odour resembling garlic. The 



