POISONS 111 



Lardaceous liver is developed when we have a disease that has a 

 tendency to produce amyloid degeneration. The liver becomes very 

 large. With it we generally find amyloid kidney with albumin in the 

 urine and we also are apt to find an amyloid spleen. 



POISONS. 



A short abstract on poisons with their symptoms and treatment 

 is here given; it is not at all complete, and the student is referred to works 

 on toxicology. 



Poisoning by Caustic Alkalies. — Caustic lime, soda or potassium, 

 lye, sal. ammoniac, etc. These in their concentrated form may be ad- 

 ministered accidentally, or may have been used in some external prep- 

 aration and licked off by the animal. Caustic soda or potassium may 

 be sw^allowed by animals that are very thirsty. The writer observed a 

 dog that was poisoned eating meat that had caustic lime sprinkled on it. 



The lips, mouth, tongue, throat, and oesophagus are more or less 

 cauterized, with salivation and vomiting of strongly alkaline materials, 

 which is sometimes bloody. There is bloody diarrhoea. The potas- 

 sium preparations cause paralysis of the heart. 



The treatment consists in the administration of vinegar or acetic 

 acid, gruels of flour, oat meal, starch, emulsions of oil (olive, linseed, or 

 cotton-seed). The giving of emetics or the use of the stomach pump 

 is contra-indicated, as they are apt to cause perforation of the stomach. 



Poisoning by Caustic Acids. — This is of rare occurrence and is gen- 

 erally caused by the insufficient dilution of medicinal preparations, or 

 the vicious administration of acids. 



The mucous membrane of the mouth, throat, and cesophagus, is 

 eroded or burnt brown. There is salivation and vomiting of a brownish- 

 black material, with a strong acid reaction, which contains more or less 

 blood, violent pain, small thready pulse, and finally collapse. 



Therapeutics. — Emetics and the stomach pump are contra-indicated, 

 as there is danger of perforation, Limewater, dilute ammonia or 

 soda solutions, emulsions of olive, linseed, or cotton-seed oils, small c{uan- 

 tities of opium, and in case of collapse the subcutaneous injection of 

 ether or camphor. 



Poisoning by Arsenic. — This is sometimes given intentionally on 

 pieces of meat, or caused by eating some of the various rat poisons, the 

 overdosing of Fowler's solution, or licking external preparations that 

 contain arsenic. 



There is violent inflammation of the stomach and intestines, great 

 restlessness, bloody diarrhoea, vomiting and dyspnoea, great weakness, 

 and finally collapse and death in a few hours. 



