PUTRID POISONS. 367 



Now this is the peculiar character of all substances which 

 exert an action by virtue of their existing condition — of those 

 bodies the elements of which are in a state of decomposition or 

 transposition ; a state which is destroyed by boiling water and 

 alcohol without the cause of the influence being imparted to those 

 liquids : for a state of action or power cannot be preserved in a 

 liquid. 



Sausages, in the state here described, exercise an action upon 

 the organism, in consequence of the stomach and other parts 

 with which they come in contact not having the power to arrest 

 their decomposition ; and entering the blood in some way or 

 other, while still possessing their whole power, they impart their 

 peculiar action to the constituents of that fluid. 



The poisonous properties of decayed sausages are not destroy- 

 ed by the stomach as those of the small-pox virus are. All the 

 substances in the body capable of putrefaction are gradually 

 decomposed during the course of the disease, and after death 

 nothing remains, except fat, tendons, bones, and a few other sub- 

 stances incapable of putrefying in the conditions afforded by the 

 body.* 



* In a case of poisoning by sausages, which was communicated to me by 

 Herr Salzer, and which occurred s Sausenbach, near Schwabischhall, in 

 May, 1842, of all the remedies that were tried sulphuretted hydrogen 

 water was found to possess very peculiar efficacy. All the poisoned indi- 

 viduals in whom it was tried early enough were saved. In those affected 

 by the poison there appeared hoarseness and dryness in the throat, and a 

 \iniversal feeling of dryness, constipation without swelling of the abdomen, 

 and without perceptible difficulty of breathing ; faintness ; dilated pupil 

 with impaired vision ; perfect consciousness and unimpaired motion of all 

 the muscles, except those supplied with nerves from the sympathetic sys- 

 tem, and rapid putrescence of the dead bodies. The effects were not only 

 dependent on the amount of poisoned sausage taken, but also very peculiar 

 in each case ; and in one case there was actually no effect, where a large 

 quantity of the same sausages had been consumed. In the treatment, the 

 sulphuretted hydrogen water decidedly checked the poisonous action : the 

 patients first perceived greater ease in swallowing ; then the general 

 tension and dryness diminished; the voice, which had been lost, returned; 

 the skin became moister, the countenance lighter, and the pressure on the 

 eye was relieved. 



Ammonia, diluted so as to be taken as a drink, and at the same time 



