Vol. XXIII. No. r.] 



POPULAR SCIEN"CE NEWS. 



13 



IQediciRe aud Pliarajacy. 



POISONS. 



Poisons mav be divided into two cla-sscs — 

 the organic and inorganic. Strychnine and 

 arsenic are typical representatives of these two 

 divisions. There is a popular prejudice 

 against the use of the mineral or inorganic 

 salts in medicine, which is taken ad\antagc of 

 bv the quack when he advertises his nostrums 

 as " piu"elv vegetable," although the animal 

 and vegetable kingdoms contain some of the 

 most powerful and fatal poisons kntjwn. The 

 mo.st that can be said in their favor is that 

 organic compounds arc eliminated from the 

 system more quickly than the metallic salts, 

 so that if one does recover Irom a poisonous 

 dose of strychnine, aconite, or mor]5hiuc, the 

 after etl'ects are likelv to be less troublesome. 



The action of poisons is hard to be ex- 

 plained. We can see no reason why mercurv 

 or leatl should destroy life when taken into 

 the system, and iron or magnesium prove 

 harmless or even beneficial. In general, it 

 mav be said that the most widelv difl'uscd el- 

 ements are of the least poisonous nature, and 

 in this fact we ha\e a hint of the possible de- 

 velopment, through a long series of genera- 

 tions, of a tolerance to such sub.stances, while 

 the system is still powerfully affectecl b\- those 

 with which it is not often brought in contact. 



Some poisons have a specific cfiect upon 

 various organs, such as the heart, lungs, brain, 

 or nerves, paralv/.ing them, and arresting 

 their I'lnictioiis, but \\ith man\ oi" the more 

 common ones the action is general, and it is 

 impcjssible to say why they produce their del- 

 eterious eflects. An eminent physiologist 

 once said to us that he believed there was a 

 true chemical reaction between the )3oisonous 

 substance and the nerves and muscles upon 

 which it acted, and although it is hardlv sus- 



Iceptible of actual proof, yet it seems a rea- 

 sonable supposition. 

 The difference between poisonous and non- 

 poisonous substances is often very slight. 

 This is remarkabh' exident in the case of the 

 chlorides of mercury. Calomel (Hg^ Cli) 

 is a well known medicine and is administered 

 in comparatively large doses, but subtract hall" 

 of the mercury, and we have corrosive sub- 

 limate (HgCl-i) a very few grains of which 

 woidd c|uickly produce death. Carbonic acid 

 gas (CO2) is not poisonous except so far as it 

 may displace the air necessary to sup])ort life, 

 while carbonic oxide (CO) imites with the 

 blood, and even when present in the air in 

 small quantities, produces serious illness or 

 death. To the chemist the com])osition of 

 quinine and morphine is very much the same, 

 but the druggist who mistakes one lor the 

 other, is very soon brought to a realizing sense 

 of the physiological ihiportance of one or two 

 atoms of nitrogen and carbon. That most 

 powerful poison, jinissic acid, is only com- 



posed of one atom each of hydrogen, carbon, 

 and nitrogen, all harmless when separated, but 

 iustrating well the motto that " In union there 

 is strength." 



Arsenic, perhaps the most lamiliar ol" all 

 poisons, is esjx'cialh' interesting on accoimt 

 of the chemical group to which it belongs. 

 Its family consists of nitrogen, phosphorous, 

 antimony, and bismuth, and, as with their 

 other properties, there seems to be an ap- 

 proximate gradation oi' poisonous qualities 

 Antimonv, which most closely resembles it in 

 other wavs is less poisonous than arsenic ; phos- 

 phorous is poisonous in certain of its com- 

 pomuls, such as phosphoretted hydrogen, 

 while in other forms, like the phos])hates, it 

 is a valuable medicine. Bismuth can hardly 

 be considered as an active poison, while ni- 

 trogen, that most singular of all elements, is 

 harmless, poisonous, corrosive, or medicinal, 

 according to the elements with which it is 

 combined. The salts of the metal osrniiun 

 are remarkably poisonous, while the other 

 metals of the platinimi group to which it 

 belongs, have uo especial toxic properties. 



Taken in minute doses nearly all the famil- 

 iar ])oisons ha\e been found to be valuable 

 medicinal and remedial agents, while large 

 quantities of the less harmful substances mav 

 proxe unwholscjuie and dangerous. We thus 

 see that the difference is one of degree rather 

 than of kind, and can defi^ne a poison as a 

 substance which in ordinar\- doses produces 

 physiological effects so jiowerful as to lie dan- 

 gerous to health and life. 



I ()rij;iiKil ill The Poputar Science Neics. \ 



I'l'X'ULIAR UELATKJNS OK MEDICAL MEN 



TO THE I'LBLIC. 



HV JOUX CROWKI.L, M. I). 



TuKKK i>; 110 general law regulatini; the practice 

 of medicine in the I'nited States. The several 

 states have enacted laws of more or less efficiency. 

 Tn Illinois the control of the practice of the medical 

 profession is vested in the State Board ol" Health, 

 and the rules and regulations of that tribunal are 

 stringent and exacting, and no person can practice 

 medicine in that state without a license, which is 

 only granted after the ordeal of a severe examina- 

 tion. 



Massachusetts, on the other hand, has hardly any 

 legal restriction against medical practice, and any 

 person can assume the title ol" Doctor, and set up 

 an office. The only law of any impc-tance bearing 

 upon the restriction of medical pretenders is the act 

 of June 30. 1SS3. forbidding •■ any corporation from 

 conferring medical degrees or issuing diplomas or 

 certificates, unless specially authorized by the Leg- 

 islature so to do." 



In about twelve states of the I' nion the law s con- 

 cerning license to practice are about as liberal and 

 general as in Massachusetts. In most of the other 

 states the restrictions are more stringent, and the 

 penalties attached are positive and severe. 



The ethics of the medical profession are fornui- 

 lated and established by tlie dilTerenl societies char- 

 tered by state laws, and acting w ith authority under 

 legislative restrictions. The ethics governing med- 

 ical men in their relations to each other are based 

 upon certain fundamental principles, easily under- 

 stood by the profession, but (piitc often misappre- 



hended by the public. Hut it is not the object of 

 this paper to discuss medical ethics, but to state 

 some facts involving the general relations of the 

 physician to the public, and to quote incidents illus- 

 trating peculiar legal decisions where the physician 

 was especially interested. 



Many curious (|uestions have arisen in regard to 

 the payment of lees in certain cases. Nothing is 

 more common than for a friend or a neighbor to 

 run. perhaps unbidden, for a doctor, in a sudden 

 emergency. He leaves his card or sends in his 

 name, with the request that the physician make a 

 call at once upon Mr. B. who has been taken sud- 

 denly ill. If the sunnnons is obeyed, why cannot 

 the doctor send this bill to the man who did the er- 

 raifd. and. in case of refusal, sue for the same? The 

 courts have not agreed upon this question. Some 

 judges have given the opinion that when a man 

 makes a request in his own name, without explain- 

 ing the circumstances, he alone is liable for the pay- 

 ment of the fee. He must state that he comes as a 

 mes.senger only, in order to legally exempt himself 

 from any such obligation. But there are numerous 

 and weighty inst<ances of the record of decisions 

 more f"avorable to the messenger. A case is cited 

 in South Carolina in the days of slavery, where a 

 plantation doctor called in the services of a neigh- 

 boring physieian in a serious ease, who sued his 

 brother doctor for his services; but the court decided 

 against him, upon the ground that there had been 

 no understanding that the attending physician 

 shoidd pay the fee. A similar case was decided by 

 a Pennsylvania court, where a father summoned a 

 surgeon to attend his son. who was of age. but who 

 lived at home in his father's hou.>;e. The surgeon 

 sued the father for his services, but the court decided 

 against his claim, upon the ground that the lather 

 was simply a messenger and not legally holden for 

 the bill. "Perplexing questions have often arisen in 

 cases of railroad accidents, where a person injured 

 has been treated by a surgeon summoned by some 

 official not having authority so to do. The courts 

 have decided in such cases that the company was 

 not liable, unless the surgeon was authorized by a 

 responsible agent to render surgical aid. In Eng- 

 land, the "general manager" has this authority, 

 and in our country the power is usually vested in 

 the "general superintendent." In cases of a sudden 

 cata.strophe, railroad corporations usually p.iy vol- 

 unteer surgeons, who are ever ready to render aid. 

 but it is doubtful if they could legally collect a fee 

 under such circumstances. The courts have been 

 generous to the physieian for damages done by his 

 conmiand in emergencies. Respect is also had f"or 

 his knowledge of disease and of the damages attend- 

 ing contagion in time of epidemics. 



During the prevalence ol smaupox an atter ling 

 physician ordered the infected paper to be scraped 

 from the walls of the rooms where the disease had 

 prevailed. The owner of the house sued for dam- 

 ages, but the court decided that the doctor's act was 

 not a trespass, but a justifiable act. .\nd such de- 

 cision implies a certain kind of authority, on the 

 part of physicians, to do what they consider neces- 

 sary for the protection of the public in the practice 

 of their profession among diseases of a contagious 

 or infectious character. 



It is a well-known fact that large powers are given 

 to Boards of Health, which are usually composed 

 chiefly of medical men. In times of dangerous ep- 

 idemics, or when the suppression of any nuisance is 

 demanded for the safety of the public, such Boards 

 can destroy property, close tenements, or take pos- 

 session of any building to be used for the purpose 

 of an isolated hospital or pest-house. Such an in- 

 stance occured in Boston a few years since during 

 the excitement inciileni to the alarming spivail of 



