i yo MATERIA MEDIC A AND THERAPEUTICS. 



to form sulphocarbolates, which suggests the use of soluble 

 sulphates as antidotes in poisoning "by the drug ; and secondly, 

 that phenol is a natural product of the intestine or its contents. 



2. ACTION OX THE BLOOD. 



Carbolic acid is rapidly absorbed from the unbroken skin, 

 mucosse, wounds, subcutaneous tissues, respiratory passages, and 

 stomach ; and for a considerable time can be found in the blood 

 unchanged. Here it steadily disappears, by conversion into 

 compounds from which it may be again derived ; uniting, for 

 example, with sulphates, as already described. The blood is 

 dark and slow to coagulate after poisoning by the drug. 



3. SPECIFIC ACTION AND USES. 



The action of carbolic acid on the organs is of little in- 

 terest to the therapeutist. It is found in them chiefly as 

 phenol-yielding compounds ; and its effects in man are chiefly 

 those of an irritant poison. The heart first falls and then rises 

 in frequency, from disturbance of the cardiac centre. The blood 

 pressure rises at first, returns to the normal, and falls after a 

 fatal dose. Dyspnoea ensues, also central in origin. Convulsions 

 occur in the lower animals through the cord, then paralysis and 

 collapse. The voluntary muscles are not affected by carbolic 

 acid, but the pupil is contracted. Sensibility is not reduced by 

 internal administration of the drug. The temperature falls 

 slightly after medicinal doses, but may rise in cases of dangerous 

 absorption from dressings. Carbolic acid has been given 

 internally in fevers, it is said with good results, but is little 

 used in this country for such a purpose. It may temporarily 

 relieve diabetes. 



4. REMOTE LOCAL ACTION. 



Carbolic acid and its products rapidly leave the body, chiefly 

 by the urine. But little of it can be recovered unchanged, for 

 (1) part is lost in the system, being probably converted into 

 oxalates and carbonates ; (2) part appears as sulphocarbolic 

 acid (C 6 H 5 .H.S0 4 ) in combination ; (3) part is constituted by 

 an obscure compound ; and (4) the remainder appears to give 

 lise to a peculiar olive- green, brown, or grey discoloration of 

 the urine, which is familiar to surgeons. It is important to 

 note that this change in the urine bears no definite relation to 

 the amount of carbolic acid in the blood, or the danger of 

 poisoning. Fainting and collapse are the principal symptoms 

 of its excessive absorption from a wound or through the skin, 

 with or without rise of temperature. Disappearance of the 

 sulphates from the urine, easily ascertained by ordinary tests, is 



